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Starting a Cactus-Garden - Questions of the Newcomer

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If it's only surface mold it might not be so awful. Are there any soft spots? Soft spots mean there's a real problem and you will have to trim it and let it callus over again, but I've seen light surface mold like that which didn't seem to do any damage.

The best luck I've had rooting cuttings is to put them upright in cactus soil, sprinkle just little water around the edge of the base every now and then and be patient. Be aware that you should give cuttings sunlight only in proportion to how much their roots are developed or they'll burn. Probably shouldn't give them strong direct sunlight the first Season.

The easiest way to get cacti production going is to buy rooted plants, the larger the better. I started off with cuttings mostly and had good luck with them but rooted ones get you a head start, even if they tend to be more expensive.

Starting them with seeds can produce an abundance of seedlings fairly quickly but you won't be gacking and yacking tea anytime soon. The gold standard for indoor production is probably by grafting seedlings to Pereskiopsis. Both Wakinyan and Pete666 are big on grafting. Here's a real rabbit hole thread of Pete666's where he's getting serious about it:



What grow zone are you in? I'm in 7a, and mine are just about to come out of dormancy.

Also, have you done mescaline before? If not you're in for a treat.

And to Merkin and Madhatress I'm always jealous of you all who aren't limited to pots and don't have to deal with Winter, but 7a is what it is. Ends up being a labor of love. 😁
 
I'm with wolfie on this, that little bit of external mould on a buried surface is nothing to worry about as part of a normal soil ecology. All of my cuttings have seen this during the rooting process and if it ever was to cause a problem it would mean the cutting was weak to start with.

All that being said, what does the rot look like? Or is it just that little bit of mould that your worried about?

Overall, it's a matter of learning the preferences of your plants and in this case you may have been better off waiting until your local growing season had properly started before trying to get your cuttings going. Kept dry and cool they likely wouldn't start rotting - but when getting into cactus cultivation you will inevitably have some losses as you familiarise yourself with the techniques.

The silver lining being that you can save the rotten bits for extraction.
 
Anymore, to root a cutting I just cut it, let the end dry (maybe) and stick it in soil mixed with sand.

Then I do not water for a long time. Months. 1/2 to one year.

I don't water sparingly, I do not water at all. I actually usually take my cuttings at the beginning of winter (worst time) now that my cacti are in a window, but I don't water them till into the next summer.

Cactus will take a lot more lack of water than we think.

Easiest way to kill any cactus to by overwatering. Pedro will take a lot of water in the summer, especially outside, but it's also sensitive to overwatering in the winter. I don't water even rooted cactus in the winter.
 
The best luck I've had rooting cuttings is to put them upright in cactus soil, sprinkle just little water around the edge of the base every now and then and be patient. Be aware that you should give cuttings sunlight only in proportion to how much their roots are developed or they'll burn. Probably shouldn't give them strong direct sunlight the first Season.
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I took care that I exactly follow these steps: Just give super light water to increase root growth and make sure the soil will drain fast.

To do this I put the cacti in corase sand (even faster draining than regular cacti soil)
and only watered them 1x so far.

And this 1x already made it moldy?? :( So this is exactly what you wrote. Still was it already too much? I was absolute at minimum.



Anyways it seems only on the surface. One was simply also gooey inside a little bit. Picture is attached. I put it into sulfur and now after 3 days it is dry again. That picture looks pretty bad, but I think now it's okay. I will not simply not water them at all, to be sure. I guess it's just as fine as giving a little water?


What grow zone are you in? I'm in 7a, and mine are just about to come out of dormancy.
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I think I am 8 or 9. And never did mescalin, but dont wanna just easily buy some big cacti, instead want to establish some small little green friend circle and just have something to eat from time to time. Hope I have something like a 'natural 2C-B supply' then.



I'm with wolfie on this, that little bit of external mould on a buried surface is nothing to worry about as part of a normal soil ecology. All of my cuttings have seen this during the rooting process and if it ever was to cause a problem it would mean the cutting was weak to start with.
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You say I should not worrie about it. So okay: The plant might just grow on and also get roots and I can pot it. But will the mold go away again? Or will it now just stay like this? Will there be a point where I need to worry if it is still moldy, even if it is just like that and not getting gooey? Can't imagine that this should stay like this, but also can't imagine that it will just vanish over night again?


