So looking around i think we need a proper non-intimidating guide to simple "planting of cacti" for those who are interested in developing their green thumbs with these wonderful entitys... questions are of course welcome. This discussion can also include advice on special nutrients, tricks, care techniques and general info to further the happiness and well being of our prickly friends....

This first post is mostly concerning planting the "cuttings" of Echinopsis/Trichocereus species of cacti(San Pedro, Peruvian Torch, Achuma ect.... but can be applied to other appropriate cacti as well)... it would be great if other members with experience with other cacti (like peyote and other species) would weigh in as well.



so keeping it extremely simple, here is what your going to want to do to...

"TO PLANT A CACTI CUTTING"

you get your cuttings, if the cutting was taken from the middle of the mother cacti, you need to figure out which end is up(in the air) and witch end is down(goes in the soil).

if you are ordering from a supplier, your cutting will come ready to plant, it does NOT matter if it has roots or not, it will root on its own...

plain ol' "CACTUS MIX SOIL" works great to get your cutting going, then after a few months you can move it into some fancier soil.

take a say 5in diameter and 6in deep pot, and put a small rock over the hole in the bottom of the pot(this is to keep the soil from running out the bottom of the pot when you water) i like clay terracotta pots, the cactus rootlets seem to like to grab onto the clay pots sides more than plastic, but plastic works just fine...

take your "fresh out of the bag DRY cactus mix soil" and fill your pot with 3in of DRY soil, this will leave you with 3in of space left in your pot, take your cutting and put it bottom side down in the middle of the pot, fill in the remaining space with DRY soil up to the top of the pot, your cutting should be buried deep enough so that it doesn't topple over, 3-4in should be plenty deep, adjust depth if necessary...

Bam!!! your done....easy as 3.14159....

this is the first stage in your new cacti life, it will grow roots over the next few weeks/months, this is a very slow process it will do it on its own. resist the urge to dig up your now comfortable friend to see if roots are forming.

put your now potted cacti somewhere (not freezing, cold is fine) like on a window sill, where it gets at least a couple hours of direct light a day for now, when the weather gets warmer move it out doors for optimal growth, or to a window where it will constantly be bathed in NATURAL light. i have found cacti do best in "natural light".

VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! DO NOT WATER THE SOIL DURING THIS STAGE UNLESS IT IS HOT DRY WEATHER!!! your cutting has all the water it needs stored in its self to stay alive for months on its own.

NOTE: this is especially important for those of you who experience "hard" winter weather(quite cold and wet weather) where you live, if you water during this first stage, your cutting might rot because it doesn't have roots to soak up the moisture yet...

after a few months (or when warmer dry spring/summer weather comes) of being in the dry soil roots will have started to form, now your cutting is stable and can be watered without fear of rotting, cacti(especially cuttings) do not require hardly any water during the winter. during the summer when it is hot and soil drys quickly i water once a week(this is for established cacti) and they suck it up readily....


good luck all who are called to grow these beings, it is a very worthwhile (life long) relationship. and remember it is going to take FOR EVER(years)for your cacti to get to a point where you can harvest them, and when they do finally get to this stage its hard to actually cut them down....

nice information, thanks

hope SWIM's cutting that he planted outside with no roots in cold rainy weather wont rot

It all sounds pretty good to me.

Good job.

ha ha me too, in reality these are pretty resilient beings, unless your hitting freezing temps. chances are your little one may be just fine. be sure it has adequate drainage though, no pools of water. In fact if does survive it will be stronger for the wear, plus it will be first in line for that glorious sun come spring...

Iv found they really dont like freezing temperatures though, even when they get big....

I have just received some 12" San Pedro cuttings. I was planning to prepare some into resin and root the remaining. Would these cuttings be to small to cut them again for extraction and still have four small cactus to root? I am eager to try House's resin tek, but I don't want to be impatient and disrespect my green friends.

Also, seeing as how we are in the middle of winter, can ya'll see any problem with making cuttings or rooting cactus at this time of year, I'm going to grow them indoors, but if trying to make them root during their dormant cycle is totally stupid I can wait.

Once, you can cut your 12in cuttings in half and use 6in for "projects" and use the remaining 6in for planting if you please. your going to want to use the "top end" of the cuttings for planting and the bottom part for "projects". use a very sharp large knife to cut cleanly through, this will leave a "weeping" exposed wound, your going to need to wait to plant it until the wound drys out completely and forms a sort of hard callus on the end. the cutting needs to be in a warm very dry place as we are wanting the wound to dry itself out quickly and harden up. simply putting it out in the hot sun works very well, but it will be a little more difficult if your trying to do it indoors during the winter, same concept though warm dry air. once it forms the dry hard callus, you can plant it in dry-ish soil and it should do fine. mid section cuttings can also be used, just make sure you plant the right side up....

people also use "Sulfur Powder" (from your local garden store) to put on the open wound to help discourage mold from growing and i think it helps dry the wound out also, never used it my self but i hear it works.

Kazoo,

Thanks a lot, just the help I was looking for.

I'm glad I found this post. I just got 2 12" San Pedro cuttings. I was considering cutting them up, etc, but when I saw them I was conflicted. They are alive, and even though one of them bit me, I decided that planting them was the only way to go. Maybe a year or so from now I'll borrow some of their flesh, but for now I'm feeling a deep need to let them grow.
Should I plant the 2 12" cuttings (ends) whole or should I cut them so I have 4 plants? I feel hesitant to injure these guys in any way. This is probably a dumb question, but I'm totally new to growing anything (except for the Brugmansia I killed last year).

@Mister_Niles , I would recommend cutting them in half, but this is all up to you.

A few years ago I purchased 3 12" cuttings (san pedro, p. torch, T. cuzcoensis). I planted all three as is and the pedro and p. torch rotted, because I had to bury about 4-5" in the dirt to make them not topple over. The T. cuzcoensis was starting to show signs of rot, so I cut it in half and reburied it, this time only putting 1" into the soil and filling the other 2-3" up with gravel/rocks. This gave it a good support and the rot stopped, the cacti has been goin' strong for about 3 years now and looks great.

So if you can find a way to support it without burring too much of its base, that would work. Or you can cut them in half, and have twice as many cacti growing.