Advice on growing San Pedro pup

[CosmicRiver]

Hi! I post here a pic of one of my San Pedros.

Where I live there is high humidity and the nights are cold for more than half of the year, so it gets direct sunlight only in late spring and in the summer. I wouldn't have cut the original plant this short; I had to cut it down to the base because of an infection, unfortunately. The pup has been growing for 4 years.

Should I keep it there or should I separate the pup from the base of the original plant?

Thank you

 

[brokedownpalace10]

I am sure that there will be people who will chime in with more knowledge, but my experience is that Pedro plants in pots seem to get "old"(??) or something. Over the years they get less green and more brown/scaly/pale.

I generally take cuttings off a cactus for years, keeping the cuttings and the original plant big so as to further vigorous growth, but then "retire" the mother when it gets spent looking.

I plant it outside in the spring, knowing it will not survive the following winter, and generally get one more good cutting from it.

The bottom of your plant looks a little spent.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

I am sure that there will be people who will chime in with more knowledge, but my experience is that Pedro plants in pots seem to get "old"(??) or something. Over the years they get less green and more brown/scaly/pale.

I generally take cuttings off a cactus for years, keeping the cuttings and the original plant big so as to further vigorous growth, but then "retire" the mother when it gets spent looking.

I plant it outside in the spring, knowing it will not survive the following winter, and generally get one more good cutting from it.

The bottom of your plant looks a little spent.

Propagating cuttings is one approach, but you can also change the compost and/or repot the mother plant. Regular feeding during the growing season also helps keep the plants healthy. It's natural for older sections of cactus to get woody. My 24 year old PC pedro mother plants are still producing healthy stems with the help of all these care methods. Inevitably with a cactus collection it becomes a question of how much space you have and so you can either share or cull.

CosmicRiver, your plant looks fine to me - feed it with half strength organic tomato feed every couple of weeks during the summer and make sure it gets plenty of sun unless the weather is really hot. It will also enjoy regular misting with distilled water and the occasional foliar feed with this method too.

How cold are your cold nights? The plant might be more hardy than you think.

 

[Grey Fox]

You will get more growth if you leave the column attached. It will start growing new pups when it is ready.

But it needs more light for better growth. Repotting it and figuring out how best to feed it will help too.

Try to give it a sunnier location so that it can grow more. When they are actively growing they can drink a good amount of water. But still be careful not to over do it and get rot. They can grow pretty fast once they have the conditions that they like.

All the best with your cactus!

 

[CosmicRiver]

Thank you all for the advice! I will keep it as it is and fertilize more (I rarely do it ).

Usually, I gradually expose my cacti to direct sunlight, after they have been indoors for months. Otherwise they get burnt.

How cold are your cold nights? The plant might be more hardy than you think.

During the winter the mean temperature at night is slightly below zero. It usually stays between 0 °C and -1 °C, but it can get down to -5 °C. Besides the cold temperature, here winters are very humid (higher than 80% mean relative humidity).

 

[downwardsfromzero]

During the winter the mean temperature at night is slightly below zero. It usually stays between 0 °C and -1 °C, but it can get down to -5 °C. Besides the cold temperature, here winters are very humid (higher than 80% mean relative humidity).

That's exactly the kind of conditions that can wreck quite a few cacti! Similar to my locality but with a lower average. I get my babies (and grown-ups) through similar conditions with hollow wall polycarbonate panels as protection, custom built into a little shelter by the house. It's still important to take care of ventilation and requires vigilance against diseases. Any tiny amount of damage will result in rot requiring immediate attention so carelessness is often punished with loss of specimens or large parts thereof.

Most of my cacti can deal with temperatures as low as -5°C for short periods; it's -6°C that knocked a lot of them down one time. Yours looks as though it would have a similar tolerance and with the one specimen it will be easy to give it protection.

 

[CosmicRiver]

I get my babies (and grown-ups) through similar conditions with hollow wall polycarbonate panels as protection, custom built into a little shelter by the house. It's still important to take care of ventilation and requires vigilance against diseases. Any tiny amount of damage will result in rot requiring immediate attention so carelessness is often punished with loss of specimens or large parts thereof.

What you did sounds cool. Similar to a little greenhouse?
Unfortunately I'm not good at DIY stuff :?

Most of my cacti can deal with temperatures as low as -5°C for short periods; it's -6°C that knocked a lot of them down one time. Yours looks as though it would have a similar tolerance and with the one specimen it will be easy to give it protection.

I actually have two San Pedros (the base I posted before and the top, both coming from the same plant I took a cutting from). And some other cacti as well.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Here are a couple I plan on getting in the ground this year if I get around to it. I noticed a wild Morning Glory creeping up on them and decided to let them play together long enough for a picture before I cut the vine.