...Off with their heads!

[Silas_Sancona]

...Because sometimes, you just have to lol...

Aside from seeds, another way of increasing a collection of/ propagating Cacti is by cuttings. While taking cuttings on most cacti is pretty straight forward ( most, if not all Opuntia for example ), sometimes you may be forced to cut up a favorite cacti specimen to correct ..or save the plant from damage.  Both were reasons in the case of some of my Echinopsis/ Trichos. that decided to try and pull themselves out of their pots this summer. Could be a case of too spoiling them w/ a little too much water. Could also be damage to the roots from this summer's extreme heat, which occurred before i moved them out of the shade house when i was preparing to take it down. In a few other cases this year, wind damage from a couple monsoon storms did the be-heading. Regardless, something i wanted to share to help anyone else in the same boat, or considering such action.

In the 1st example,  this Echinocereus ( Trig. or coccineus ) has a tendency to pup high up on the stems.  I want it to offset only from the base so each year i'll look it over and remove any/ as many of the pups i don't want on the plant. Also want a few to take with me when i move. Doing so last year, i was able to start the 3 pups below ( pics # 2-3 )

How it is growing/  w the pups attached.


Removing.. Tricky since they're both small and growing at odd angles. Want to injure the main stem a little as possible.


May be hard to see in the pic but the knife end points to another offset starting to grow. Was covered by the one removed.


Rooted offsets from last year/ fall 2018.




We'll see how it goes w/ these after the cuts dry/ cure fro a couple weeks.. Tops of Echinopsis X "Sorceress " below.



In Example #2, While i'd been considering chopping up my Harissia fragrans, ( the endangered FL. Apple Cactus ) that decided to take off like a rocket, and was so large that the stems were bending over. Could see them breaking off when trying to load on a moving truck, let alone while on the road. Was a rain-less storm in July that did the work for me.. Not sure how since the plant rests against the massive trunk of the Mesquite but came out the next morning to broken stems. Decided to lop off the 3rd a few days later.  While most would assume this would be another cactus whose cut stems will root, there really isn't much info regarding propagating this sp. in this manner so i was a little nervous but wasn't about to toss the stems either. 




Seems they're just as easy as most other cacti.. Same storm also knocked the top off a skinny Trichocereus spachianus, ( Not pictured ) but those easily re-root when damaged. Other Echinocereus i'm rooting in the background.




Then there was the spoiled Echinopsis/ Trichocereus....

In the case of both of these, extreme heat + perhaps a bit too much water = two fat and fast growing cacti which were pulling themselves out of their pots. In the case of both, Trichocereus X " June Noon "  Esp., it was in the shade house most of this past summer and may have sustained damage to the roots from our nuke fest extreme heat, though, as you can see, it is also offsetting ( Pic #1 ).. Regardless, had to cut 'er up cuz it looks awful, to me at least. Had been damaged in the past and was already considering resetting, err.. beheading.


Tops of both Tricho. June Noon ( Bottom ) and Echinopsis Fond Adieu ( top ). yellow stuff is Sulfur Dust.. Because these are quite big, figured i'd dust them to keep them from rotting while drying.


Can see the cut end of Fond Adieu already pulling in a bit. Was flat when cut. ( Making me a little nervous, lol. )





Echinopsis X " Fond Adieu "  got a bit too fat and flopped over, threatening to pull itself out of it's pot. Not sure if the remaining portion will offset ( This Echinopsis cultivar seems to be quite shy offsetting-wise ) but she did produce the 3 of 4 pups you see.. so, if i do loose the mother, i have the babies.




In the case of Echinopsis  X " Sorceress "  you can see why i decided to decapitate her.. This was also in the shade house thru most of the summer and started flopping over as the it got hotter. Noticed that exhausted " look "  ( something you notice when you've grown enough cacti, pretty much anything else i suppose.. ) that suggests something else might be going on ( possible heat-related root damage ) Can see how the stems were getting skinnier but the leading portion was much bigger. Have read about correcting such issues w/ overgrown Echinopsis but still on the learning curve regarding rooting cuttings of this size. 






After decapitation..



Can see how the stem ( Both, actually ) were sitting on the rim of their container. Won't hurt anything when potted up. Will be hidden by Gravel anyway.


A couple other Trichos. may be on the chopping block as well.. Muah Ha Ha!

Will update later..