Anymore, to root a cutting I just cut it, let the end dry (maybe) and stick it in soil mixed with sand.
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How will you know that it has rooted? Just stick it out every 1 month? Also how long should the roots be to pot the cactus in regular soil and start (light) watering?


Thanks for any answers and cheers :love:
 

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Yes. I mean even watering one time is possibly too much. No water, no how, if the rooting conditions aren't optimal.

I know it's rooted when it begins to grow. Then you can water in the summer. I personally put cactus in the same soil it will grow in, 1/2 sand and 1/2 soil. If I do transplant, all the dirt from the smaller pot goes into the bigger one.

Make lots of plants and don't try to push the plants so hard. Cactus thrive with neglect.

Maybe go ahead and buy some to consume to scratch that itch. Buy a couple big cuttings, plant the tips and consume the rest.

Pedro takes a long tome to begin steady production, but there's little maintenance.
 
Yes Yes so I'm starting to learn from mistakes xD

1- better no water while rooting
also the reason why all my cacti probably still have not rooted is that they are still in dormancy. In the internet it is written down that cacti take 1-4 weeks and only very big ones longer. But I guess that always counts for growing season, because people only do cuts at either start or middle of growing season. So that is why never people write: making them outside of growing season might take you months. So I will just wait more.

2- Grow-light conditions are not too great for non-rooted cacti. I could only choose from either NO light in my room, it is of course not dark but for cacti it is like no light ... or full light in a growing tent. I chose #2 because I thought otherwise they might not be activated enough. I now came to my friend and saw this poor cactus was quite soft at one side, also looks dehydrated. So I took him out of this tent again. Still he has new growth so is probably out of dormancy, but anyways his little bit soft condition in the side facing that light means probably way too much light.

Also the cacti in that grow tent have some minor sun burn, I guess it is because I did not harden them gradually :oops: but it is not much and now after 2 weeks they are probably hardened anways hehe ... so the others will stay inside (they are rooted and show new growth).




Now I just have 2 new questions:

1. When is the best time to make a cut? I guess best time is as early as possible in the growing season. Because cacti will get out of dormancy and start root instead of lying down for ages, but still have a chance to get most out of their new growth over that year?

2. I read a fertilizer should be low on nitrogen, but high in phosphate and potassium. What I have now is: 3-5-7. It is especially cacti fertilizer and people told me that is low in nitrogen. Is that indeed a good mix? I'm simply asking because there were even more cacti-labelled fertilizer with even 5-5-7 and that means quite much more nitrogen (5 instead of 3).

3. If I have a mother plant which is cut quite at the bottom ... then new pups will arrive out of areols. But then this Areol is gone for growing a new pup. So when concluding that means a mother plant can only raise a certain number of pups right? Let's say I cut a mother plant quite close to earth and only leave 20 areols. So if she gets 3 new pups every time then after 6x harvesting the plant is basically 'used up' because it cannot produce any pups anymore, even though she might live on for like 30 more years? That means I need to consider to not cut off too low or my plant will basically 'run out of areols' and be waste even though being well-grown over years?
 
Many of my cactus cuttings have simply sprouted roots once they've felt ready, without going anywhere near a pot. Only one specimen needed the sand treatment and that was because it was heavily crusted and had not rooted in something like six or seven years(!)

Keeping them out of any growing medium and waiting for them to grow roots of their own accord certainly helps in preventing mould formation. Keeping them in shade, maybe wrapped in paper, should also assist this approach to rooting. I think some types sprout roots more readily than others though. The other thing to be wary of is the temperature - too warm and they'll start growing etiolated, but OTOH this may encourage root formation. This is just my experience from applying a lazy minimalist approach.

Informed by the above, it doesn't entirely matter when you take the cuttings as long as you can be confident that the cut surfaces will callus over sufficiently before any excessively cold or damp periods.

