Offshoots of the columnar cactus are primarily grown from cuttings, as this method is relatively uncomplicated. Of course, sowing is also possible. What you need to consider when propagating columnar cacti.
How do you propagate a columnar cactus?
Columnar cacti can be propagated by sowing seeds or cuttings. Sow seeds thinly in spring and keep moist. Cut cuttings, let the interfaces dry, place them in a permeable substrate and water carefully.
Propagate columnar cactus: cut cuttings or sow seeds
Columnar cacti generally do not bloom when grown indoors. You must therefore buy seeds from specialist retailers. It's easier and quicker to grow offshoots from cuttings that you cut from existing plants.
How to sow columnar cacti
The seeds are sown thinly in prepared trays in early spring and are not covered. The surface must be kept slightly moist.
Place the cultivation containers in a location that is as bright and warm as possible at 20 to 28 degrees. Cover the containers with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
As soon as the seedlings have emerged, they are pricked out and later transferred to individual pots.
Cut cuttings and let them dry
- Cut cuttings
- Allow interfaces to dry
- Prepare cultivation pots
- Insert cuttings
- stabilize with chopsticks
- set up bright and warm
- only pour from the side or from below
The cuttings for propagation are cut in spring or summer. Use a sharp, clean knife and make the cut straight into a thinner area.
Place the cuttings upright in an empty glass that you have lined with cotton wool at the bottom. It can take up to two months for the cut ends to dry sufficiently.
Prepare pots with well-drained substrate. Coconut soil (€3.00 on Amazon) or cactus soil, which you also mix with quartz sand, are well suited.
Be careful when watering
Insert the columnar cactus cuttings only slightly into the top of the substrate. Carefully tie the cuttings to wooden sticks so that the columnar cactus stands completely upright.
Do not water the cuttings immediately after inserting them. After a week, moisten the substrate only at the edge of the pot so that the cutting does not get wet. Alternatively, you can also fill some water into the coaster. It is absorbed by the substrate.
Tip
There are around 25 species of cacti that are classified as columnar cactus. In their natural habitat, columnar cacti can grow up to 15 meters high. Cultivated in pots, they reach a height of one meter or more in just a few years.