-Nathan

 

[Merlyn]

I'm pretty new to cacti, but I have a few Opuntia and a couple of Cereus/Enchinopsis/Pachycereus/Stenocereus types that will grow to be pretty big. 

I'm sure that I'll have to behead my Cereus Repandus/Peruvianus at some point, because giant clusters falling over in a hurricane doesn't sound like a fun cleanup job.  When you lop off the top do you do anything in particular with the beheaded carcass?  Just dust it with sulfur and it will regrow out of the top after a while, I assume?  If I want to chop the tops off should I avoid doing that in the rainy season with daily thunderstorms?

I've bought only rooted cuttings of column-type cacti (eBay and Etsy) because I hadn't looked into the best way to root them.  Opuntia are easy.  Just take the pad, let it dry out for a week in a shady warm spot, and put it in a pot with mostly perlite, gravel and a small amount of organic material.  Is that how you root your offsets? 

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I'm pretty new to cacti, but I have a few Opuntia and a couple of Cereus/Enchinopsis/Pachycereus/Stenocereus types that will grow to be pretty big. 

I'm sure that I'll have to behead my Cereus Repandus/Peruvianus at some point, because giant clusters falling over in a hurricane doesn't sound like a fun cleanup job.  When you lop off the top do you do anything in particular with the beheaded carcass?  Just dust it with sulfur and it will regrow out of the top after a while, I assume?  If I want to chop the tops off should I avoid doing that in the rainy season with daily thunderstorms?

I've bought only rooted cuttings of column-type cacti (eBay and Etsy) because I hadn't looked into the best way to root them.  Opuntia are easy.  Just take the pad, let it dry out for a week in a shady warm spot, and put it in a pot with mostly perlite, gravel and a small amount of organic material.  Is that how you root your offsets? 

As you saw, i have dusted the cuts of some w/ Sulfur but, others actually started rotting ( Some of the Echinocereus in particular.. ) when dusted in the past. As far as the remaining half, normally just let them do their thing. Most of the beheaded corpses will regrow new stems/ pads ( Opuntia ) Not sure about the Echinopsis i mentioned in the post though..

Thinking, at least w/ the easy stuff ( Cereus, etc ) you might be ok taking cuttings during the summer, as long as you have a spot where the cuttings can cure/dry for a few weeks.. Some people will stick the cuts directly in the ground/ containers right after cutting w/ out any apparent issues. Echinopsis/Echinoceri may be different.. Those might be best sliced n' diced when it is drier.. Regardless, some ( of the Echinocereus ) i have cut up take forever to root and i have to watch how much water is provided since even a little too much.. and they rot, really fast in some cases, esp. during the summer here.. Have one remaining stem rescued off the really nice Echinocereus dasyacanthus specimen i'd had that rotted out  which i set over a year ago, and it still hasn't rooted yet.. and has that " i might/ might not decide to live " look.
 

Yes, a soil mix that is inorganic ( Grit/ gravel, Pumice/ Perlite, Turface/ Lava rock, etc ) is best. The common Cereus seem to be pretty non specific, won't mind if there's some organic stuff in the soil but other things can rot if any organics are in the mix while rooting cuts. 

[Gonzer]

Most excellent narrative!

[Silas_Sancona]

@Merlyn2220

Here are a few examples of some " stumpies " i have cut up a few times in the past, just to help you visualize just how resilient some of the columnar-types can be.

Have had this Blue Myrtle for some time.. Originally topped it due to what is either a skin scarring fungus it had, or mites? maybe.. anyway.. Can see how while the stump looks completely exhausted, it keeps pumping out new growth. This one will be separated/ rooted soon.


A closer up shot shows how despite how it looks, it is already starting to push new growth near the top on the right hand side ( tiny green  "Dot " ) in the pic.


This is the nicer cut i put out in the shade house after rooting. Have 2 more but they're etoliated from keeping under the patio, like the new growth on the stump.  Other blue cacti in the pic is a Pilocereus.. can't remember which sp. Sounds odd but both stayed kind of green/ ..slightly sun-bleached yellowish in the shade house. Blue tones intensified after i stuck them where they get more shade.  The Pilocereus took about a year before i knew it had rooted in well. Despite being in the shade house this summer, almost lost the " Dragon Toes " Agave you see in the upper right. Had two. ( err, 3 w/ the offset this one produced )


Pieces of Trichocereus spachianus i really don't give much attention to, and are stretched out ( cuz i keep 'em under the patio, shame on me, lol ). Regardless, cut the tops off and re-rooted ( Pot on the lower right ) and the stumpies re-sprout easily. Orange pots are 2"x2" btw.


