Fairy Castle cuttings

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Roy
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Fairy Castle cuttings

Post by Roy »

Does anyone have advice on rooting cuttings of Fairy Castle cactus? I have tried with varying success in different mediums, etc.

I've had about 1/3rd success rate. Another 1/3rd rot from the base with black gooey rot, and the last 1/3 never root but just crinkle and dry from the top.

The larger cuttings seem to root more successfully, and the smaller the less successfully.

I'd like to increase the odds of success if possible. Any suggestions?

Do they need to be kept humid above ground, and dry below? Or vice versa? Does rooting hormone make a difference.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Roy
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hegar
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Post by hegar »

Hello Roy,
first of all: Welcome to this forum. I hope you are going to enjoy this group of cactus enthusiasts.
Now to your questions:
First of all, before you place any cutting in the ground it is generally helpful to have the cut end callous over. This will greatly reduce the chance of entry by a rot organism.
Also, the application of a rooting hormone would be beneficial. It reduces the time it takes for the plant to form roots and also - at least in one case that I am aware of - does contain a fungicide, which furthermore cuts down on the chance of a fungus to take hold while the plant is freshly transplanted.
The third thing is also rather critical: Most cacti do not like overly moist soil (growing medium) and will rot when they sit in soggy conditions. However, for small cuttings you may have to keep the soil moist, but not really wet, in order to produce root growth a little faster. That is, why sterile growing medium and a preventative application of a fungicide may be indicated. For really small specimens, the survival rate is not as good, because you are more likely to either keep them too wet and - if you reduce the water availability - they do dry out faster and may succumb to it.
Most likely, someone who does grow these plants in pots and does extensive propagation will be able to answer these questions better than I can.

Harald
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Post by thecactusdoctor »

Can you tell me the botanical name of your cactus since I'm not familliar with most common names of cacti? I Have rooted out thousands of opuntias and columnar cuttings for my revegetation projects by rooting them out in pure silt {river bottom sand}. By planting them in silt they tend to root out twice as fast as any other planting medium. Silt retains moisture for a long period of time therefore,doesn't need to be watered quite as often and eliminating the chance of overwatering.
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Post by thecactusdoctor »

thecactusdoctor wrote:Can you tell me the botanical name of your cactus since I'm not familliar with most common names of cacti? I Have rooted out thousands of opuntias and columnar cuttings for my revegetation projects by rooting them out in pure silt {river bottom sand}. By planting them in silt they tend to root out twice as fast as any other planting medium. Silt retains moisture for a long period of time therefore,doesn't need to be watered quite as often and eliminating the chance of overwatering.
"Keeping you cacti alive and healthy"
daiv
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Post by daiv »

"Fairy Castles" is a cultivar that I've seen most often referred to as Cereus tetragonus, but I don't think this is so. It looks like a miniature Cereus peruvianus and its identity is juat as questionable. I've never seen one in flower, in person or in pictures. Has anyone else?

As for growing experience, my plant grew like mad for the first year or so and then it turned yellow and sick. Not sure what was the cause. It could be me, but I remember seeing them at Cal Cactus in Bonsall and Rod said that his were growing fine and then all of a sudden they started dying like crazy. He had at least one full bench in his commercial greenhouse full of them. All sickly-yellow and dying.

So it seems that unlike C. peruvianus, "Fairy Castles" is rather sensative. So all that long windedness is to say "Roy, you might be doing what you should, but just have plants that are weak."
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
Roy
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cuttings

Post by Roy »

Harald, Cactus Doctor and Daiv: Thanks much for the feedback!

From web research I believe it is Cereus tetragonus,a type of Acanthocereus (?). I got it from Home Depot with little straw flowers glued on :roll: (which I plucked off at the checkout counter).

I have a couple of them, one for a year and a half, and haven't had any problems keeping them alive. I noticed in bright sunlight they get very light and even sort of burn out brown, but recover when lightly shaded. Also, they don't like too much water of course.

Yes, keeping the little ones evenly moist seems to be a trick. I got a jiffy greenhouse yesterday and will give that a try.

