Im happy finally my new cactus arrived:

From left to right:
T. pachanoi - San Pedro (Matucana, Peru) - In pot
T. pachanoi - San Pedro Monstruosus
T. bridgesii - Achuma
T. bridgesii - Achuma
T. peruvianus - Peruvian Torch (Matucana, Peru)
T. peruvianus - Peruvian Torch (Matucana, Peru)
T. pachanoi - San Pedro
T. pachanoi - San Pedro (Neglected/stressed)


Now a few questions I have:

1- The four cact on the right have already roots on the bottom, I suppose this means I can plant directly?
2- Are those 4 cact on the right big enough to cut in half to make it into 8 cuttings? If so, can I directly plant the bottom part with the roots or should I wait for the part where I cut the top to scar? Any more tips on this?
3- For the non-rooted ones (and the tops I will cut off from the rooted cact), should I wrap them up in newspaper and keep them in the dark so they start rooting?
4- Is the typical generic cactus soil mix from any garden store good enough to use as-is for those cactus, or should I look for something else?

Thanks!!

If they already have roots, then they can go straight into soil
You could also cut the bigger ones in half and leave to callous over for 3-4 weeks then plant out.
I've cut and successfully rooted a 5cm and 7cm San Pedro cutting

Store bought cacti soil is all I've used,
For 2 of my Pedro's I've even used just regular potting soil with some dolomite mixed through, and it seems to be growing fine.

Hi enlessness,

beautiful cacti! I love the way they gow from deep blue to light green. nice!

Please don't keep them in the dark to root, or they might grow very thin on the tip. What I do is put them in a pot with sand. Just put them on the sand, not too deep and put them outside, but in the shade. They will root. Once they root I put them in a soil mix.
I guess you could just put them directly in soil, but then I would take dry soil, and don't put them too deep and don't water!
If you have some clonex (used for rooting cannabis cuttings) you can dip the end in it, that will speed things up.
The ones that have roots can be planted, but I wouldn't water yet , since they haven't got much roots.
As for the soil, I use regular potting mix (organic if you want) mixed with perlite and small stones. 1/3 of each should be good.
The top doesn't have to scar if the bottom has roots. But it is helpfull to use a sterile knife to cut, and put some charcoil powder on the cut to help it heal.
Now give those cacti some love!

Beautiful!

One suggestion- if you decide to cut the bigger ones in half, make the cut on an angle so the the top of the bottom half won't pool water on top in the future. They'll invert a little as the cut dries, leaving you with a little bowl on top if you make a level cut.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip y'all!

Teo, regarding the sand, any specific kind of sand? What kind of store do I get the sand from? (I could go to the beach but thats a bit far).

Another thing, do cacti like to be root bound? Because the potted cact is in a very small pot, Im wondering if I should transplant it... Also for the other cat wondering if I just put them already in a large pot or if its better start with smaller pot.

Do not use beach sand, it can be salt contaminated and rise alkalinity of your soil. Sand is to help draining, if grains are to fine it tends to clog the soil (the opposite of what you want) so use river sand or sand for construction but coarse (grain size>2 mm).

Trichocereus like space for roots, bigger space means they will grow bigger. The other side of the coin is bigger pots don't dry so fast and it could be a problem if you live in a wet area. I will definitly transplant the one in pot you have.

If you live in a dry area i would prefer to use plastic pots as they don't dry too fast and you don't have to water everyday, if it's a wet area clay pots are better as they dry faster (to avoid rot)

I use bird sand. The kind you put in bird cages. You can buy it in a pet store.
It contains liquorice oil, which is anti bacterial and anti-fungal.

When you do start watering, just put in very small amounts at first until the root system gets built up some. Start with a few tablespoons or half a cup or so, which will help get more rooting going on but won't leave it sitting in wet soil for any length of time.

It's a bit different from most potted plants where you water thoroughly until it comes out the drainage holes right off the bat.

Woooo Hooooo! Endlessness has cacti! you can plant the rooted ones directly. Just give them a small amount of water and wait a week or two, when you start seeing signs of growth, water more frequently.




All of your bigger cuttings could be cut in half. Just keep in mind, for every cutting you need more soil, more pots, more water, more space, ect. You have some big and beautiful cuttings. I'd just leave em be, get them fully rooted, and watch massive growth occur this Summer. Maybe take cuttings next fall?

Most cacti growers in my area take cuttings at the end of the growing season (Fall), let them callous over Winter, plant in the early Spring, and start watering them by early Summer.

Also, the cacti on the far right should NOT be cut at all, it's very stressed as it is. Get it in soil ASAP for it to have a chance of surviving.




I use bone-dry soil. During the Winter I root cuttings in a warm spot in my house near a window or under fluorescent lights. During Spring/Summer I root them in the 100% shade outdoors.

When I start seeing signs of growth at the tip or a new pup forming I'll give it a light watering.




Most store bought cacti mixes are crap.

For a good and easy soil mix, use 1/2 high-quality potting soil, 1/2 pumice or perilite and a bit of worm castings if they're available. Pumice is better, perilite will do. "High-quality" potting soil means something that doesn't have lots of bark or wood scraps in it. Either way, you want a fairly fast draining soil so the roots don't rot. Like Continuum said above, water should come out the drainage holes almost instantly.

