rooting a cutting, trichocereus pachanoi

[Guest jaq]

ok..i have a mid-section cutting from the shaman..(many thanks!)

never done this before, so help me get it right.. how will i do following this plan?

* leave cutting in a dry place for 2-3 weeks wait for ends to callous

* dust end in roottone powder

* place cutting in dry cacti mix, 5-10 cm deep.

* leave for 2 weeks, then very lightly water

* water again only when soil is dry

how can i tell which way is up? is that important? any tips or links? will this mid-section branch? - where?

thanks,

love jaq

[rkundalini]

Yep it does matter which way up. You should find that the areoles (where the spines come out of) don't face straight out. If the cutting is right way up, they will face upwards a little. The few times I've done this I haven't bothered with rooting hormone or fussy watering. It should branch (grow pups) from the top and possibly also at ground level. Miracle gro is supposed to be good for stimulating formation of pups (worked for me too in my limited experience).... good luck!

[earthalchemist]

you don't need to use cacti mix, i've had great results using sand, either river sand or the more expensive horticultural variety

if you use dry sand, you can moisten it as soon as the cutting is planted

happiness

earthalchemist

[Guest reville]

I got my T peruvianus to throw out three bottom pups by having it buried slightly lower on the ground and slicing it off about 6 cm from the ground, the hot summer sun dried the wound to a crust/ unlike normally when it goes like a callous, nice and soft/

because it couldnt grow from the top, it swelled up and then 3 pups emerged on one side.Any ideas how big pups should be before they are removed to start the cycle again (of course with the above method the damage i have caused to the rootstock probably means ill ahve to leave one pup attached)

its worth it for the exponential growth - ive gine from 5 plants to 14 in 6 months and hoping to do it again.

[Ed Dunkel]

It's also a good idea to keep turning the root stock to the sun as exposure to the sun will induce pups to grow there. If you turn it you could end up with 4-6 pups if you are lucky, all around the base.

Thus you increase your crop output by double (or more)

E D

[Torsten]

More pups means slower growth on each pup. I fail to see the logic in having more pups at a slower rate. We grow ours for one season and then cut them up into small pieces. That way we get a lot more than 14 per season.

Rooting is best done on perlite. Just place the cutting on dry perlite and wait till the first roots emerge. The advantage of perlite over sand and soil is that you don't damage the roots when checking on them and also you reduce the chance of rotting drastically due to the lack of pathogens and the low waterholding ability of perlite. Do not mix with vermiculite. We root our sections lying on the side as this produces roots quicker.

[Guest jaq]

Thanks for the advice T,

umm, sorry..can I ask you to elaborate a little?

The ends of this mid-section are starting to toughen up.. should I begin rooting now?

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by rooting lying on the side. I thought roots would emerge only from the exposed tissue (xylem?)

How wet should the perlite be after initial root formation/how often should I re-wet the perlite?

At what stage of root development should I then (carefully) remove the perlite and pot it up in the mix I have?

*sigh* I'm a bona fide newbie..

Thanks again if you're able to help.

I can only imagine how busy you are..so I'm hesitant to say, a page detailing this procedure, similar to the excellent S Divinorum care page, would be very helpful..

love,

jaq

[This message has been edited by jaq (edited 09 May 2000).]

[earthalchemist]

here's some links that will be useful

http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/Phenethylamin...s.growers.guide

http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/Phenethylamin...us.growing.tips

there was a site called san pedro fanatic that had plenty of good info, i don't have the url but it shouldn't be too hard for anyone to find ... have a feeling it's linked from www.lycaeum.org or www.erowid.org somewhere ...

happiness and good growing

earthalchemist

[Ed Dunkel]

This one maybe, Earthalchemist?

The San Pedro Fanatic Report v4.0: http://users.lycaeum.org/~iamklaus/cactindx.htm

I guess you are right Torsten, more pups will slow each others growth down. I guess a full crop of pups just looks better after 3 years of growth.

E D

[Torsten]

>The ends of this mid-section are starting to toughen up.. should I begin rooting now?

Place the cutting on perlite now, but don't water for another 2 weeks.

>I'm not exactly sure what you mean by rooting lying on the side. I thought roots would emerge only from the exposed tissue (xylem?)

No, the vascular tissue grows towards the outside from the bundles running from the centre ring to the areoles. if you are rooting at the ends, then you only have 2 or 3 bundles to root from (plus the centre bundles), but if you root on the side, then you have as many bundles as you have areoles. And not only the bundles directly downwards can root, but also the ones on the rib next to it.

>How wet should the perlite be after initial root formation/how often should I re-wet the perlite?

rather err on the dry side. A cactus will (usually) not die from lack of water, but usually from too much. It can suck up a full reserve of water in a few hours and can live on this for many months. So it is usually a good idea with all cacti to let the perlite dry out inbetween. Once you have lots of roothairs you can water more frequently.

>At what stage of root development should I then (carefully) remove the perlite and pot it up in the mix I have?

There is no hurry. If you put a little nutrient into the water, then you could grow them in perlite forever. But if you want to grow in soil (which is preferable), then you can pot them up sometime in late spring. Don't bother removing the perlite. Just pick up the piece and place in a pot, puring soil in around it. The perlite will improve drainage around the root section and will thus give added protection from rotting.

>a page detailing this procedure, similar to the excellent S Divinorum care page, would be very helpful..

I have decided to put up a separate propagation section (as you may see from the new Cultivation button on the navigation bar), which will have links to pages dealing with everything from germination to rooting and deflasking. But it will take some time to complete this.

[Guest jaq]

Thanks again Torsten,

I'm clear on that now.. (fascinating!)

I like the new nav-bar, btw.

The site gets better & better..much praise!

Thanks also to the alchemist & Ed for the enlightening reading material!

hmm, I hope this doesn't sound sad, but you guys help keep life _interesting_ (is an understatement)

love,

jaq.

[earthalchemist]

jaq - you're welcome

Ed - that's the one, thanks!! i'm always losing things/getting lost in Lycaeum

happiness

earthalchemist

[Ed Dunkel]

I know what you mean earthalchemist, No problemo.

And the same here jaq, your welcome.

E D