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Are these safe to plant?

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Hi everyone...

I had my cuttings sitting a little way in front of a heater to speed up callusing (it is cold and damp here, and some of them were starting to go moldy), and it seems that the parts where they were toughing has gone brown and soggy... I assume from the rapid evaporation being trapped where they were touching.

SoggyCactus1.jpg

SoggyCactus2.jpg

Has anyone had any experience with this? Will they be safe to root out as they are, or should I cut the brown bits of and let them callus? The brown bits are not really soggy now, but they look a bit dubious to me.

Also, from these photos, can anyone guess how close they are to being sufficiently callused to root out?

All info is appreciated, as I have never done this before.

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I've only planted two cactus cuttings before, ever. But, I normally wait until the callous covers all of the 'green bits' on the wound. It should be a nice beige/brown colour, all over where the skin was broken.

If there is still any green flesh showing, it may rot, once in the ground.

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looks to me like the flesh is brused from cutting. nothing to worry about as the roots sprout from the centre core.

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Yeah the cut is just bruised. Id say its ready to root, just make sure the rooting medium is absolutely dry. If theres even a hint of moisture in there, that brown could turn to rot easily. Personally Id plant that, and in about 2-3 weeks Id pull it up and make sure theres no rot. Also at this time you can see if roots are coming out yet. If it does begin to rot, make a cut a few cm above the rot and let it dry and callous again.

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Push on the offending area with your finger...if it's brittle don't worry sit it upright in situ, if it's squishy slice the section off and start again.Either way check it now in case it is rotting and you lose more.

edit:on second thought it doesn't look safe to root IMO I wouldn't trust putting an infected area on damp sand...you might lose the whole thing.

Sunshine and fresh outside air might help at this stage.

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Thanks everyone, I think I'll leave it for a couple weeks and make sure it doesn't get infected...

How is bruising caused?

Like I said, it happened from being left in front of the heater for about an hour... before this, it had been drying in a cool area, and there was no marks in these areas... furthermore, the marks only appeared where the cacti were touching each other/the chair... it seems that hot moisture has "steamed" the skin around the small cuts...

The skin feels quite dry and brittle now, well a bit like plastic actually... I'm tempted to just cut it off anyway, it seems like it can't really hurt?

Thanks again, this is the first time I've done this, and I don't want to ruin it!

Edited by IllegalBrain

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its not the skin that will hurt, its the possibly rotting flesh underneath. i wouldnt plant that, id make a diagonal cut removing that squashed bit and allow to callouse. if you dont have nice weather for callousing a cool white fluro in a well ventilated area seems to work well as long as the cactus is of decent size and or moisture content (i tried to callouse a small pup once that had been knocked off a large plant but it just shriveled)

if you dont want to cut it again pull off some of that dry skin and decide for yourself.

personally i would cut - better to be safe than rotten

good luck mate

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Ok let me review this

you live in a humid / wet environment

made the cutting and placed it near a heat source

you seen some healing and a retreating of live tissue from some of the edges.

the dead areas are still soft/ "leathery" and discolored

Alright, I would not call these leathery areas bruised at all

they're dead tissue that was quickly abandoned by the plant

(it's building a wall further in)

the discolor may be the decomposition of pigment or infection

nothing to worry about... just remove it with a pair of clippers

being careful not to cut into the living flesh.

If my plants develop this I can usually let it all dry out and snap it off with my fingers

just as long as you don't leave it on when it's put into the ground.

it'll only serve as a host for infectious agents.

I think you've got a good base going here

I would take a towel (paper or cloth) folding it up to make a pad of sorts

and prop up the cacti on that so that's upright against a wall and let it get some light.

it'll take some time for the cutting to build up the resources and get itself rooting

no need to plant. Just let it be for a few months.

benign neglect works wonders

I usually set mine after they've shown some signs of starting to root

and I never pull them out of the pot to "check" and look if they're doing alright.

you should be able to tell from the tone of what's above ground

to get a idea of what's going on below.

use a low nitrogen soil mix and lighten it up with perlite and sharp cut sand.

you should do well.

