A few months back I noticed that one of my larger trichocereus Pachanoi stalks had succumbed to some sort of damage, a good section was dried and dead, this stuff starts as a translucent white film, it coats parts of the cacti, eventually drying and killing it. This only happened to a 4 inch stretch of one of the back sides of one of my larger trichocereus Pachanoi cacti, it badly damaged this section of the cacti, but did not spread, the rest of the cactus is alive and healthy.

I recently noticed a tiny pup sprouting from the side of this cactus.

I love trichocereus cacti, they always seem to be "doing" something, they are very active, and are actually a very fun grow.

I'm going to keep an eye on this developing pup, and I hope that the damaged section continues to sprout healthy and viable trichocereus biomass.

-eg

The first picture is an older image which details the damage which had occurred.

Near the bottom of the second picture, taken today, you can see the newly sprouted pup.

-eg

I love it too when the pups start peeping out! My pachs don't do much branching, but the bridgesii and peruvianus seem intent on taking over the world with their sprouting.

I'm not quite sure but I think it's either sunburn or mites.

Picture attached...

You notice the damaged area, it's on the underside of the trich furthest from the window, it's facing the t-5 lighting set up...

If it were mites what would be the signs?

...Regardless, it's been doing much better, whatever it was did not spread.

-eg

These cacti are amazing, unlike my lophs, these are really "alive", you know?

I really enjoy growing them, but I will admit I'm a neophyte cacti cultivator, generally I just enjoy having plants around, and have been growing these simply because I like them, I'll admit I may not be very knowledgeable here, but I'm doing my best, and I genuinely enjoy these cacti.

I do my best to keep them as happy as possible, but I'm still learning.

-eg

These new pictures were taken this morning, it's amazing how much this pup has already grown since the first post where it has just originated, now it's already got 4 rows of spines, and at this point it has 6 ribs, most pups of this sort, which I simply call "arms" are 5 ribbed, and it's fairly consistent to see this, yet this fast growing little pup has 6.

I'm really happy to see new life sprouting from a damaged stalk, as you can see in my previous posts there was about a 4 inch section on the back side of that stalk that got fried...

it was probably only a week or two since I posted the original photo, I love how fast these cacti grow!

-eg

You can get tons of cuttings from those long bits. Each cutting will sprout a minimum of one new stem, usually more. Treat them like tomato plants and you'll soon have a forest =D

This is the plan, but with these particular cacti I've been hesitant to mess with them, there's a certain aesthetic quality to them that's prevented me from messing with them...but ultimately I know I they would be better off.

I was told I could lay an "arm" on its side in soil, where it would root and put up several pups...I've never tried this, but think it would be interesting.

The "arm" growing on the ledge of the T-5 box already has roots sprouting from it (picture attached)

now would be a great time to get cloning these things though, I've got the time, soil, pots, and trichocereus biomass...

-eg

I can unequivocally confirm that this will work. It's what the plants want to do, after all. It's as though they're attempting to get up and walk away! And there's no hurry, these roots can take years to grow in the open air to no apparent subsequent detriment. (That's three 'ents' - enough for a forest?)

The most important thing with cuttings is waiting long enough for the cut surfaces to dry up thoroughly. That and using a clean knife. Dirty knives are very likely to cause rot.

Yes, I figured that had this cacti not had the T-5 to rest on, were it in nature, the rooted arm would have hit the soil, and would have essentially cloned itself!

I think I'm going to try the laying the "arm" sideways technique...I was told it puts up rows of pups, and want to explore it...

I'm also going to clone the rest of the "arms" in the standard manner

Here's the plan:

I cut the arms with a sterile knife, then I set them in a cool, dry, space to "scab" over.
Once "scabbed" I can place them up right in dry soil where they will root...

If there's anything I missed or could be doing better please let me know.

...I think it's my difficulty with change that's been stopping me, I mean I know I won't mess it up, yet I keep putting it off...

...in the end I know I would be happier with a clone Forrest though.

-eg

If there's some mineral oil type stuff covering my razor blades should this be washed off?

The blades are clean, but are stored in a container where there is some odorless translucent lubricant oil on them, I'm guessing it's mineral oil...

