Have the cuttings of my M. geometrizans taken root?

[WayneByerly]

I don't know whether it was etiolation or natural growth, but my Myrtillocactus geometrizans looked decidedly thin near the base to my eye (for whatever THAT means, from a complete FING). So I began to consider making cuttings of the tops of the two stalks making it less top-heavy.

This is how it looked before I started with this. Notice how thin the right hand stalk is down around the gray velcro band near the bottom. I have since learned that this type of growth is near normal--and that rocking back and forth, which is caused by the wind, makes it STRONG at the base--but I mention it to show what my state of mind was in even beginning to consider making cuttings of this cactus.

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So on Jan 25 2018, I made cuttings of the two stalks and after letting the ends callus over, put the two cuttings in one pot. I've been told that I should just put them in the dirt (I elected to use a 80-90% inorganic mix for its extra quick draining qualities) and LEAVE THEM ALONE. It would be apparent when and if they took root.
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Well, I guess I'm one of the original doubting Thomases ... I've got to see it to believe it. I had read somewhere that new growth was the surest indicator that a cutting had rooted. The problem, was that I was not seeing ANY evidence of new growth on the cuttings. So exactly four months to the day after I made cuttings from them, I decided to unpot the cuttings to see if ANY roots had even begun to emerge. What I found TRULY surprised me. The smaller of the two stalks is on the left, and the stalk with the new-growing-arm is on the right. SEVEN (7) inches of root growth ... in only four months. A little less actually, as the roots would NOT have started on the first day I put the cuttings in the soil mix.

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My hand is in these next two pictures strictly for an indication of scale. These two photographs show the growth of new offsets ("Arms"?) from what WAS the original plants. Right at the top of where I cut the tops off. You can see that the spines right at the tops of these arms (more noticable in 4.jpg) are red, indicating new growth. You can't see it in this picture but there's another new "arm" starting to grow on the other side of pic 3 that's only .25 inches long... about the size of the one by my thumb in pic 4.

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The largest "arm" in this picture is about 4 inches long.

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BTW ... PLEASE pay attention here ... i've got a question I'd like people to respond to ... I've considered coating the tops of these two "stumps" (pictures 3 & 4) with a dark green wax to help prevent entry of any possible pathogen ... AND to improve the way it looks a bit. Anybody have any thoughts about this?
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This picture is a closeup of 4.jpg. The spines are MUCH prettier in red, are they not? Oh ... BTW ... these new spines, new as they are, are stiff as steel wire, and sharp as needles (see THAT Elie? THERE's wicked spines for you! )

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So, over all, I feel much like a dumba... uhh, ... feel stupid. The amount of growth of these new roots is just astounding. Seven inch long roots ... SOME of them as big around as the lead in a pencil ... from NOTHING ... in four months. This posting SHOULD be a very positive vote for an 80-90% inorganic mix. 80-90% pumice plus 10-20% organic material (soil + pine bark). Well, for MOST desert cacti anyway.
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Now, all I need to do is allow the roots to dry overnight (the air conditioning will see to it that THAT happens) repot the two stalks and then wait 7 or 10 days to water them again. I wish I had planted the two cuttings in a glass bowl. That way I wouldn't have needed to de-pot and then re-pot these two cactus cuttings.

Did I tell you that this is one of my favorite cacti?
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There is probably nothing to this topic that is anything like news to the experts here at this forum. But I, as a NOOB, found it interesting enough that I thought that others with as little experience as I have might find this interesting. Everybody, no matter what the body of knowledge, starts at nothing ... and gradually, over time, begins to accumulate knowledge. It was my hope to contribute SOMETHING, as little as that might be, to that body of knowledge.

[ElieEstephane]

Hello wayne and congratulations on the new roots!
As for coating the cut ends with wax, im a strong advocate of that. I plan on doing the same on my (rather hideous) cereus peruvianus

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However, as i stated previously, i strongly disagree with 80-90% pumice for a fast growing species such as myrtillocactus geometrizans. It will starve it. Fast growing species are so because they have lots of nutrients/hummus available to them. While your mix is great for root development it does not do anything for nutrition. I recommend either using 30-35% compost/soil or fertilizing regularly.

