hi all,

i have some questions regarding cactus cultivation and so was just wondering if i may post them here for now (since i am still restricted)?

If you're restricted, you can pretty much feel free to post whatever you like in this forum

Okay thanks, here goes then.

This summer i decided i wanted some - mescaline containing - cactus. They are hard to find where i live but after much perseverance I managed to find some san pedro and peruvianus seeds, as well as three 12 inch pedros. Yesterday I received 3 approximately 10 inch cuttings, diameter between 2 and 3 inches. There is one bridgesii cutting, one peruvianus and one spachianus (i'll grow it for the sake of growing and that's all). Now as it was such a mission to find them, I am anxious to propagate them correctly.

11 pedro and 1 peruvianus seeds were germinated about 2 months ago now. My first question is about these. I have been keeping them in moist soil and inside a plastic container with the lid on till now to keep the atmosphere humid. The are still quite tiny (maybe 1/8 inch high) but I am wondering if I should start reducing the humidity and moisture?

One of the 3 pedros is a little sick. There is a black spot on the top which looks like a burn and in the middle section there is a moldy spot. The guy who sold them to me offered it to me for free and said if I replanted it (which I have done) it should be fine, but I am wondering if I could maybe use it in another way. I have read that columnar cactus cuttings can be rooted on their side and that when done in this way the cutting will produce offshoots from both ends and possibly even the middle. I was wondering if it would not be better to trim the bad parts from the sick pedro and root it in this way - if this method really works?

Speaking of rooting cuttings, I found this guide and was wondering if the advice given is sound? eg. Rooting in vermiculite? Winter is fast approaching where I live. I would be rooting the cuttings indoors where the temperature will not drop below 60° but the cuttings will only get around 1 - 3 hours direct sunlight per day. Will these conditions be okay for rooting cuttings or should I rather store them until spring?

Finally, in the interest of increasing the number of cacti in my garden, I was thinking of cutting the bridgesii and peruvianus cuttings in half and then rooting the bottom parts horizontally and the tips vertically. Are the cuttings at 10 inches too short to do this with, would it be better to just root them as is?

I would be happy to get any advice about this - I have not really found any specific answers and I have been searching a lot!

black spots that look like burns are usually rot on cacti and at 2 months I wouldn't give a rotting cactus much chance for survival. It's ok - all the germinated seeds rarely survive, some of them will die off as the cacti mature. Rot usually happens when plants are too cold while they are wet. They should be ok with high humidity for a while, but you can start to dry them out. At this point they would probably respond well to fertilizer and some more indirect sunlight.

As for cutting your cuttings in half to increase the number of cacti, I don't think its a very good idea. When rooting smallish cuts (less than a foot) I find that a piece twice as long will grow at least twice as fast. Having less cuts also leaves less chance for rot and saves space in your garden. Once the plant is established and healthy you can take cuts.

I root plants in the soil I normally use for trichs; half potting soil and half perlite. Sometimes I use 1/3 compost 1/3 perlite and 1/3 coir which amounts to nearly the same thing.

good luck. If you have extreme winters where you live look up mssmiths guide to closet cacti or somesuch - it describes how to hibernate your cacti in darkness over winter.

The seedlings are all doing just fine. Nice light green color and getting taller all the time. I was wondering if I should start reducing the moisture in the soil that they are growing in.

Beg your pardon for any ambiguity in my post. The cactus which is rotting is not a seedling. It is an approximately 10 inch, I guess, cutting that was rooted and then given to me as a gift when I purchased two others. I have replanted it in the hopes of getting it healthy again. I was just wondering if I could cut the rotting cactus (removing the rotten parts and roots which were mouldy when I replanted) and rooting it again?

Thanks very much for the other tips! The winter where i live is not terribly extreme and the cactuses will be indoors in my heated apartment, but I will look for that guide you have recommended.

I'm still very curious about the question of rooting horizontally. Maybe I'll try with the spachianus as a trial run...