Each type of cactus produces offshoots that you can use to expand your collection for free. To ensure that a leaf cutting, stem cutting or kindle actually takes root, special precautions must be taken. You can find out how to properly cut and plant a cactus cutting here.
How do I propagate cacti through cuttings?
To successfully propagate cactus cuttings, cleanly cut off a head, stem or leaf cutting in spring, let the cut dry for a few weeks and then plant it in cactus soil. Pay attention to a partially shaded location and moderate watering.
Best time is in spring
If you want to propagate a cactus using cuttings, we recommend a date between March and June. In this way, the window of opportunity for rooting is open long enough before dormancy begins in winter.
Correct cutting motivates root formation - this is how it works
Before cutting a cutting, please wipe the blade with a cloth soaked in alcohol to kill any pathogens. Make the cut with a pulling, continuous motion. A head cutting should be 10 cm tall, while a leaf cutting is cut to its original size. A spherical child exceeds its diameter in height. How to do it right:
- Choose an intersection point at the end of the shoot to minimize tissue injury
- Cut the cutting conically so that it can root out of a cylinder
- Place upright in a pot with dry perlite for 1 to 2 weeks to allow the wound to dry
To stop excessive sap flow, dip a kitchen towel in hot water and dab the cuts on the mother plant and offshoots with it.
Planting offshoots skillfully – this is how you do it in an exemplary manner
If the first root tips form at the cut during the drying phase, you can plant the offshoot. As a growing substrate, please use special cactus soil or a mixture of equal parts pricking soil and lava granules. Proceed as follows:
- Fill a small clay or plastic pot with substrate
- Cover the water drain with a curved pottery shard as drainage
- Plant the cutting upright to a third to a maximum of half its height
- Press the soil, but do not water
For the rooting phase, your pupil takes a partially shaded location. After a week of regeneration, water the cuttings moderately with soft water.
Tip
If a large cutting threatens to tip over, it is stabilized with a wooden stick. Lying offshoots root on the lower side, whereupon the cuttings bend towards the light over time and grow misshapen.
