myrtillocactus geometrizans crest cutting help

[MotherGoose]

I ordered a few cuttings from online. They were cut from someone's crested myrtillocactus geometrizans in Arizona a couple months ago. I am aware that they may or may not crest. I'm just happy they haven't turned to mush on me. But I am needing help getting them to root if possible. So far my luck with the cactus group have only been with barrel type cacti. I have them in cactus specialty soil and I try to not water them directly when the soil goes dry. Ambient temp in the house is 73°F. Any tips are helpful.

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[MotherGoose]

Never mind.

[DaveW]

As you are evidently aware Myrtillocactus do not stand too low temperatures, but keeping them at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit above freezing is usually OK, so your 73F should be plenty for rooting.. They are often used as grafting stock since they push scions on fairly quickly, but in places with cold winters like the UK the Myrtillocactus stock is usually less hardy than the scion, so you have to grow the graft for the least hardy element, either the stock or the scion. Make sure you have allowed the cuttings to callous over properly before you place them on the damp soil or they may rot.

See:-

http://worldofsucculents.com/grow-care-myrtillocactus/

https://www.dbg.org/sites/dbg.dd/files/ ... utting.pdf

[MotherGoose]

Thank you! I have one that rooted, I'm still patiently waiting for the other one. I had cut it down a little as someone thought maybe it was cut to close to the mother plant. I regret doing it now but glad I only did the one.

[DaveW]

As you say, you may not get a crest since those look like reversions to the normal growth on the crest. You really need part of the crest itself to be sure and probably graft it. However if the cuttings did form a crest there would be no need to graft as the original stem then forms the function of a grafting stock

"Trimming any normal shoots off helps the crested form grow better and truer to form, but sometimes these normal shoots can crest again after some normal growth. Cuttings from crested cactus should be grafted for best results."

http://www.cactus-art.biz/note-book/Dic ... tation.htm

Personally I hate monstrose and crested cacti, but most collectors seem to like them. Anyway good luck.