Same with both Totem Poles ( Pachycereus schottii V. Monstrosus ) i'm currently torturing, lol. Can see roots already trying to form on the new growth.

[Merlyn]

That's really interesting, thanks for the additional pics!  I have a Pilosocereus Azureus and a Tillianus from a local FL grower.  I figured to get the intense blue color may never happen here in FL, as our daily torrential downpours tend to wash off the bluish waxy coating. 

It's interesting to see how they respond to being beheaded.  The Trichocereus seemed to keep on growing with just a discontinuity at the cut.  But the two other ones grew out of a spine node, or at least it looks like it.  Do you know if Cereus Repandus/Peruvianus also regrow kinda sideways out of a node?  That may affect how I "prune" mine, since I'd imagine the discontinuity of growing out of the side might make it weaker.  I was thinking of lopping the tops off when they start getting too tall (currently my tallest is around 12 feet) but if it just causes a side sprout that's weaker I might want to cut them more aggressively.  For example if I cut a 12 footer down to 8 feet and it grows a weaker side shoot, that might be much less hurricane-safe than cutting off the entire 12 footer and rooting a 3 foot tall "top cut" as a replacement plant.  I guess I can always experiment! 

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

That's really interesting, thanks for the additional pics!  I have a Pilosocereus Azureus and a Tillianus from a local FL grower.  I figured to get the intense blue color may never happen here in FL, as our daily torrential downpours tend to wash off the bluish waxy coating. 

It's interesting to see how they respond to being beheaded.  The Trichocereus seemed to keep on growing with just a discontinuity at the cut.  But the two other ones grew out of a spine node, or at least it looks like it.  Do you know if Cereus Repandus/Peruvianus also regrow kinda sideways out of a node?  That may affect how I "prune" mine, since I'd imagine the discontinuity of growing out of the side might make it weaker.  I was thinking of lopping the tops off when they start getting too tall (currently my tallest is around 12 feet) but if it just causes a side sprout that's weaker I might want to cut them more aggressively.  For example if I cut a 12 footer down to 8 feet and it grows a weaker side shoot, that might be much less hurricane-safe than cutting off the entire 12 footer and rooting a 3 foot tall "top cut" as a replacement plant.  I guess I can always experiment! 

Tough to say..  Pilocereus may retain their color if grown in full sun or light afternoon shade there. Keep in mind most sp. come from places like Brazil, Mexico, and the Caribbean where they get as much ( ..if not more ) summer rain, yet keep their color in CA. where they're exposed to more winter rainfall and/or days when it is overcast in the summer if grown in a garden closer to the coast. 

New stems/arms produced from cuts end up being quite tough as they grow, not really weakening the plant, or, is what i've observed on those i've seen... Think about how they grow in places like Mexico, etc where they're exposed to Hurricanes/ strong summer storms, ...say down in S. Sonora/ Sinaloa for example, the candelabra- types get HUGE. If height made them more susceptible to toppling over in high winds, you wouldn't see any, or only in really protected areas. 

Can see taking off a foot or too off a 12-14ft specimen if you had to but taking the same plant down to 3 or 4 ft might really set it back/ kill it.  It helps too if they aren't " pampered", ie: given too much supplemental water, and allowed to grow hard,  just receiving rainfall and soaked only occasionally. Would encourage the roots to dig down further, though most Cacti produce lots of lateral near-surface root growth also to help balance out their height. I know Saguaro spread lateral roots out at least twice ( maybe 3X's ) their height.. yet produce some deeper " anchor " roots as well.  I'll tell you though, lol  as spectacular as they are, a Big Saguaro is quite intimidating, especially when it is growing close to your house.. and yes, when they collapse -from old age, or rotting-, not something you're going to be able to cut up and toss in a yard debris bin.. Have seen a couple come down in the neighborhood that somehow missed hitting the homeowner's house.  Several came down around Phoenix over the summer.. apparently from the heat though honesty,  thinking those were specimens that were irrigated too much where planted. Going out to my survey site east of Florence ( southeast of where i'm located ) sometime next week to see if any of the wild specimens there suffered damage from the heat/ complete lack of rain this summer.

Here's a pic of one of the wonkiest Saguaro i've come across.. No idea what happened to it but goes to show how strong they are. Imagine it takes forever for them to regrow.

[Dr Sha]

Been there.