Vegetative Cloning: Will it work?
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Brontosaurus
- Posts: 278
- Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:49 pm
Vegetative Cloning: Will it work?
I have an Echinocerus longisetus sub. delaetii that has been sorely neglected. Today I was trying to clear off some of the dead stems to replant it and the whole plant fell off the root stalk. It has one little stem that's still alive. Is it worth it to try re-potting the stem that's still alive? Can this cactus grow from cuttings like that? Thanks!
Re: Vegetative Cloning: Will it work?
Cut it off, if not too small it will root till the spring. Nothing to lose here.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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Brontosaurus
- Posts: 278
- Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:49 pm
Re: Vegetative Cloning: Will it work?
Hooray! Thanks a million!
Re: Vegetative Cloning: Will it work?
It's always worth trying to save original genetic material. The problem sometimes can be if too small it dries up before it can root. In those cases grafting will often save it and it can be degrafted and rooted down again when larger. Cacti can even be saved by grafting sound individual tubercles if most of the plant has rotted, using methods similar to seedling grafting because the tubercles would dry out before rooting if not grafted. However some larger tubercles like Mammillaria (Dolichothele) longimamma have enough reserves of moisture and can be rooted down reasonably easily without resorting to grafting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3ZIjHGKZ0
I can never understand people throwing away cacti because they are marked or damaged, such as by frosting or sunburn, provided it is not by disease. Just top or "blind them" and they will throw out clean offsets you can start a new clean plant from. From a single plant you will probably get a few offsets, therefore then have additional plants you can swap for others you want.
Never give up on a plant until it is obviously dead. I was given a rooted plant which consisted of two tiny joints of Schlumbergera microsphericus. The joints were only about threequarters of an inch long. Unfortunately the bottom joint started to rot so I nipped off the top joint and just threw it into an old seed pan. Next year I found the tiny joint had rooted and within about a year this was the plant.
For a sense of scale the joints in the plant below are only about threequarters to an inch long.
Within another year or so I had this, all from that initial single threequarter of an inch joint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA3ZIjHGKZ0
I can never understand people throwing away cacti because they are marked or damaged, such as by frosting or sunburn, provided it is not by disease. Just top or "blind them" and they will throw out clean offsets you can start a new clean plant from. From a single plant you will probably get a few offsets, therefore then have additional plants you can swap for others you want.
Never give up on a plant until it is obviously dead. I was given a rooted plant which consisted of two tiny joints of Schlumbergera microsphericus. The joints were only about threequarters of an inch long. Unfortunately the bottom joint started to rot so I nipped off the top joint and just threw it into an old seed pan. Next year I found the tiny joint had rooted and within about a year this was the plant.
For a sense of scale the joints in the plant below are only about threequarters to an inch long.
- microsphericus.jpg (313.06 KiB) Viewed 744 times
- microspherica.jpg (303.65 KiB) Viewed 744 times