Made my first nursery trip of the season this past weekend, and acquired an Oreocereus hempelianus that I'd wanted since this past fall. However, upon getting on the on-ramp of the interstate, I hit three potholes in quick succession and saw that I had a prostrate cactus in my passenger seat. Realizing that this was *not* in fact the growth habit of this particular species, I proceeded to spew invective and intricate profanities at myself for my poor driving with such precious cargo. It wasn't until I was able to exit the highway, stop, and take a closer look that I realized that there were no roots at all, and the cactus had merely been held steady by a deep layer of top dressing. I proceeded to dress myself down for not being more careful about checking for root health at the nursery, but was ultimately relieved that I at least had not
personally betrayed my new friend.
I wasn't sure whether to place this post in Sick Cacti or here, but realized that ultimately at this point I am dealing with trying to root a cutting, and my questions are regarding this matter. I will however include the process of excising the rotten material just for thoroughness sake and because it could potentially help someone else.
Here is the cactus in question after being separated from its container...
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It has buds that are either very fresh, or possibly aborted, as well as one spine that shows recent growth
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While beginning to debride the wound I pulled out a chunk of moist material and realized the problem was not as superficial as I had hoped and went well above the root line, interior.
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The process continues...
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And healthy tissue is reached. Cactus anatomy is fascinating. While the photograph makes it appear that there is still rot, I looked at multiple cross sections of that area and didn't find any sign of it past a certain point. The darker section seems to be made of woody structures that have basically fused together, I'm assuming to support the weight on the opposing side (the cactus had a bit of a lean). While it didn't photograph well, the cactus appeared to have "capped off" the topmost point of rot with a woody shell. Looked like a closed off version of the "boots" you'll sometimes find in a saguaro skeleton. Would love a correction or more academically proper explanation of this if anyone sees fit.
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Cleaned up the cut a bit and then powdered with sulfur followed by rooting hormone. I haven't noticed any difference in luck with rooting hormone, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
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Here is what is left after surgery, a 6"/15cm cutting.
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Currently the patient is resting on some newspapers a reasonable distance from the wood stove and forming a callous... (I hope)
Now here is where I'm confusing myself and not able to come up with a decisive plan of action. Does anyone have any familiarity with rooting this species or genus? Based on its growth habit and proximity to some native ungulates I figure it has the capacity to reroot itself in habitat if it were in some way disturbed, but I'm nowhere near positive. Is anyone familiar with any cohabiting species in its geographic range and their care, or know anything about the ecosystem that it lives in that could lend itself towards different strategies in rooting?
From IUCN...
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There just isn't much written on them other than their description. The longest treatment is in the December 2017 issue of the Essex Succulent Review. All I've been able to put together is an elevation range of 2500-3500m (8000-11000ft) in shrubland ecosystem. Which must be in a belt above the coastal fog area of the Lomas and the lower reaches of the Puna ecoregions. It seems to exist in both Cold Semi-Arid (BSk) and Cold Desert (BWk) climate types. I'm trying to recreate to the best of my ability what would be the growing season in these environments temperature and relative humidity wise, but don't know what those would necessarily be off the top of my head.
Or am I overthinking this, as I have a tendency to do?
Is there a tried and true method that I should just follow and wait and see? I have a pretty good track record with bringing back plants from the dead, but usually they are Euphorbias or Asclepiads, I've never done a flowering-age cactus before, and don't know if that changes things. I'm going back and forth on whether to place it horizontally and give it a humidity rich environment, or plant vertically and remain relatively dry. The reason for the either/or here is that I'm unable to find a container to maintain humidity if the plant is vertical.
One more question... a general one... What size container do you choose for your cuttings? Do you tend to go small, because of the lack of roots? or do you size the container to the size of the cutting? I tend to do the latter, but don't know if that is the proper way of doing things.
Thank you all for your patience in following along with my scattered thought process. I think I'm so flummoxed with this one because I'm partial to this genus and this is one of the few species I would actually be able to maintain at a flowering age in pot culture in my lifetime, so I want to do the right thing the first time around, but we always learn from our mistakes.
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