please help me with cutting my cacti

[dajindo]

Hello

I have 2 Trichocereus cacti that have been through hell and their growth last year got really damaged so I wanna cut those sections down. Please help me out guys. I would cut the left one almost to the ground, leaving only 2 inches above. And on the other one I would leave this left section alone because it is very healthy, and cut down the rest.

Would it work out, or is there some better solution?

<img alt="" src="http://i46.tinypic.com/35k8hbg4.jpg" />

Here is the picture with a ruler (inches are on the left, centimeters on the right). Red lines are where I was thinking to do the cutting.

Sorry for the bad english, it's not my native language.

Thanks guys

Edited March 11, 2013 by dajindo

[Foo]

They arent SUPER AWESOME healthy, but i wouldnt want to cop them unless you know something about them i dont.

[space cadet swami]

I'd leave them & take the pups when they get to a decent size. While there's an established root system those pups will come on, if u go & chop them now they'll have to re-establish roots again (too much time wasted IMO).

[Evil Genius]

The lower you cut, the less vigorously the growth of the stump will be. So you can certainly cut them at a very low point but you need to expect very few pups from them. If you get some at all. I have stumps of that size that didnt produce one single pup within 2 years. I definately avoid cutting so deep.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Evil Genius

[Halcyon Daze]

Don't cut yet, wait another season. The stump will thank you for it and so will the cuts. Cacti will often get roughed up a bit while young but once they get going they will be super fine ladies indeed, their new growth will come out perfect.

Plus yours don't really even need it any way. I'd only consider doing such a thing in an emergency, otherwise you are just causing unnecessary harm and setback.

[dajindo]

thank you for the help, I'm suprised by how much of you answered. I really like this community

now I realize my question sounds silly to experienced cacti growers, but it really made sense to me yesterday when I got that idea heheh

the reason I wanted to cut them is because they were beautiful and healthy last year but got bruised, eaten by bugs and sunburnt because I was a total cacti noob and made some mistakes . so I was thinking of rooting those bad looking sections separately and letting those older ones get new fine growth.

but I guess I will leave them alone if that would disturb them so much.

Edited March 11, 2013 by dajindo

[Optimystic]

I agree with eatfoo, those look really healthy, well hydrated and strong...
If you think those are bad, look at photos of trichos in their native habitats... theres a thread about that on the nook that
will keep your spines tingling all day! I You get to admiring their character so much that you actually appreciate the blemishes

Im just over a year into this hobby and I have made alot of mistakes and thus many plans have changed this year,
and now I can hear my cacti better

I'm tempted to start a thread just to show off all my bowling pin cacti from last season...