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When rooting cuttings, where do the new roots emerge from? I have read that they come from the central core, but is this still true for cuttings that are rooted horizontally?

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Yeh, i was wondering the same thing. Where do the roots form from?? The core, like previously stated in this post ?

I have a several cutting that I have bothered many times (pulled them up to check on their progress) They are getting these blisters on the callous that turn black. They are potted in gravel and rarely watered. The blisters are toward the outside edges of the cactus (not on the core) I thought they might be roots emerging and hence my question above. I will try to take a photo of the blisters tomorrow and post it here..

ps.. the day one of my cuttings sets root will be a very happy day

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From my experience, roots come from two places. The core, where there is a ring of little "fibers". The other place they come from are the aeriols that are under the dirt, or sometimes right at the line. Whenever I plant a cutting, I make sure to have at least 2, usually 3 aeriols underground, to ensure plenty of roots. I find that putting a cactus deeper in the soil results in faster growth later. Who care about putting an extra inch of cactus underground, when that inch will grow back in 3 weeks!

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keep it dry

keep it warm

or at least keep it dry

wait a few more weeks

you wont lose time as the roots wont grow till its warm anyway

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re: rooting.

here's the basics.

all "roots" are connected to the plants vascular system

Having mutated a cell (via rooting hormone) is not going to do any good

if it's not connected to this system. most plants do not have such a large amount of tissue

in between the outer layers and the plants main transport system as the succulents.

so the directions for a woody herb stem are not intended for a cacti.

There was a thread debating the actual mechanism for what fosters rooting and how

I say it's based upon hormones that are somewhat affected by gravity that cause cell

morphing into root cells from the inner core of the plant that move outwards.

They do not need to emerge from any point on the skin.

I believe that there is a direct relationship between new growth and the

encouragement of rooting. Ambient water does not play a major (if any real) factor in this.

simply. place your cacti upright and roots will appear at the lowest gravitational

pooling point on the plant (bottom) in time.

They'll start from the vascular core and work their way outwards

generally I dry root the plants before I place them into soil.

don't wait too long or you'll get thin plant growth from the tip.

my experience is about a month or so from the root starting to form

till I see some new tip growth. the more tip growth the more rooting

after the first stage have stalled.

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generally I dry root the plants before I place them into soil.

I wouldn't recommend any kind of intercourse with your cactus, but shouldn't most gardening be done 'dry', ie. wearing clothes? :P

But seriously though; what is dry-rooting?

How do you root a cactus before it has a medium to root in?

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How do you root a cactus before it has a medium to root in?

How? Given time the plant will produce roots on it's own.

soil and water is not required.

I thought I explained it a bit.... guess not. :blink:

simply, take your cutting after it's healed up a bit and place it upright against a wall

I tend to keep mine indoors in a well lit area. where they can stay for quite a extended time

dry roots will develop at the bottom of the plant

granted a dry rooted plant will not have a extensive network of fine roots emerging

but main "tap roots" that are sturdy -perhaps a few inches long and hardened to air exposure

These will rapidly develop when placed into soil.

what's the advantage?

well you have a well healed plant that hasn't been sitting in a pot

having to fight off all sorts of nasties for months on end -taking up space.. (rot?)

but instead, it's "ready to go" processing food and water within a week of planting

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Hi...

Don't take this the wrong way, Flip, but from reading this and other threads relating to this subject, it seems that most people disagree that 'dry rooting' is better, or can't see sufficient point in doing so. Not that what most people think is necessarily helpful.

I am interested in hearing what you would say in reply to Torsten's comment on another post RE: gravity/hormones/moisture being the primary factor in rooting, particularly in response to his experiment with moist sphagmum moss placed on top and underneath cuttings, with the result that roots came on top or beneath in correspondence to the moisture contained in the moss.

Does it take considerably longer for roots to appear using the dry rooting method?

Sorry if these questions seem obtuse or antagonistic, but I am very new to this and am just trying to make sense of the differing opinions.

Thanks

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