Also, test your soil mix before potting your cuttings. If water pools at the top and you have to wait more than 5 seconds to add water, you need to add more pumice. This really depends on the potting soil you get and how much pumice/perelite is already in it. I've had to use almost 70% pumice for denser soils.

If you're going to use compose or local soil, you'll definitely want to add much more pumice/perilite than 50%.




They do not like to be root bound. They can handle it but they'll stall after a while and a range of problems could occur. When repotting cacti, hit the pot a few times to get it loose. Pull the root ball out and massage it to get the soils free from the roots. I usually add the old soil to the new soil. Put about 4 cm of soil in a pot, spread the roots out in the radial direction. Then fill the pot with soil. I usually give a small amount of water directly after re-potting to help the soil settle.


Also, once your cacti are rooted, start introducing them to brighter light. You'll want to get them in full sun once they have full roots and are starting to grow at the tips. If they're light-starved, they'll grow etiolated (meaning thin, and light green with large spaces between each areole where the spines come out).


Really happy to see you got some cacti! They are beautiful!

wap

Nice haul there endless.

For soil, I use anything that drains rapidly/stays aerated; practically any potting soil will work. Otherwise trichs are not very picky. They can use quite a lot of ferts after they start growing.

I'd plant all of them in soil if they are calloused. You don't have to bury them very deep, and you might want to set some rocks around the base to keep them upright. The ones with some roots can be watered lightly at first. You can check the bottom of the ones that havent rooted yet every few weeks and begin watering lightly after they start to root. Sometimes I moisten the soil of unrooted cacti if the callous is very thick but you have to be careful doing this.

I would not cut the plants in half. ime you will have more bio mass faster if you plant a single large cutting instead of several smaller cuttings. After the plant is established you can take cuttings and root them if you want to propagate.

Wow those are nice, really nice and HUGE!!

I have a question about that thin sunburned fella or senorita on the far right.

My vendor sent me a piece about like that but mine was very thick...it is an odd shade of brownish yellow and burned pretty severely, I think even worse than yours. Will they grow OK like that or would those be better candidates for incense?

Mine seemed to do OK in a sand /perlite/ potting soil blend that I mixed up. I don't get the impression they are too picky about soil and I can already see growth!!

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Yeah Im very happy with them

And coincidentally I just got gifted another 25cm peruvianus from a friend today! Stoked to suddenly have all of these beautiful cact

So new plan is to get some sand, either bird sand or construction coarse sand, for the non-rooted cact that will be in the shade and with no water. Once I see root growth I move to mix of sand and potting soil (and maybe perlite and maybe store-bought cact soil). The rooted cact will be planted with the same mix. I dont want to overshoot on anything so thought it could be good idea to make a mix with some of those ingredients, depending on what I find in the store tomorrow.

Once I have it all ready I'll take some pics!

Oh and, the order also came with gift 10 peyote seeds and two 55g bags with fertilizers.
The peyotes I'll put them in sand and spray water to germinate them. As for the fertilizers, Im wondering if I should use any of them, particularly once the cact get established.

One fertilizer says: N-P-K-Mg 7-17-35-3 + trace elements
and the other is calcium nitrate , and says " nitrogen fertilizer for growth in height"

Ok so I went to the garden store and bought some potting soil, perlite, coarse mineral sand for birds and made a mix to plant the rooted ones, and put the non rooted ones in just a bit of sand, all in mostly shadow under a tree. How does this look?

(The two cact on the right are pedros I bought in a flower store in town, maybe PC ? )

Awe+=suM collection! One other useful thing i didn't see mentioned is vermiculite.
i have a similar garden to yours going, and i just use vermiculite and potting soil.
it's sterile and airy, so good for rooting. One of the main cactus soil ingredients.
also i would try the fertilizers after they get established and show growth.
Could put the seeds in a ~5" pot with cactus soil 1" from top and cover with syran-
wrap. That is just some suggestions, but iam certain you got this. Endless blessingS!

I can't tell you the exact timing when to use the fertilizer, but def do use it. I once bought 2 already established TPs, one got fertilized by me and one didn't get any from my cheap friend. Guess who's cactus exploded and who got a crippling one. My ratio was NPK 5+5+7, but better ask the pros for a fertilizing schedule.

It's kind of difficult to tell, close-up photos would help.

The smaller one has the style of tip that looks Non-PC.
The bigger one doesn't seem to have the saw-blade, upturned areoles that PC's tend to have.

But really, close-up photos would really helpful.
wap

I'm guessing that your cutting was hard-grown (in ground, full sun) and will probably do just fine if it's hydrated. Though, I have had completely dehydrated Trich cuttings that were so dry the ribs looked like fins. As soon as they pop a root out though, they'll fatten up quickly.

Have any pics?

(sorry for the hijack Endlessness, though I suppose it's somewhat on topic relative to the sunburned cutting you have.)

Beautiful cacti endy. :3

I wasn't trying to be rude and hijack your discussion Endlessness, my apologies for the intrusion.

Very nice! I live in Germany, so even when pedros grow fast, I only get about 30 cm of growth a year.
In which climate do you live? Do you have cold winters? Sometimes I wish I would live more down south so all my plants could grow all year round. Winter is a bitch!
You should also try and grow them from seeds, especially when you have a good climate. It is very easy, and you can have a lot of cacti in a relatively short period.