Regarding your question about areoles, you shouldn't cut the stems off (not all of them, at least) where they sprouted through at the areole but rather do some of them a few centimeters higher so that you leave some more areoles for new pups to grow from. It should be clear that you can cut some of the pups off at the areole level as long as you take a sufficient number of the cuts at a higher level up the stem. That way you can sustain the mother areole count for future sprouting. To reiterate, the way to ensure that you have enough areoles is by not cutting them all off.

Trichocereus cacti in general are a lot more tolerant of nitrogen than many other cacti. Several growers, myself included, apply undiluted urine multiple times during the growth season - on established plants, of course - and the cacti appear to love it. Smell avoidance appears to act as a means of dose limitation.
 
I used to take cuttings towards the end of the growing Season because it just seemed like the thing to do, but these days I'm more likely to take them right in the middle of their fastest growth phase because it's satisfying to see them rebound with new growth so quickly. Other times I take cuttings because the plant/pot combination is becoming unwieldy.
 
The main thing about rooting cuttings is to make sure that a strong callus has formed before introducing water or any potting medium. The callus should not flex or crack when firm pressure is applied to it with a finger tip. If the callus is soft or cracks then the cutting should stay exposed to air for longer. The cactus' clear skin provides a barrier that prevents fungus from attacking the flesh. Cactus flesh holds a lot of water. Fungus loves to attack it. You have to give the cutting a chance to form a callus, which is basically a scar that acts as a new skin and provides protection against fungus. The cutting should be kept dry in a location that has good air flow. After a strong callus forms, then you can attempt to root the cactus because it will be able to protect itself against rot.

It doesn't need any water when you first plant it after the callus has formed. It takes time for the roots to develop. Keep the soil dry so the cactus will want to send out roots to find water. After it starts to root then you can water it. A little water goes a long way at first. And don't bake it in too much heat and sun while you wait for it to root.

It will still pup from areoles that are below the soil line. But if you cut off too much of the plant then it doesn't have a lot of energy reserves left to pup from. It will still pup, but it will be a slower process. Its always best not to harvest more than half of the plant.
 
Grey Fox said:
It will still pup from areoles that are below the soil line. But if you cut off too much of the plant then it doesn't have a lot of energy reserves left to pup from. It will still pup, but it will be a slower process. Its always best not to harvest more than half of the plant.
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Exactly. That's the best thing you can do to maximize growth, much more than grow lights.

A cactus a foot or three tall will produce much more in a year than a little stump you've left to produce new pups. A little stump might give you a skinny little 3" pup whereas a cut cactus a few feet tall might produce another foot.

The more decent size plants you have, the more you will produce.

*******************

I stopped using lights in the winter when I cycled my cactus outside since they didn't go dormant and winter growth was etiolated.
 
Ok cool thanks for the input.


Here some more questions:

1. What exactly is cactus etiolation?

= it is the cactus suddenly growing pretty narrow instead of its usual shape

As a consequence it seems to be the worst nightmare, because if a cactus took 3 years to grow to X thickness, then after loosing Y cm due to etiolation you basically start again at year 1 or 2 (in terms of cati thickness, for later on cuttings etc.).

Is that roughly true?

How to avoid etiolation?

- dont put a cactus (tip) into too high sun if it has no roots
- ... ?

What else and what can I do IF I get some etiolation? It's not reversible I guess, so what is your reaction then?



2. If I should not water my cacti when they are not rooted to be SUPER SAFE, then how about spraying their foot with a mist-sprayer?

They will have some humidity which they might feel through their thick outer green skin, but the actual cut down inside of the soil (or outside, if not even potted) will not get wet. As mold will start at the cut area, then this will never be wet, only the green skin just above it.

So my understanding that will keep everything dry which would get moldy, while still giving the cactus a small 'appetizer' for water.

Any problems with that trial?



Lastly apart from my now small cactus garden I also bought 1x big to do the infamous CIELO on that poor guy.
Even worse he/she is tortured now in darkness and to make it even worse, I also will try that insect-bite-simulator.

I already used a knife and made some terrible things to the poor cactus, but just to itch him a little. :twisted:

Some few very smal cut-outs (0,5x0,5 cm) and then just some stabs inside, so it will not be a realy cutout with removed skin/flesh.