For the Cactusdoctor: where do you get this river silt? Could I use builder's sand instead? So far I have been using a mix of 1/2 small grain terragreen and 1/2 aquarium gravel.

Also - if this is a type of Acanthocereus, isn't that a "jungle cactus," in which case would it need high humidity and lower light?

Finally, how sensitive do you think they are to PH levels? I was planning to put in hypertufa pots, which can be quite alkaline.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm a little new at this cactus stuff. (I'm a recovering bonsai addict).

Thanks!

Roy
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hegar
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Post by hegar »

Hello Roy,
I cannot anwer all your questions, but for some I think I can give you some guidelines. If in fact your cactus is a "jungle cactus" it would not do too well in very bright light conditions. You have already noted, that it bleaches out when exposed to high light levels. Also, "jungle cacti" will do well with some compost (humus) added to the growing medium and require more water than "desert cacti". Another thing worth mentioning: While native cacti in my area live in highly alkaline soils (pH 9 - 10), the conditions wherein the "jungle cacti" exist would be more acidic, perhaps pH 5 - 7. However, you should be able to get some more authoritative information from those forum members that do grow your kind of cactus. I do have basically only outdoor plants of the desert cactus group in my collection.

Harald
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Fairy Castle Cuttings

Post by thecactusdoctor »

Silt can be purchased at a few sand a gravel companies in the Phoenix area. Silt is mainly effective on cttings propogated for outdoor planting. This type of medium may not be suitable for your purpose.[quote
"Keeping you cacti alive and healthy"[/quote]
MassSpec
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Re: Fairy Castle cuttings

Post by MassSpec »

This is a mini cultivar of sword pear / barbed wire cactus. Unlike say Dragon Fruit, I wouldn't suggest trying to make cuttings into the sections, but rather only cut at the joints. I have a 'jungle' of giant sword pear in my front yard and its SUPER HARDY, yet finicky in how the cuts work. With the big ones you basically have to seal off the thick woody center core of the main base after removing even many joint cuttings or it will dry out right on down the section. Quite odd how it works.

I'd love to get some fairy castle if anyone has and wants to trade.
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leland
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Re: cuttings

Post by leland »

Roy wrote:Harald, Cactus Doctor and Daiv: Thanks much for the feedback!

From web research I believe it is Cereus tetragonus,a type of Acanthocereus (?). I got it from Home Depot with little straw flowers glued on :roll: (which I plucked off at the checkout counter).

I have a couple of them, one for a year and a half, and haven't had any problems keeping them alive. I noticed in bright sunlight they get very light and even sort of burn out brown, but recover when lightly shaded. Also, they don't like too much water of course.

Yes, keeping the little ones evenly moist seems to be a trick. I got a jiffy greenhouse yesterday and will give that a try.

For the Cactusdoctor: where do you get this river silt? Could I use builder's sand instead? So far I have been using a mix of 1/2 small grain terragreen and 1/2 aquarium gravel.

Also - if this is a type of Acanthocereus, isn't that a "jungle cactus," in which case would it need high humidity and lower light?

Finally, how sensitive do you think they are to PH levels? I was planning to put in hypertufa pots, which can be quite alkaline.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm a little new at this cactus stuff. (I'm a recovering bonsai addict).

Thanks!

Roy

Anderson in Cactus Family cross references the 2 but this makes no sense that I can see. Acanthocereus is shrubby to vining and grows from coastal to dry forest environments.

The plants I have that I originally thought were Fairy Castle may be C.hexagonas per the picture in NCL Illustrations ed. 2 page 132., with a note that this foto bears no resemblance to the photo in Anderson of the same named species..

My plants are of nursery origin and with enough distortion that I think they are a montrous form of whatever species they were selected from, with C. hexagonus be the best guess at this time. In any case, what originally looked like Fairy Castle in the pot is now 4 meters tall and clumping with flowers that resemble the foto mentioned above in NCL. what ever they are, they grew well from cuttings of sections. I don`t believe I tried cutting sections into smaller pieces, which would be best done by letting them heal in the shade before planting.
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