I’m sick and tired of my cuttings etiolating while they root! Yes I realize it is part of the process. Buuuut…
What are your best practices? I’ve put cuttings in my sunroom and even outside while they root (super etiolated), I have kept them in relative shade (still etiolated), and now I’m left with a BURNING question:
Will cuttings root while in dormancy? I’m considering making cuts to these lovely BBB (right) and Eileen x SS02 (left) before sticking them in the garage for the winter, hoping they won’t try too hard to grow upwards without roots. I have accepted etiolation as part of the propagation process, but maybe your insight can gain them another cm or two in thickness on the other side!
by moremeatpies
6 Comments
seems like it depends how much water the cutting has extra inside to make the cutting want to grow a little bit in garage for winter?????
From my personal experience, cuttings will not root in dormancy, hence “dormant”. Heat and light are required for the CAM photosynthesis process, but when temps go cool (50F and under) and daylight hours fall short they go to sleep. I think alot of the etioliation experienced are due to the nutrients the cuts have stored. I’ve noticed the more mature cuts I take that get straight PK and almost no N ever tend to root with minor etioliation. I could be grasping at straws there, but that’s just my personal experience.
I don’t think they will root in dormancy.
To avoid etiolation, try using rooting hormones. I’ve found that it significantly speeds up the rooting process.✨
I dust mine with a rooting hormone and sulfur mixture right after I make the cut. 😊 The mixture contains 0.15% IBA and 0.15% IAA—it works wonders! 😁
Following cause I’m looking for tips on this also.
I would suggest foliar feeding you’re cactus while you have it rooting. Make sure to give it plenty of sunlight and feed it something like liquid Kelp about 2 hours after dark that’s when its stomota open up.
I’ve only done one round of cuttings, so am by no means an expert. But 17 / 17 cuttings have survived and rooted without etiolation, so I’ll share what I did:
Last autumn: brought cacti inside. Used them as houseplants in locations where they would receive no direct sun, but also not in complete darkness. Never watered them from November – May. If there was any etiolation during that time, it was very slight.
April of this year: Cut tops of (17) cacti I thought were getting too tall (and also to deal with etiolation that had started the prior winter, when I was giving them more light and water, to their detriment it turns out). Dusted bottoms of cuttings with sulfur, and placed them in paper grocery sacks on a wire shelf for a month. Left tops of cut stumps untreated, and indoors until chances of frost had passed.
May of this year: Checked the bags, and seen that cuttings all have started at least little root stubs. Planted them in a ProMix 2B + 1/3 perlite mixture with some extra lime, gypsum, and pelleted chicken poo, all deep enough that they could stand without needing staking. Moved the newly-potted cuttings, and the stumps of their original plants outside to a covered, north-facing porch.
One week later in May: Moved the newly-potted cuttings, and the stumps of their original plants outside to an open, partly-shaded area on the east side of my house.
Another week later in May: Moved the newly-potted cuttings, and the stumps of their original plants outside to under my roof eave on an otherwise-open, south-facing deck. Started occasional P-tek on both cuttings and stumps as supplemental fertilization.
As of now (late August), new growth is looking good. Stumps all have one or two pups each. Cuttings seem to be well-rooted (though I have not dug down to see how much).
Next time I make cuttings, I may add rooting hormone to the sulfur, as u/Seminautti recommends, but I’m pretty happy with how the cacti did without any.