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Salvi

rooting large/thick cuttings

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How's it going guys? I've had a large ~4 inch diameter T. pachanoi planted for probably 2.5 months and I thought it had rooted. Two branches had started and were growing quite nicely. However, a couple of days ago, I noticed it was a bit soft. I became curious and pulled it up to find that there were no roots. Since then I have covered the cut end with rooting powder and moved it into a shadier location. I also put it on a heating pad.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience rooting larger/older cuttings as I believe this is the reason it's being stubborn.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)

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yeah, old and big cuttings strike much slower, than young ones.

tip: allways use young growth cacti tissue for rapid root formation.

young growth tissue seems to contain natural occuring hormons aiding root formation.

[ 21. January 2005, 14:26: Message edited by: planthelper ]

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try laying the cutting on its side on top of the soil . ive had the best results this way.

youll find it grows a lot faster as well.

[ 21. January 2005, 19:55: Message edited by: mr b.caapi ]

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Thanks for the advice guys. I did lay a piece of it on its side, however no luck yet. I planted it upright a little while ago.

I'll definitely not purchase any larger specimens in the future. However, is there any way I can help ensure that this one roots? It'd be a shame for such a nice piece to die.

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the old stem section will not die, roots will form eventually.

but take the pups off and root them straight away.

the new pups will form roots fast and you are off the mark, whilst waiting for the big old section to get its own roots, would be time consuming, and the pups will not grow much in the mean time, because they get all there energie from a section without roots and absorbe moisture only via its skin and calluse.

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You could slice it into smaller chunks and get more plants going unless you're after a large plant to start with.I recently planted a mexican fencepost that's 6" in dia. and 5ft long.She was freshly cut and planted a day later into a large pot with gravel/sand/coir until roots formed then I put her into the ground.Rough I know but she hold herself up now :D

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Planthelper has good advice

many small cacti grow a lot faster than one big one

If the big one is a desirable clone then maybe use it as a pup mother. Plant her and just keep cutting off new growth to reroot

shell form roots eventually and then feed her well so she keeps them coming. eventually shell go blind as all the areoles are exhausted but youll prob have enough cacti from here long before that ocurs

this extends also to plants like the bridgesii monstrose

significantly more biomass is generated if every pup is cut off and rerooted. the mother soon makes another and the firts crop of pups will put out their own pups the same season - and so on...

laying in/on perlite is a good trick for slow rooters like pachycereus and myrtillocactus

[ 22. January 2005, 19:59: Message edited by: reville ]

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I treat the big cuts with elemental sulphur(dusting), which is a very basic, safe fungicide. I may sometimes apply some rooting hormone with sulphur and always let them dry thoroughly on the bench/table in airy place. Shade is good too. I keep them like that for minimum one week to let them callus over. Then I pot them up into GRAVEL only. Do not water them in! Rather, I start misting after a few weeks, then watering when the budding roots are visible. It's a very safe method for big cuttings(and small too). I never failed with this. Also, as someone mentioned here before, succulents respond better if stressed a little by a lack of water.

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ref, one doesn't exhaust the areoles, just allways leave a small bottom section of the(to be)removed pup behind, like this you will even increase the number of aereoles.

old cacti material has got one big advantage over young tissue,

it's tough as nails.

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Hey planthelper,

That is interesting.I will have to try that.It may not be astectically pleasing to leave a bit, but that bit will continue the line.thanks

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With any cutting it's best to set it in it's final position as soon as possible.

As soon as the callous forms, set upright for tips and even midsection cuttings,

if that is how their to be planted.

hormones (perhaps produced as a by product from tip growth)

gravitate downward and motivate root growth.

this would explain why midsection "older cacti" are slower rooters than young (tip containing) growth.

Either way it's important to keep the cutting in a stable position so that

hormone concentrations will gather at the gravitational bottom of the cutting.

in theory at least...

In general, I hold my cuttings until they start showing signs of dry rooting

before I place them into soil.

My experience with rooting hormones is that it'll will only cause necrosis and are to be avoided with these plants.

best of luck!

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Flip, how do you store your cuttings while dry rooting? Do you support them against a wall or something? In my experience I've taken a couple peruvianus tips and left them on their sides and they would send roots out the bottom of the callous.

This doesn't really discredit your theory though. I think since they were young and vigorous they would have shot roots out regardless of their positioning.

Perhaps they would have rooted quicker in an upright position.

Kind of off topic, have any of you guys noticed etiolated growth upon rooting? Does this just happen sometimes because there aren't enough roots to support thick growth? I've noticed this lately and it's becoming rather annoying...BTW they are in good bright light, just to eliminate that factor.

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most of mine suffer a bit of etioliation, not really that much of a problem though.

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same thing for if they are pot bound... bought 1 and potted into bigger pot it rocketed up but much thinner... it still hasnt grown out of it fully even tho its more than 3 times its original hight!

