cutting is not conducive to flowering soonest ?

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

I'm fairly new to cacti, and a bit newish to magickal plants(since winter 2012)

but I'm no stranger to native flora and fauna/ horticulture(since 1984),

bonsai (since 1998),

mycology (since 2004),

and amazonia, mainly fish - discus and catfish - and aquatic plants (since 2003)

I must have struck luck early in my cactus hobby path finding zelly ...

one thing he said to me (or words to the effect) keeps ringing through my head..

"cutting is not conducive to earliest flowering"

..thing is, I wondered by how much does it set them back ? and is there a gain, like perhaps more seed yield or something?

...and also, seeing as cacti have a dormancy period; is that a good or a bad time to cut them?

-like with deciduous trees: it's a good time, since it won't shock them and they wont lose as much moisture as when sap levels are high like say spring,

I know moisture loss isn't an issue with healthy cacti cuts though but seasonal timing is the question.

-maybe spring is the best time for cutting cacti?

It's interesting to see cut cacti flowering like mad , especially on trichoserious site.

Very interesting is the post flower cut phenomenom indeed

I couldn't find a thread about it but can delete the topic if necc and replace my question somewhere more appropriate.

[bogfrog]

As far as I can tell (no expert, jus a freak) the primary factors to influence flowering are an established root system and maturity.

Every time you take a cutting, (say you have a single San pedro with a large root system) you are pretty much asking the plant to restart its programme, so if your single San pedro has been considering that it might like to flower for about 4 years, and it's finally getting to the maturity that it is feeling ready to bloom, and you chop off its head, it's probably not that likely to put it's energy towards flowering, because now it has other things to focus on, the tip cut has to focus on developing a new root system, so it will prioritise that, and the base of the plant has to focus on creating new growing tips, so it will prioritise pupping, and all thoughts on flowering will be postponed for another couple years when time is right again.

That being said, there are exceptions to every rule (and this isn't a rule, just what I have observed and considered..which may be different to what people in other countries & climates observe and consider) and some cuttings can flower regardless of their small root system. I imagine there is probably a 'critical mass' point, where the plant has already put so much energy into making a flower bud that it will carry on in doing so regardless of other factors.

You can take cuttings pretty much whenever, although the aim (for me anyway) is to have the cuttings rooted by mid-spring early summer so they can get the most out of the growing period. This usually prompts me to take cuttings in autumn, dry them indoors for a few weeks and then pot up, with the hope that roots will have formed by the time spring rolls around.

Just ensure if you do decide to take cuttings in the colder months that you store the freshly cut plants out of the cold and rain so the extra moisture in the air doesn't cause rot.

Hope this helps somewhat.

[hostilis]

...and also, seeing as cacti have a dormancy period; is that a good or a bad time to cut them?

I've found that cutting a plant when it's not plump and actively growing makes it SUPER hard to root that cutting and get it going.

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

Thank you, yes that helps a lot

Edited April 16, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[modern.shaman]

Cactus trunk damage negatively correlated with the number of flowers and fruits, but not with fruit size. We also found significant effects of meso and micro-habitat conditions on all the analyzed reproductive parameters while plant size was positively related to flower and fruit production.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196311001534