Looks like this and hope it will lead somewhere:
 

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etiolation is from low light. The cactus won't thicken up, but new growth will be thicker if light is sufficient. So, you can grow thicker new growth and cut and root it.
 
So when Etiolating that means the original cactus width is not "lost", but if the cactus is placed in real sun again then it will instantly (growth-rate dependend) again start growing at it's "full diameter" which it had before, getting back to the original state in like 1 month?

Or will it then also continue doing the small growth and just get bigger due to the size-increase which it anyways would have done due to aging, meaning it reverts only over the course of like 1 year?


I'm currently unsure where to put my non-rooted cacti ... because the grow light in that one tent of a friend made it look sick, shrinking in size and getting wrinkles. But now I can only place them at a window where they never get direct sunlight, it's even quite dark there ...
 
Cactus growing is the long game. They are living beings and you will do best to take the time to get to know them personally. It should only be a few weeks before your cacti can get out in the fresh air. Meanwhile, resist the temptation to fiddle around with them too much.

If they are somewhere cool-ish and relatively dark, the main thing is that they stay out of harm's way but are still accessible enough for regular checks on their condition. Check for rot, mould, infestation, etiolation - and, of course, roots: maybe not every day but once in a week to ten days will still be fine. You can instead consider where the plants will go once they're growing - and what you'll do with them come next winter.

Always be aware of the likelihood of sunburn if you place shade-stored plants out in the open. Introduction to outdoor lighting conditions needs to be done gradually. I sometimes give my plants parasols for shade if the summer sun kicks in suddenly as it is wont to do in these parts.

An etiolated section will largely stay as thin as it grew, expansion from moisture absorption notwithstanding. The plant will only regain normal width from fresh growth at the apex under conditions of sufficient illumination. And yes, I would mot definitely avoid putting an unrooted cutting under a grow lamp. It's no surprise to hear that desiccation was the result.
 
The compromise of using that grow lamp was simply, that I read when they stay in pretty dark places they might not root in months, while it would do so within 2 weeks upon having some light which activates them.

But now as I probably activated this one baby and got it out of the grow conditions back into the low-light conditions, I am afraid it will etiolate also regarding what wolfnippletip said here:

Wilfnippletip said:
They will etiolate if they don't get enough light and aren't dormant, but newly rooted cuttings will etiolate until the roots are fully developed.
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So as I understand the section itself will definetly stay that small, but any new growth that is gained AFTER putting them back into strong sun will be regular again. That is great because then it will not *damage* the plant forever.

Right now just continue spraying my stumps every now and then and keeping them non-buried on top of the coarse sand. Still no roots after 3 weeks, but it's then probably to bad light conditions. Indeed I plan to put them all outside after april starts (gradually as you say :love: )
 
Yes, once you get back to normal fat growth after the etiolated section at some point it'll need trimming off and re-rooting because it will simply topple over. Another option is possibly aerial rooting before you cut it. And a third idea would be to do a cut-and-shut graft to get rid of the etiolated section once your stem is fat enough.

Plants can't be hurried - pulling on the grass doesn't make the lawn grow faster!
 
It doesn't take forever. You concentrate on expanding your garden and perfecting ease of care for a year or three and then suddenly you have plenty every year.
 
^ Yes this! The hardest work is up front, just acquiring your founding stock and figuring out the care and building up to a certain amount of cactus. After that the input needed becomes minimal and they replicate themselves at a surprising rate.

The thing is, when you're starting out each cactus is only able to provide a small amount of material to use for tripping, so you want and need a lot of plants. But over time as they mature it gets to a point where you really only need a few cacti to provide enough material for one person, because the plants will keep providing more and more and more material on their own as they get larger. Before long you have more cactus than you know what to do with, but you just keep planting the extra pieces anyway. That's kind of how it works.
 
I would recommend to grow as much as you can from the beginning.
Remember, best time for starting cactus garden was 4 years ago.

If you do not have enough space for huge cactus garden, try to ask some of your friends whether they can grow some cactus at their place for you. This way I was able to substantially expand my collection.
(Of course, they are informed what cactus they are growing)
 
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