Cactus branching

[Guest Asterias13]

I have three Trichocereus pachanoi x peruvianus hybrids which I started from seed in 1995. They have made no pups yet, while one which I left with my parents eight years ago has made dozens of pups and branches. Mine have received proper care, and despite differing growth rates, all look alike. The one left with my folks has recieved insufficient light, insufficient watering, and, no doubt, too much fertilizer for its growing situation. It is lanky, prostrate, still making only the fine, soft spines of a juvenile cactus, and yet I can't help loving it for all of that branching.

Does anyone have any ideas (aside from benign neglect) for stimulating the formation of pups and branches on Trichs?

[Ed Dunkel]

Jam a nail down the tip, that should start pupping!!1

Seriously, if you want it to pup without making the plant look "damaged", I'm not too sure.

But cutting off the growing tip will definitely do it. Driving a nail down the tip will look less bad then a straight cut, but then it might lead to infection of the tip. Clean the nail!!!

Anyone with a cleaner/non injuring method?

[Jack]

take a cutting and plant on its side.

[Rev]

Chop it to pieces

So much easier

You can do it most stealthily but cutting the plant 1/3 up, healing and retooting the top 2/3 and cuttng the bottom into chunks to plant out

Gives you plenty to trade and u can keep these chunks as pup makers for 2 years after whch they kind of go blind as they run out of areoles so u plant it out whe it get sto the last one - kind of retiring it to green pastures

Id definitely swap something for one of these hybrids

i should post a pic of the chunks

or as Ed says damage the tip

ive used a hot sterile knife to cauterise the growing tip

tricky - kind of like trying to get a fish in the brain with a spike - its a small target

but it works

[strangebrew]

Does damaging the growing tip make it branch from the bottom or does another branch just start from the top like cutting off the tip?

I've noticed with some old pachs that when they are chopped, they often send multiple branches out from the bottom.

[Rev]

Ive read that auxins from the main growing point on a plant inhibit the growth of side branches in many cases so when you pinch out the top it enhances side branching as youve have noticed

I suppose this is going on with cacti cos when i cut the top off quite a tall pedro (had the rot) it cause 3 fat pups to byrst out of the bottom

the column is still over half metre long but all the pups started at the base. Ill be execting the column to pup near the top soon and resume growth too

Normally my pedros grow single columnar until they are damaged or get more than 1m then the start pupping from the base and go multistemmed, at which point the side arms undergo rapid growth while the parent stalls. The closer the side arms get to the parent column the more they slow and the parent column resumes growth again it seems.

[occidentalis]

Yes that is true. One of the main functions of auxin is suppression of lateral branching. When you remove the central meristem many tall plants will start branching sideways - think of 'tipping' cannabis.

[Flip]

set the plant at a angle and expose the length to moderate sunlight.

I've got another kk242 from seed that has

(after such encouragement)

to not only pup in the lower 1/3rd

but also double flower this year.

bests

[Guest Asterias13]

Hello to everyone,

and thanks for all of the response! I'll admit that I was hoping to avoid cutting or damaging tips for the time-being. In any event, since we're heading toward winter in France and I live in a very humid environment, such surgery might be better left for next season.

However, Reville and Creach, your input on auxins answered my question: The plant I left with my parents in the US stayed thin and weak, and has a trailing, almost hanging growth pattern. This means that the growing tips are sometimes lower than the older parts of the plant...too low to exert dominance via auxins, and this explains all of the branching, which takes place both at the base and close to the tips.

Flip, your success with laying the cactus more or less on its side confirms this mechanism, so I think that two of those I've kept with me are gong to take a little siesta.

As for trading cuttings, I'll happily do so once I've got some , but distance and quarantines might have something to say about that .

[dawgboy]

A different approach to forcing pupping is set out here, involving using a tree sealant to “glue” the growing tip:

http://www.sphosting.com/cactus/grafting_tips.html

There are a bunch of other excellent grafting tips there, and the rest of the site is great as well.

I seem to recall Michael Smith suggesting an experiment (here or elsewhere - don't recall, sorry) a while ago about using superglue on the growing tip, presumably to similar effect. I don’t know whether he ever got around to trying it though.

I understand that high nitrogen fertilisers can cause splitting of some cacti, as well as inducing pupping. If your parents used “normal” fertiliser, a high nitrogen component may be involved, which could have induced pupping (in conjunction with the other issues mentioned).

cheers

db

[Flip]

thats a good point. lawn fertilizers are usually very high in nitrogen

I should include a image of my cacti

if anything to show the angle of it's lean against the fence.

and come to think of it,

I did give her a nice dose of ammonium sulfite earlier this year.

After 4 years of some intentional neglect.. that consisted of a

small pot, no feeding, indirect light only and hardly any watering.

I moved her into a sunny spot up against a fence to support her

this spring that gave about 6+ hours of strong summer sun.

that bathed her entire length (about 6 feet of cacti)

so perhaps both played changes in environment played a role.

as well as the lean (duh?)

[ 29. September 2004, 08:10: Message edited by: Flip ]

[lollercakes]

That is one big cactus.