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The Corroboree

rooting a blue over winter


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look, i destroyed most of my cacti because of the law changes years ago.

 

one specimen i kept, is what some people here call a true blue.

mine fell over by it's own weight (the bastard sneeked a tap root, through the decking into the soil, very smart on behalve of the cacti!!)

and i had to cut it into sections to rescue it and avoid injury to me (fell over my decking).

i am recovering from surgery, and can't to as much in my garden as i would like to...

 

once the cut's are dried up and ready for planting, could i plant them and root them over winter (in other words right now) or wait till spring?

i hate to plant callused sections which are old, they don't root as fast and as well, as perfectly timed ones.

pls advice me, but only if you have experience about this subject, in the same climat zone as mine.

 

if uou live in a cold climat don't respond with advice as it could be wrong, unless you have lived in my climat zone, and have moved somewhere else now.

 

my feeling is to plant them out soon, and keep one section for spring and learn from this scenario.

i get frosts some years over winter, but day time tems can be quite high even in winter.

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hey wc, I thought you were from NNSW, where cacti are legal ornamental plants . what law changes are you referring to? I'm in a warm area with no frost. 

 

My opinion - you can. It would be a good idea to keep the substrate from being watered and keep humidity low to prevent rot, while keeping it in enough light to minimise etioliation. I would go for a high high mineral substrate, then transplanting into richer mix in spring when it has a few roots.

 

Have you considered using rooting hormone dust on the cut? I have seen some great and fast results from that.

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Can you not dry, callus, pot and then keep inside somewhere over winter - at least until they've established roots?  They shouldn't need much light and less light might actually be an advantage whilst they are rooting.

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1 hour ago, SayN said:

Can you not dry, callus, pot and then keep inside somewhere over winter - at least until they've established roots?  They shouldn't need much light and less light might actually be an advantage whilst they are rooting.

I use a north-facing windowsill (moderately sunny). You can definitely get a head-start on spring, roots will form over winter. Works for TBM and others. 

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22 hours ago, saguaro said:

hey wc, I thought you were from NNSW, where cacti are legal ornamental plants . what law changes are you referring to? I'm in a warm area with no frost. 

 

My opinion - you can. It would be a good idea to keep the substrate from being watered and keep humidity low to prevent rot, while keeping it in enough light to minimise etioliation. I would go for a high high mineral substrate, then transplanting into richer mix in spring when it has a few roots.

 

Have you considered using rooting hormone dust on the cut? I have seen some great and fast results from that.

we call this law the blanket law, there are post about it, on this site. it happend many years ago...

 

yep, i will go with your advice!

indoors at my location is worse than out doors.

north facing window, as fyzygy recommands, i will not do, it would lead to etiolation growth.

 

the sections could be kept cold and without light, and this would keep them in suspended animation.

 

hormones, i never used on cacti, and stopped using for everything else as well, with one exeption.

i know a smart lady, she was straight and loved men,

she was told to use plant hormones in a nursery (on a large scale, inhaling the dust),

and they made her a dyke against her will.

this is a true story and i believe the lady when she told me!

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On 28/05/2021 at 3:47 PM, saguaro said:

I would go for a high high mineral substrate, then transplanting into richer mix in spring when it has a few roots.

Sand, perlite, stone are all great -- especially for indoors. I suspect most cactus will root even in air, so heed Glaukus' advice regarding orientation. 

You could even stand a tall segment in a corner, resting on a piece of flat stone -- I reckon. 

Condensation from window pane should provide sufficient humidity. 

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I've done it plenty of times.  Every year actually. But I have a covered area which keeps the rain off and a bit of bright light gets through for half the day. 

 

I think the absolute number 1 trick is to pot the cutting into dry tricho mix, and keep it bone dry until spring comes along. There is absolutely no benefit in watering it. It won't make the roots grow any faster or make pups develop or anything. It will get it's own roots in dry mix without any watering necessary. Pups won't come until halfway through spring, and they need good light and warmth for good pups, so put it back outside after the last frosts etc.

