Noob Q

[dooby]

Hello,

Apparently it is possible to have cuttings from cacti re-grow roots...

I was told that if you cut a Lophophora just above the root, it is possible to "save" both the cutting and the root, thus doubling your amount of cacti...

Is this true? And is it actually useful as I imagine the healing process for both root and cutting might be quite long?

Can you harvest Lophophora without "killing" it?

If you cut a "pup" from L. williamsii caespitosa and have it re-root will it become a "mother" as well?

I'm sorry if these are silly questions, but most info I found regarding propagation is about either grafting or seeds...(no interest in grafting, no patience for seeds)

PLUR

 

[dreamer042]

Yes, you can replant the button and it will grow a taproot, the taproot will heal and regrow a button. Yes it takes a long long time (many years) and probably isn't worth the effort because you'd get growth from the original cactus the whole time the 2 sections would need to heal.

Yes, harvesting loph's without killing em is simply a matter of making sure to leave the taproot in tact and leaving a bit of the green flesh above to regrow when you cut a button. There are guides on erowid and elsewhere online if you google "peyote harvesting".

I do believe you can cut and root pups from a caespitosa but again it takes a long time for a cut loph to re-root

 

[dooby]

Thanks dreamer for your answers...

The medicine is teaching me to be patient even before I've taken it

For the time being (as I'll have to wait many many moons before Lophophora can be consumed in adequate amounts) I'll be going for Trichocereus as it seems that re-rooting a Trichocereus cutting takes a lot less time than Lophophora...