new roots

globetrottersara · Post by **globetrottersara** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:12 pm

I'm not sure this is the right section, the post might go into the Cutting/Rooting section. Sorry

About 3 months ago I inherited a bunch of mini cacti from a neighbor, I already posted about that. Well, one rotted 2 months ago, and it was probably already rotting when I got it.
The little Polaskia (I think it's a Polaskia chichipe, correct me if I'm wrong) looked "rotting-prone" some time ago so I just cut the roots off and let it dry for about 3 weeks. Then I placed it in a pot with the same potting mix as the other plants, plus some gravels on top to hold the plant. No watering at all.
I forced myself to forget about the plant and avoid checking it every day

This morning I noticed the plant looks healthy, no shriveling, no rotting... So I decided to check if some root buds had grown indeed or not.
Ta-dahhhh

And this is the plant (about 3" tall) after I placed it back into its pot.

This is the first time I do the cut & re-root thing, so... I'm "stoopidly giggling"

Angus · Post by **Angus** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:25 pm

nice work

This is the first time I do the cut & re-root thing, so... I'm "stoopidly giggling"

You should 've seen me when I discovered roots on my very first cuttings

iann · Post by **iann** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:00 pm

Roots are good. Now leave it alone

Definitely Polaskia chichipe.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:40 pm

Well done Sara.
Congrats on your first rooted cutting

ihc6480 · Post by **ihc6480** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:04 am

Looks like your getting the hang of it

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:11 am

Congratulations.

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:13 am

Hello Sara,
I do frequently receive stem cuttings of mostly large cacti like Pachycereus marginatus, Myrtillocactus geometrizans and other similar species. After these stem pieces have been sitting on a metal cabinet for a while they all form some roots. They seem to respond to the dryness of the metal they stand on by producing roots. The only ones that may be harder to root are those that do have a woody center. I did have a saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) arm that was rather woody in its central part.

Harald

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:34 am

Are you sure if you can cut off an arm of a Saguaro and root it? I thought that they can only be propagated by seeds.

tvaughan · Post by **tvaughan** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:06 am

Sara, photos like that with commentary are VERY important. Great job.

globetrottersara · Post by **globetrottersara** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:36 am

hey guys, thanks so much for the comments

@Harald: I have a minigreenhouse I moved indoor for the Winter and use as shelves. It's the same as Suleyman's latest addition to his Winter settings. The structure is made of plastic, but the shelves are made of a metal grid.
I put some newspapers, then the chopped Polaskia, then a newspaper sheet on top to keep it in the dark. I left it there for a while, about 3 weeks. Then one day I checked, it looked healed (say, dry) and it wasn't soft, as in rotting below the surface; but still no buds showing up.
I remembered I read somewhere here on the forum that buds are more likely to form when they "feel" something (see, soil), rather than just pop out in the air. So I filled the little pot and placed the Polaskia on top, no digging, no pushing down, just placed it on top. Of course it wasn't steady so I put a few gravels around.

One thing I believe it's worth saying.
When I decided to cut the roots off, I didn't really think it was going to work. I was slightly pissed because of the late Gymnocalicium saglionis (some may remember I wrote about it) and the Polaskia was just a small specimen. I didn't clean the tools with peroxide or anything. They were not dirty, but not sterile anyway.
If I'll ever find myself in need of cutting out rotten parts on bigger plants or on my favorite plants, I'm going to be more careful.

I find really useful searching and reading here about others' experiences. See, in my case what I did worked out. It's certainly not the miraculous solution and someone else can have other techniques.
So... thanks for the feedback everyone!

PS: I'm gonna leave the Polaskia alone now, Iann

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:03 am

Hello Sara,
I do have some columnar cacti sitting around my office. They are used for training CBP-AI employees in the identification of cacti just to the family level Cactaceae. Today I checked on the plants and I can tell you the following:
The cut stem section that had been placed on a dry metal cabinet surface did form roots readily. The other two - both of which could not be placed on their cut ends, because they were severed from the mother plant at the point of attachment to the main stem - are not showing any root formation. Those two were placed on their sides, because they would not stand up. I do not know, if they would have rooted by now, had I placed them in contact with soil, but I assume they would have. Thus it seems, as if making a flush, straight cut and placing the cactus stem piece on any kind of surface will result in a quick root emergence.
I do not know, how all kinds of columnar cacti will respond and will have to experiment. Perhaps next time with a saguaro, if we do receive one again. The last one I donated to our local Plant Rescue Center and they put it in the ground outdoors. I have not visited lately, to see how it is doing. Of course, you probably have heard, that saguaro cacti are slow growing, at least when they are relatively small and not well established. So they may have a different behavior when someone tries to root a cut side arm.

Harald

globetrottersara · Post by **globetrottersara** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:39 pm

update on this one
I was away from home for a month and left my brother in charge of watering and checking the plants.
Well, most of the plants are okay. This one was totally dried out

*note to self: do NOT leave good re-rooting plant attended by bro for more than a week*

iann · Post by **iann** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:17 pm

I wouldn't have thought a month without water would do this any serious harm. Is it dead? Maybe it had other problems?

globetrottersara · Post by **globetrottersara** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:24 pm

I agree with you.
Maybe it got some other problem, I don't know. When I left, it was fine, rooting and not shriveled at all. No signs of rotting, no parasites...
When I got back, it was 1/10 of it's original volume, totally dried out

The tiny roots too, dried out...
It was indoor, in the same place where it started re-rooting.
Odd, huh?!