Should I wash this oil off the razors before cutting the cactus?

Should I use a different knife, which has been thoroughly washed instead?

-eg

I clean my razor blades, utility knives and exacto type knives with 91% alcohol before each cut. I would clean any oil off the blade on GP.

I use a razor sharp Japanese kitchen knife, wiped with 70% IPA before and between cuts.

Once the roots are showing I find that moist compost moves things along nicely, but different plants seem to have differing preferences so there's plenty of room for experimentation. Standing some cuttings on smooth dry pebbles for a couple of months resulted in the root tips gripping, sucker-like, onto the pebbles! I'll play with this idea a bit with some new cuttings.

Thank you both very much, your input is truly appreciated.

I'll admit that while I have a good deal of book-knowledge, I'm still fairly inexperienced in real world practice, and as a neophyte trichocereus cultivator information such as this is priceless.

Ok, I'm going to wash the razor in IPA prior to use on the cacti, I'm going to be sure any oils have been washed off, and will keep the razor as sterile as possible...

Thanks again.

how long can these sliced "arms" survive out in the open?

I know "scabbing" shouldn't take all that long, but was simply curious, can these arms survive a good deal of time this way?

-eg

They can survive weeks, for sure, and usually months. After a while though they'll start to shrivel. I've only been doing this a little over a year so I'm no expert. Yesterday I found one of my bridgesii with the two pups/arms half broken by the wind. I guess the good news is I finally have cacti that need to be cut back.

I've had 12" - 18" cuttings consistently survive over two years if kept in dim lighting with adequate - but not excessive - ventilation (i.e. stacked in the corner of the attic). They have usually sprouted roots and sometimes pups after six months to a year, peruvianus tending to be rather quicker than pachanoi. Smaller cuttings than 12" tend to struggle a bit more as they dry out more easily.

The brew from 2-years-stored cuttings was very good
And the pups and roots tend to come out of either end so 3" pieces can be trimmed off and started in compost a couple of weeks or so later.

Thank you for the responses! I'll get to that pretty soon...

First, the 6 ribbed pup that you can see as just forming in the original post of this thread is up to 5 rows of spines and is looking great!

And,

A new pup is beginning to form in the row just above it!

I'm still new to growing trichocereus cacti, so maybe this is more common than I am aware of, but at least to me it's exciting to see all these new "arms" sprouting from the side of a damaged cacti.

I've also been excited that my new arm has 6 ribs, in every other case where I get a pup, it ends up having 5 ribs, of coarse these are from potted plants in partial Sun with lights, so the arms are never very big, and generally always have 5 ribs, so to me it's novel that this one has 6.

A four ribbed trichocereus Pachanoi is said to be very special, something to do with the four winds or purported increase in potency, regardless, I would be very happy to see a four ribbed trich...

Ok, enough of my rambling, I connected photos of the new growth.

-eg

I don't know about pachanoi, but I know it's fairly common for bridgesii to sprout multiple pups at once like that. The bridgesii that I have sprouted two basal pups at the same exact time, on the same row, just on opposite sides of the original cactus.

That was only the first year I had it. Now that we are going into the second growing season, I'm planning on cutting the main section and replanting it, in hopes that the original stalk will sprout even more pups.

Thanks.

Wow, these cacti truly are tenacious survivors!

Where many other plants would perish these cacti seem to do just fine, I love trichocereus cacti! And Not just for their tenacious will to survive, but also because of their fast growth rate, and alkaloid content...amazing cacti.

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Another interesting point, the active compounds should be very stable in these cacti...

You mentioned an old brew still being active, and I was reminded of this research paper involving ancient peyote cacti.

In the Shumla Caves in the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas, a stash of dried lophophora williamsii buttons were discovered, these buttons carbon dated from 5000bc, and still contained 2% mescaline!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15990261

I'm guessing the mescaline contained in trichocereus cacti would be just as stable...I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

Speaking of lophs, I'm sure you can see them in the pictures in the small pots next to the trichocereus cacti, I have a few around, and I honestly enjoy them, so I figured I would share a picture of those as well...

-eg