Pachanoi not rooting....

[OPP]

Someone kindly gave me this Pachanoi cutting at a meet a few weeks ago.

It has been sitting in a mix of soil and perlite for about 3 weeks. It has been under cover and hasn't been watered. So far there are no signs of roots. Is it too soon or am i doing something wrong?

I also have 2 other cuttings waiting to go into a pot and want to make sure these are successful.

Any suggestions welcome.

[Seldom]

thats the breaks, it will be longer still from the callusing in the photos. there's no use sweating on it though looks healthy. they shoot roots when they want not when we want i'm afraid dude. you could buy rooting hormone but even then i'd wait until ^ is more callused. just have patience. if anything i'd leave it out of its pot in the sun if it's hot where you are. but persevere you have a cool cactus there

Edited November 13, 2011 by bulls on parade

[Distracted]

I'm just copy/pasting my own reply from the last thread.

Concerning calloused San Pedro cuttings in particular

"Plant several inches deep and water sparingly and infrequently until you see noticeable growth on the cactus. Lack of water and receiving small infrequent waterings will stimulate root formation faster than the presence of water. They form foots to find and recover water, not in response to an abundance of water"

"A handy trick is to plant the healed cuttings in pure dry sand and repot them in soil only once nice roots are actively forming."

Trout, K 2001 Trout's Notes on the Cultivation & Propagation of Cacti, A Better Days Publication, p19

[noshiewa]

i think they root quicker when left alone try not to touch or look for roots just leave it and it will just start growing/rooting when ready :-)

[ballzac]

i think they root quicker when left alone try not to touch or look for roots just leave it and it will just start growing/rooting when ready :-)

 

+1

I don't know why people feel the need to pull them out and potentially disturb the tiny roots that are just starting to grow. Every cutting I have ever planted has had roots the following year when I repot it.

[J Smith]

Barry White.

I have 3 Pach cuttings in pots ready for rooting for months, winter obviously stops any rooting but they are starting now. Just leave em be in a dry spot, they'll root soon enough.

[zelly]

The smaller the cut, the longer its going to take to root. Why? Because the smaller surface area cannot photosynthesize fast enough to produce roots quickly.

The secret to rooting any cut is to plant it and then completely forget about it. If it hasnt rooted in a year, then and only then should you begin to worry.

[Philocacti]

In my experience, i pot the cutting, place it in a spot where it gets 4 hours of sun max and damp the soil once a week (summer time) and it roots relatively quickly.

A lot will advice you not to, but this is the only method that worked for me.

[bit]

Yep, as above stop checking for roots!

I put my cuttings with all my other plants, making no allowance for shade or sun, they get what all the other cacti get. I hold off watering for a couple of weeks, then they're straight into the same schedule as all the others.

[ballzac]

One thing that should be added is that all these comments apply specifically to trichs. Other cacti have other requirements. Cereus I find need to be given more shade because they have more surface area and lose water quickly in the sun/heat.

[OPP]

Thanks for the replies.

I will put it out with the others and wait.

[CβL]

I would definitely make sure that it's deep enough so that the meristem doesn't get any light and therefore roots quicker. I would also definitely make sure the soil is moist often, if not almost always (though not wet). And a few hours of sun a day (preferably not direct, but if so keep an eye on it, if some of the green flesh starts to turn pale - it's getting burned, so back to the shade for a days rest), and then slowly start watering it more and more often (but only to keep it damp) - then within 2-3 weeks you'll have strong roots and it can pretty much be treated as a rooted plant.

To test for roots, I prod the plant and judge from the vibrations. This way you can check root development at every stage without ripping the roots out. Method will not work for macrogonus, taquimbalensis or werdermannius though. ;)

[Quixote]

I would definitely make sure that it's deep enough so that the meristem doesn't get any light and therefore roots quicker.

 

I read that many people just let the cuttting sit on top of the soil? I guess under the cutting it will be dark anyway..

[Evil Genius]

Wouldnt recommend that. If they dont have a solid connection to the soil, they tend not to root as good as otherwise. Free cuttings fall down, roots get hurt, nutrients cant flow like they should etc. I stopped doing that long ago. It only makes sense to do that with a very fresh cutting till its healed.

[ballzac]

I did it a couple of times, and I actually had one where, as the roots pushed downwards, the cutting was lifted off the soil by about 5mm. Even when the roots had filled the pot, there was still a gap. I don't think it affected its growth at all, but when I repotted it, I buried it because I though it looked a bit strange.