One of my first comments about your myrtillocactus was that i love the wicked spines and i still do!

[hegar]

Hello Wayne,
the root formation on your Myrtillocactus geometrizans is impressive. I went yesterday and purchased 160 lbs of small pumice rock from a local quarry operation. I am trying to improve the growing conditions for my Ariocarpus, Turbinicarpus, and other slow growing cacti, which are sensitive to root rot. I plan on mixing the pumice to have a ratio of 4 parts of it plus one part of arroyo material, which is also pretty coarse and well-draining.
Elie is correct about some cacti growing quickly and having a higher need for nutrients as a result of this. I do have two small Pachycereus marginatus cacti, which are growing in my usual sandy loam soil and doing well. From the point of view about soil fertility, watering, etc. you can grow cacti in pure silica. However, you will need to supply the nutrients on a regular basis for the plant to not be starved. I did an experiment during my graduate work in Horticulture, growing chili pepper plants in that inert medium. It was a lot of work, hauling water and nutrients to these plants on an almost daily basis. However, the plants did look healthy and did produce fruit of normal size. The only thing about fertilizer use I do tell people, is to purchase a fertilizer with a formula, where the middle value is the biggest. For my outdoor cacti I do use water soluble Miracle Grow water soluble "Bloom Booster" flower food with a formula of 15% Nitrogen (N), 30% Phosphorus (P), and 15% Potassium (K). Because I do have alkaline (basic) tap water, the fertilizer gives me an added benefit by making my irrigation water slightly acidic. When I am not fertilizing my plants, I do use white vinegar to acidify the water for my cacti. Acidic water (pH 5.5 - 6.5) has been shown to be beneficial for these plants. Perhaps, that is why plants respond do well to rain and do not do as well, when watered with our chlorinated, basic tap water.

As far as placing green wax for beautification of the upper surface of the stem stump of your M. geometrizans is concerned, it should not be causing a problem. The wax would seal the flat top, which could collect water and aid fungal infection. I always do cut the top of a stem piece at a slight slant, so the water will run off. I am not sure though, if - after a thick skin has formed over the cut - that part is otherwise more susceptible for pathogen entry than the rest of the plant's surface.

Harald

[WayneByerly]

Hey ho Harald
I hope you are doing well... at least as well as your Cactus.

Elie is correct about some cacti growing quickly and having a higher need for nutrients as a result of this. I

As of kind of recently, I have been following Steve Johnsons recommendations for a "fertilize every time you water" regimen. This kind of regimen eliminates the surge and then dearth of nutrients if you only fertilize once a month. If you have not read his post on acidification and fertilization, here's the link:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=26498

As far as placing green wax for beautification of the upper surface...

I will admit that the reason for my first thought of covering the upper surface of the cut with green wax was cosmetic. But then I immediately thought that if I did that, it might help prevent the incursion of any kind of pathogen. But I had never done it before, nor had I heard of anyone doing it. So I came here to find out if anybody had done it before or thought it was a good idea.

This place is a absolute Gold Mine of information. You can find out anything you want to know about cacti, and
their care. Down to the specific species. As many members as there are, simple statistics would tell you that the full spectrum of cacti species would be covrered.

[ElieEstephane]

Hello again wayne
I have a quick question... have you ever thought about planting one of the columnars in the ground in your greenhouse? You can hammer in some tiles or something around the edges of the greenhouse to prevent water influx.
Just an immature thought but it might be worth considering

[hegar]

Hello Wayne,
I did download all the information that Steve Johnson had provided in his post on CactiGuide in 2012. This hopefully will help me figure out a few things at which I had just been guessing until now. My plants are all in the ground, but using growing medium that is very low in organic matter, it may not be a bad idea to fertilize each time I do water my cacti. That would be about once a week. Using Ammonium Sulfate in addition to my expensive Miracle Grow Bloom Booster fertilizer could be helpful, because - in addition to supplying more nitrogen (which I do not really intend to do) - it also acidifies the irrigation water and supplies the micronutrient sulfur, which by the way is also a good element to fight fungi.
If I am going to follow this advice, I am going to use ammonium sulfate sparingly.

