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Magicman69
All About the Benjamins



Registered: 05/29/13
Posts: 6,876
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Cactus noob here
#19149266 - 11/17/13 11:17 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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So I'm getting four San Pedro or Bridgesii cuttings for Christmas (wouldn't it be awesome if she surprised me with 4 of each!) to start my collection. I'm a super noob when it comes to growing plants of any kind, so excuse my ignorance.
How to root?: So for rooting I want tip cuttings as opposed to center cuts correct? I'm confused as to where the roots will form from after I place it into the cactus soil. What size pot do I need?
Would greatly appreciate any links to good threads for such information. As you can tell I don't know much, but have a passion for the species. Thanks ahead of time for all your support.
Edited by Magicman69 (11/17/13 11:21 AM)
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verbage
White Squall


Registered: 11/02/13
Posts: 201
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Tips or middle cuts are both fine. The roots will grow from the sides out of the bottom of the cactus. It will be pretty clear where the bottom is on a tip cut. You will need to make an educated guess on where the bottok is of a middle cut.
The cut will need to be dry and scabbed over before placing it in the ground. Chances are it will already be scabbed over when you get it. The helpful links sticky in this forum has good teks on this process. Make sure you sift bark from and soil you buy. The soil needs to drain quickly.
Sounds like you got a good girl.
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nicechrisman
Interdimensional space wizard



Registered: 11/07/03
Posts: 33,241
Last seen: 4 years, 6 months
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What verbage said. What kind of climate do you live it? I could give you other tips but they would depend on where you live. I've grown cacti in the wettest part of Washington, and am now growing them in a warm dry climate. The particulars will vary depending on your climate and whether you have to do the indoor/outdoor thing. Feel free to PM me too.
-------------------- "Cosmic Love is absolutelely ruthless and highly indifferent: it teaches its lessons whether you like/dislike them or not." John C. Lily
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Uneak
Hi

Registered: 02/03/13
Posts: 413
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For rooting, you could just throw the calloused cuttings in an empty pot, keeping sunlight off the bottoms of them. I also saw mention on another forum about rooting by throwing the cuttings into socks. The main idea is to just keep the bottom part of the cutting dry and in the dark. If you put it in a pot with soil, don't water it until you're sure the cutting has roots. It'll easily last several months without water, but if you water too soon, rot could ruin it.
The Trichocereus Growers Unite thread http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/18005647/page/1/fpart/1 has a lot of information, but it's not consolidated into a single post.
Soil mixes vary, depending on climate. If you live somewhere rainy, you could go with a well-draining mix that will dry out in a couple of days. I haven't been growing for long, but I have most of my cacti in a mixture of Turface, cactus soil, and lava rocks. It dries out quickly and I can just add fertilizer every once in a while. Even if I water daily and it rains, my cactus seem to be fine.
Edited by Uneak (11/18/13 12:13 AM)
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GoOnThen
Stranger


Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 1,046
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: Cactus noob here [Re: Uneak]
#19152752 - 11/18/13 02:36 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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When I got my first cutting I went and searched the net high and low looking for the fastest and best way to root Trichs and I have tried the cutting in a sock, bottom wrapped in news paper, cutting in a pot full of perlite, cutting standing in a empty pot, standing up on top of the soil in a pot. standing up in the corner and rooting hormone. I can honestly say that non of them were better than just planting a well calloused cutting in the potting mix and in the pot you want to grow it in and placing it the shade or where it gets morning sun and then start watering in a few weeks time. Dont pull it out to see if its got roots you will know when its got roots because it will stop dehydrating and plump up.
The biggest factor that I have noticed that effects root growth is heat. I have had cuttings sit all winter and do nothing but once it warmed up they throw roots and start growing.
In my opinion rooting Trich cuttings any other way other than planting them is like growing Pereskiopsis hydroponically........... I just don't see any benefit at all. All I see is that it is making it harder than it needs to be. 
Cheers Got
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