I recently ordered some cacti cuttings about a month ago, one came potted the other 2 were unpotted. The tops of two of them are fading to light green and losing spines (it appears). I think they are losing health. Any ideas to bring these cuttings back to life or if this is a part of them growing. They are of the trichocerus (think that's how its spelled) family are are order from sacred succulents so they are not the run of the mill peruvanous. Thanks for the help

im prettty sure the light green is new growth. i have 4 san pedros and 2 look as your describing. everything else look quite healthy to me so i figure its new growth.

as long as you've got a 4" to 6" tip, just stick the bottom inch or inch and a half in your potting mixture, add a little water, and away they go. Even if it's not a tip, you can plant it the same way...in fact, the way these Trichs bud during the summer, it seems the cut "flat tops" grow more robustly than the more-attractive looking tips. While I often transplant pieces over 2 FEET tall when I have the materail, you can easily slice an 8" cutting in half and have TWO 4" pieces to transplant.... or maybe instead you're thinking about how your mind woud react to the goodies inside it....

There will be many shades of green on newly transplanted specimans, as well as on the new growth, as they get used to their new situation.

as long as you've got a 4" to 6" tip, just stick the bottom inch or inch and a half in your potting mixture, add a little water, and away they go. Even if it's not a tip, you can plant it the same way...in fact, the way these Trichs bud during the summer, it seems the cut "flat tops" grow more robustly than the more-attractive looking tips. While I often transplant pieces over 2 FEET tall when I have the materail, you can easily slice an 8" cutting in half and have TWO 4" pieces to transplant.... or maybe instead you're thinking about how your mind woud react to the goodies inside it....

There will be many shades of green on newly transplanted specimans, as well as on the new growth, as they get used to their new situation.

very light green, and soft spines means light dep, which is ok, just introduce them slowly to the sun to avoid burn

not to hijack but i got 12 inch cuttings and after a good 3 week callous i dipped in rooting hormone gel and stuck them 4 inches into soil. is that too deep? i read that up to 6 inches is ok on the sellers site.

yes thats too deep imo ,and i let my cuttings set for a couple of months or more typically, but as long as its well dried out should be fine

also, gel isn't the best- you dont want to hold moisture to the cutting like most clones.
plant the cutting about 1-2" deep, and remove gel from surface

OK great thanks,
i have my cuttings in my kitchen window where they get a few hours of direct sunlight and the rest indirect. ive heard some say lots of sun is good and some say just indirect sun. what do you think dg?