 

Basically, the least you can do is get the roots ready for spring. So yes it's better than just having it lie on the floor all winter doing nothing. Just keep it dry and covered. If I didn't have a covered area I'd make a dedicated area out of four sticks and a couple sheets of corrugated clear plastic roofing or fibreglass etc. If the sun is too hot then cover the whole thing in 30% shade cloth. Frost hits from above, and so does rain, so as long as it's covered and kept dry she'll be fine.

 

I think what I'm trying to say is **KEEP IT DRY AND COVERED**.  Any old tricho mix will do.

 

Edit: True Blue's a real stunner mate, good choice :)

Edited by Halcyon Daze
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very good advice here, thx everybody!

 

so i sum up.

 

when cutting sections, one most likely lays them down flat, but i have callused them upright using sieves to rest them upon.

in other words glaukus makes the point, that flat lying sections will try to form roots from the base, and if after 6 weeks or so, the cuttings are put upright, the root formation will be confused!!

 

as rooting substrate i will use, dry searls seed raising mixture, and will like hd says, not even water once.

i have a very bright decking, sheltered by shade cloth, it got good air flow, good indirect light (apart from save morning sun),

and i walk by ther every day so, i am able to see, what happens. what i mean is, if you place cuttings far away from your daily routine, than roaming dogs or cats or strong wind, can knock the cuttings around. with the result of failing to form roots if the issue get's un noticed for a long time...

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sounds like a good plan !

 

On 29/05/2021 at 2:13 PM, withdrawl clinic said:

i know a smart lady, she was straight and loved men,

she was told to use plant hormones in a nursery (on a large scale, inhaling the dust),

and they made her a dyke against her will.

this is a true story and i believe the lady when she told me!

 

Plenty of agri chems (particularly pesticides) are endocrine disruptors, wouldn't be surprised if some phytohormes are too.

 

That's a pretty wild anecdote though. What happened when the goofer dust wore off?

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@ saguaro, a wild anecdote indeed, sorry to say, i will not give more info. after all at times i make mistakes, and understand things wrong.

but knowing i could be wrong makes me a better person.

 

@hd, i like the prop up with rocks or bricks method, it reduces moisture issues, and save guards against, un for seen factors, for example i had roaming dogs, taking a bite into pedros once, haha.

 

i filled the pots today, 2/3 with searls seed raising mix, it has a large ammount of crs added to it, by there manufactures.

i will let it dry out more, befor planting the sections, the pots i choose are proly smaller than what other people would have choosen.

again this will guard against moisture issues, better to be too dry than too wet, as we ethnobots say.

only when it comes to coitus we reverse this rule.:)

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LOL True :P Good luck with it mate. One final thing I should point out for anyone else picking up tips with this one, is that when the day finally does come to give it a drink for the first time in a couple months, then you'll find it'll be difficult to water the pot from above. The mix will probably be somewhat hydrophobic due to how dry it is. There are many ways to fix this but the easiest way is to dunk the whole pot in a big bucket of water and let it soak for 10 - 15 mins.

 

She'll be good as gold after that. Just put it out with the rest of them and water the same as the others. Trichos are pretty tough. It's just that cold/wet combo that can really cause trouble, especially for a cut that doesn't even have roots yet.

 

And if you ever come across a new method or any hints and tips, be sure to share that knowledge with the rest of us . CHEERS :) and nice thread withdrawl clinic, hope you have 100% success with it  :)

 

 

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let me side track a lil...

when the law changed, and i could not sell or give away many, of my, bio active plants, i noticed as followes, and fellow saber's said the same.

if you can't give your cacti and leafy plants the "love" that you want to give them they will, not grow well.

 

i was traumatised by the blanket law, tort would have suffered even far more, an ozzie tv channel did run a viscious attack against him...:BANGHEAD2:

 

time will tell that "we are the heros", the protectors of rare plants, and a paradime shift will happen.

"we are the one protecting endagered plants and cacti, "we are the ones" who will be praised in the future, for our actions!

long life to all ethnobots, on this planet!:wub:

Edited by withdrawl clinic
dyslexia
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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE:

 

i used dried searls seed raising mix as medium.

and to avoid the sections from, moving i, simply leaned them against the rim of the pots.

 

i might add that, i was very unlucky at times with my pedros, as once i rented out my place, and when i came back all my pedros had dissapeared...

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