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couple peruvianus tips and left them on their sides and they would send roots out the bottom of the callous.

thats only because they were tip cuttings,

even tip cuttings layed on ther sides show a tendency toward sendig roots at the lowest gravitational point.

thats why flips advice is so important, about keeping the cuttings stable, if they get shifted a lot the cacti gets confused where to send out the roots!!

concludes, callus storage position has to be the same as the later to be planted position, so tip cuttings should be callused in an upright position. :P

practicly that means having them first on there sides till the slime has dried off, and than after 3 days or so put them all upright for the 3 weeks of dry callusing or so.

this double handling could be avoided by placing the cuttings on plant trays, or wire mashes of small size, or any (perforated) material that allowes for lots of air flow to the exposed to be callused surface...

[ 28. January 2005, 10:39: Message edited by: planthelper ]

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Yes, I understand what Flip means and it seems like it's probably good advice. However, what I meant was they sent roots out of the cut end, and not the gravitational bottom. I was just pointing out that this isn't alway's the case.

[ 28. January 2005, 11:52: Message edited by: Salvi ]

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I had some trouble with a large section of San Pedro that didn't want ot root. I planted it a bit too early and the soil was damp and mould formed and no roots would form. I cut some off the base and started again, I dried it with a hairdryer and that helped it dry over really quickly and reduced the time I had to have it sitting around while I was waiting for it to callous. I got the hairdryer on it 2 to 3 times a day and left it in the sun during the day, and within a week it was good to go.

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It looks like if the RH% is too high then rooting becomes a bit of a problem.

I would go so far as to say that the higher the humidity the more chance of pupping and the lower, the higher the chance of forming roots???

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That seems to fit what I've seen mesc.

High rainfall here most of the year, so humidity is usually high. I find that around the first good belt of summer is the best time to take cuts, otherwise they seem to develop pups rather than roots.

ed

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Yep my cacti threw out pup after pup when I was living in the highlands and wouldn't root but now I'm in the desert(well it's f'n dry) there's no probs with rooting cacti.

decent women however...

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im in the tropics and most cuttings no matter how long i leave them to callous get a little moldy on the bottom when i plant them out, i havent had any problems so far with this. the first one i did i kept cutting it off and waiting a month and it kept happening, so in short i dont think it does any harm, i could be wrong though. i was going to use a device i made instead, just a cut up toilet roll with holes in it, this woudl let air circulate and roots form without the mold. also i sprayed one cutting on the base with copper oxychloride and then left it a week, last time i checked it didnt have any mold.

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Salvi:

Yes, I understand what Flip means and it seems like it's probably good advice.  However, what I meant was they sent roots out of the cut end, and not the gravitational bottom.  I was just pointing out that this isn't alway's the case.      

tip cuttings get no roots laying on there side apart from the calluse area because, the young tissue from the top doesn't form roots.

i have seen 2m long stems laying flat on the ground and forming roots, the only location that didn't send out roots where the first 15cm of the tip. the roots comming out the callus of a tip cutting, follow the gravitation rule aswell,

pokeing out of the callus, just at the lowest point (meaning mostly at 6 o' clock).

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Sorry it took me so long to reply,

Yes it seems as if it's all covered thus far,

however to answer the question.

After making any cutting I lay it upon it's side in a area where it will

be exposed to dry moving air, until well healed (1 week +)

I will then reposition upright and slightly tilted against a wall

with a towel underneath to draw away moisture.

Usually they'll rest this way for the next few months in the office collecting dust

until the first signs of rooting... then it's onto planting.

I also agree with rooting originating from the core's mature fiber ring

this is the cacti's vascular system (that needs to be tapped).

It's just another reason why topical application of rooting hormone use is questionable...

It may "work" if it's applied via shallow injection to the core ring.

but in general it's not required and may cause damage

or infection straight up the whole plant

side thought:

I do wonder if the tip has anything to do with root stimulation,

if it's just a general product of cellular metabolism

that is in a negative feedback loop with the (missing) root system.

Or it's a general root growth stimulant that is gravitating towards the "6 O'Clock " stimulating roots as well as "rooting".

anyway,

My subjective observations say that tipless cuttings take longer to spawn roots.

Light and moisture availability may also be factors.

bests!

[ 09. February 2005, 09:44: Message edited by: Flip ]

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Flip, I think I agree on the rooting hormone being questionable. I have heard of some growers applying it directly after cutting so as to allow it to soak into the wound. I'm not sure how effective this is, but I think it's worth a try.

Also, in my experience as well, tip cuttings root far quicker than logs, even from the same column. Of course, this could just have to do with age of the material.

Btw I'm still waiting on that darn log to root. An interesting note: a side branch I cut off of it hasn't rooted yet. However, I cut the bottom of this branch off and planted it, and I'm quite positive it's rooted.(I haven't yanked it out to check, although it's firmly in place and firm to the touch) In this case, the older tissue would have rooted quicker.

And, more interestingly, when I snapped this branch off, when I looked at the "cut" end, there was what looked like a root bud sprouting. (Is this making sense at all?) Basically it looked like a root was sprouting inside of the cactus...needless to say I can't quite figure it out.. :confused:

cheers :)

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