Q about saving tall echinopsis

[ann]

Hello! I'm new to the forum and love cactii and succulents. Not real knowledgeable though and hoping for some expert advice! My landlord's tree guy came through and snapped off two of my very tall echinopsis at the base. One was 57" and one 31" tall. They are a very thin and tall species with large white flowers when they bloom. I know they easily grow babies when they fall, but can I save these tall ones?? Will the base grow roots again? So sad, thanks for any advice!

[7george]

Echinopsis is a big genus. For many species such a size is quite natural. If stems are thin you could make more cuttings and root them all. Can you show us a picture?

[greenknight]

They may very well resprout from the base, just have to wait and see. The tops should re-root as well. Cuttings are usually cut shorter, both for ease of handling and because they want to make more plants, but you could root them intact if you want. Your choice - you could make a bunch of smaller plants, or get your tall plants growing again.

Supporting a very tall cutting is the main problem, here's a video that shows one method for doing that - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrg80CK3bPA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The method for making cuttings is simple - make clean, straight cuts through the stems with a sharp knife, or use a saw if the stem is woody. Bevel the edges of the cuts, making them into a plug shape as shown here - http://www.cactusinfo.net/propagation.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can dust the cuts with sulfur powder or a rooting powder with fungicide if you like (rooting hormone doesn't seem to help with cacti, the point is to prevent rot). Then put the cuttings in a warm place out of direct sun until the cuts heal - a couple weeks or longer. If they lie on one side for long they'll develop a curve, and may grow roots out of the side of the stem - to prevent this, either support them in an upright position, or turn them every day if they're lying on their side.

Once the cuts have callused over, stand the cuttings in pots of good, free-draining cactus mix, or just straight grit. Give them whatever support they need to make them stable. Don't water, just leave them alone for 2 or 3 weeks. Normally you would check for rooting then and begin to water very sparingly when roots emerge, but that might be hard to do with large plants - you should see some growth at the tip when it starts growing roots, but you could give a small amount of water even before that. Continue to water sparingly until you're sure they have good root systems.

[ann]

Thank you so much! I feel like there is hope to save them. It takes time for them to get this tall and I'd really rather keep the tall ones. I have plenty of short ones.

The youtube video was great! She is in Ireland, which is also amazing! I'm hoping I might not have to wait months for the ends to dry, and then more months for roots to come. I'll post pictures soon and for now rotate them while they are lying there. Thanks!!

Here is an old pic of years ago when it was blooming one time...

echinopsisFlower.jpeg (36.19 KiB) Viewed 1890 times

[greenknight]

Beautiful plant.

If it's like most Echinopsis, it should root pretty quickly. It shouldn't need that much time to heal, either. The larger the diameter of the stem where it was cut, the longer it needs to heal - the one in the video was quite large, and I think she waited longer than it needed at that. The cut just needs to be thoroughly dried, really, but it does make the point that a large cactus can live for a long time without roots.

I think you should be able to pot yours later this Spring, and they'll probably be well-rooted by the end of the growing season. You should post updates as things progress - I'm sure we'd all like to see how it goes.

[ann]

Thank-you! Yes cactus are such amazing life forms!! Today I got in there and looked closely at the damage which occurred about a week ago.

Cactus1.jpg (152.8 KiB) Viewed 1876 times

The bottom where they were snapped off is quite woody. It seems like this woody stuff is too dry to grow roots?

The 57" one is completely broken off (pics), but the 31" one still had some tough fibery woody stuff tenuously holding on, like a section of outer bark. So that one I squished back into its base and tied it up. Do you think this woody stuff will mend or grow back to the base?

The base was really old. I don't really know exactly how it grows, but I got the original plant about 20 yrs ago from a 96-y-o woman going into the nursing home. The cactus poles grow up and fall over and grow all sorts of little ones, but it takes a long time to get a really tall one. I haven't physically dealt with this plant much because the spikes are multiple and sharp and fall off easy. However I'm really attached to it and would love to keep these tall ones from the original base.

Cactus2.jpg (94.17 KiB) Viewed 1876 times

Cactus3.jpg (33.18 KiB) Viewed 1876 times

Cactus4.jpg (38.02 KiB) Viewed 1876 times

Cactus5.jpg (50.49 KiB) Viewed 1876 times

[greenknight]

On the one you stood back up, the woody part won't grow together, I don't think. The vascular tissue in the center could, if you got it lined up. I don't think it will ever be strong enough to support itself, but if you keep it permanently staked it might work.

As for the one that's broken completely, you're correct - the woody part won't grow roots, you need to cut it above that. A saw is called for, I think. Clip off the spines where you're going to cut, it really helps. You may have to cut it all the way to where the skin is still completely green, but you could try cutting a bit less - I've never made a cutting from a cactus this old and woody, not sure how high you'll need to go to find tissue that's still succulent. I would cut at least above the "elbow" to start with.

I wonder just how old it is? It's a fantastic plant, in any case.

[ann]

Update: the 5ft one that I chopped and dried and then planted seems to be showing some sign of life at the center of the tip (pic)!!! I hope it's true. The dieing ones turn brown at the top and the healthy ones are pink. The 4ft one that I tied back to the woody root clump is still pink and starting to put off flowers. Hoping that one somehow makes it too. I'm afraid to jiggle it. Thanks for your help and encouragement! I love my cactuses!

[greenknight]

Yes, that looks like new growth - I think it's a success!

[ann]

Yay!! Thanks! I'm hopeful!

[greenknight]

Generally there's root growth when there's top growth, but don't be in any hurry to water. Don't want to risk rotting it, and it can go quite a while on its stored moisture.

Still not real sure what it is - the slender stems look like Echinopsis camarguensis, though its unusually tall for that species. There are many hybrids, too, both natural and human-created.

[Robb]

The slender stems look like Echinopsis camarguensis, though its unusually tall for that species. There are many hybrids, too, both natural and human-created.

I think it looks like Peniocereus serpentinus. Although, I could be wrong, Echinopsis is a confusing genus for me.

[Ron43]

I have a neighbor that has an Echinopsis that she lets it grow to about 3 feet and then she cuts it in half and re-roots the top half.

[greenknight]

I can see the resemblance to Peniocereus serpentinus - but that species is a nocturnal bloomer, the flowers last one night.