Harald

[WayneByerly]

Hello again wayne
... have you ever thought about planting one of the columnars in the ground in your greenhouse?

I rather like the idea, but my greenhouse is small. There is barely enough room in there to get in and out. But the idea has already started to give me ideas about maybe expanding the greenhouse. But money to a old guy on a fixed income is always a controlling Factor. Let me ask you a question in return... Will cacti grow in clay?

Oh, I just thought of this... planting it in the ground would mean... digging a hole... And I'm not sure my back would take that. I'm going to a surgery center next month for a diagnostic procedure because my back pain has increased so severely of recent months. Sorry, I don't mean to bore you with that medical crap... Just explaining like I would anything else.

[WayneByerly]

I did download all the information that Steve Johnson had provided

Hullo Harald

Steve is quite a knowledgeable guy i have found. He has helped me considerably. A real nice guy.

[Hanazono]

M. geometrizans on the photo is also started from a cutting.
My friend gave me a blanch, 50 cm length with several off-sets.
I set it on a vegi-patch in front of the greenhouse for the rooting in 2008.
Since the balance was not so good, I drove 3 steel piles in and held the blanch.

The photo is current appearance, 1.8 m tall.
I did not do any after the setting but the cacti matched the climate in here and grown by itself.
The Echinocactas in front is 60 cm in diameter.

M. geometrizance will grow a large plant on outdoor.

[WayneByerly]

M. geometrizans on the photo is also started from a cutting. My friend gave me...

Waaahhhhhhhhhh

THAT is amazing. My greenhouse, being very small would not even begin to hold that plant. I guess i should not plant my ,M. geometrizans in the ground... Wow... Mine is just nothing next to a monster thst big. Thanks for posting the picture...

[ElieEstephane]

That is really a monster frank!
You can plant one of the pilosocereus in the groun wayne. They only take up vertical space.

[WayneByerly]

.. . They only take up vertical space.

Only Vertical space? You mean like the monster frank... the M. geometrizans in hanazono's posting above?

[ElieEstephane]

.. . They only take up vertical space.

Only Vertical space? You mean like the monster frank... the M. geometrizans in hanazono's posting above?

No the pilosocereus grows as a single skinny column for a long time before having very few branches when very old

[WayneByerly]

No the pilosocereus grows as a single skinny column for a long time before having very few branches when very old

I'm sorry Elie... I was just trying to make a joke. Hanazono had made his post of the absolutely huge geometrizans and then you suggested a plant one of my cacti in the ground inside my Greenhouse saying that it wouldn't take up much space. It was just too funny to me at the time. Just a joke, I promise I wasn't being uppity.

[WayneByerly]

Pictures three and four of my original posting show the cut stump of the cactus that I was talking about. There were apparently two reasons why people do want to cover this cut stump. One is to reduce the possibility of any pathogen entering through that cut and the other is cosmetic.

So after coming here and talking to the other members about this activity, I decided to paint the stump with wax. The purpose in my doing this was for the health of the cactus. To prevent any pathogen from entering through the cut. Once I painted the stump with wax, while the wax was still warm I rubbed it with my finger to partially smooth out its appearance.

But once I had accomplished this, there was this white blob on top of my Cactus stump. And so for cosmetic purposes I painted the wax with a green colored acrylic paint water based, non-toxic). Just enough to cover the wax and kind of Disguise the fact that it had been painted with wax. Here's a couple of photos of the way it looks.

It's still nothing resembling pretty, but it does look a little better now, and hopefully it will help keep the plant healthy.
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