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Help with my San Pedro cactus

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Nathaniel

Nathaniel
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Jul 29, 2011
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hey friends, i just have a quick question. well, as some may or may not know i got some san pedro cuttings and have been rooting them for some time now. they finally have developed some decent roots but they have grown a bit in the process and i think they are still trying to grow... i can't find my references for this, but it's when the cactus grows skinny at the tip when it should be putting its energy elsewhere. i forget what this is called, but basically i am wondering what to do about it. i have been watering them and the roots have grown really well, yet my cuttings are getting all emaciated at the top. what's the proper procedure for this conundrum?
 
Etiolation.

More info, are the cacti inside or outside? How much light and water are they getting?

Etoliation can't really be fixed to my knowledge, but if it's winter and they are outdoors I'd stop giving them water during the winter months. (Cacti are CAM plants meaning they have evolved various pathways to deal with drought)
 
i agree with the post above this, but also you should know that if you take a big cutting from a mature plant and then root it and grow it, it is going to grow thinner than the branch the cutting was taken from
it likely needs more time/light
 
in my experience its usually lack of sufficient light. I had this happen with mine when I had them in pots inside behind a glass door. I cleared an area of my garden and put them in the ground. they soon sorted themselves out and are now nice and fat all over. I do live in South Africa though which means great light pretty much all year round.

yeah if its winter stop watering them, they go quite dormant and won't grow much during winter at all. I find they rot a lot easier in winter.

good luck!
 
thanks, everyone! yes, they are indoors... i have them sitting in the kitchen where they get a decent amount of light. however, it is autumn and i haven't watered them too much at all. i am not sure if they need more light because they have been rooting forever (i had to cut off the bottoms because of rot) and they now finally have some roots.

here'a a picture
Snapshot_20111031.jpg


i'm not sure i should try to make them dormant right now since it's not exactly winter... but when i do, how much light should they be getting?
 
hey man I think they might be alittle too far gone (grown too much). Have a google for etoliation (Thanks Albert, I always battle to remember that word) see what some cacti specialists suggest, but you may need to get some artificial light for them if you want them to fatten up before they grow too long. my thin sections were only about 2 inches long and they managed to recover but I have heard that if it gets too long it will just keep growing like that and the only hope is to cut off the tops and grow pups off of them. they look nice and green btw :) All the best. I really hope they recover nicely.
 
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