View Full Version : Lost clipings found and still alive
Last July some friends and I were bug hunting in Florida and during the trip I took a few segments from cactus I came across and place the three in a deli cup. Unknowingly the cup fell behind a rack of mine and close to 6 months later I found them. I was surprised to see that they weren't totally raisins and I potted them in hopes of bringing them back. Well it seems that my teachings from my Grandmother were not lost and they are doing well and growing. Today I just removed the toothpicks I had supporting them and here they are....
Twizted Paths
02-22-2010, 11:57 AM
Hmm, so maybe I should toss the cati I'm somehow killing behind rack to get them to live.
Are you going to share your Grandmother's propagation teachings?
My great granma would just stick cuttings in dirt & order them to grow or else in italian.
Are you going to share your Grandmother's propagation teachings?
My great granma would just stick cuttings in dirt & order them to grow or else in italian.
Well, my Grandmother's techniques were close to your Great Grandmother's though it was more of a request versus an order. Just like critters, make sure the are fed and watered and they will do well. She could put a popsicle stick in the ground and it would grow. Odd though, my Mom could have killed an artificial plant. She used to bring me her plants from work even when I was in elementary school to bring her dying plants back to life after nearly killing them.
My Grandmother's garden was the better part of her half acre backyard and as a child we would tend to the variety of veggies, fruits, berries and herbs.
Twizted Paths
02-23-2010, 10:32 AM
I miss having a big yard of my own.
I can grow almost anything. Except plants that are supposed to be indestructible, I am death to snake's tongue, rubber trees, ivy of any sort, boston ferns, mint and cati.
My mother used my house like a free nursery/plant rehab. She'd take my lush flourishing plants & drop off all of her brittle brown twigs :rolleyes:
I miss having a big yard of my own.
I've got the yard but can't do much planing due to the deer eating stuff. I had tomato plants fenced in and I was only a few days from getting my first ripe tomato and the next morning as I'm letting my dog out I see that my plants were gone. I found them strewn throughout my yard and a whole bunch of Bambi tracks. :(
Twizted Paths
02-23-2010, 12:41 PM
The deer are horrible. They used to just be a light weight nuisance but now they're so over populated it's insane.
The bloody half feral cat colony wiped out my edible garden & a lot of my houseplants last year. Along with all the birds I had coming over and my little chipmunk family, I like chipmunks :(
crotalusadamanteus
03-28-2010, 08:00 AM
Spend a couple years out here. You won't be trying to "plant" any cacti. :rofl:
Nope. You'd probably be wishing they "would" become raisins.
crotalusadamanteus
03-28-2010, 08:04 AM
I've got the yard but can't do much planing due to the deer eating stuff. I had tomato plants fenced in and I was only a few days from getting my first ripe tomato and the next morning as I'm letting my dog out I see that my plants were gone. I found them strewn throughout my yard and a whole bunch of Bambi tracks. :(
They sell this stuff, can't remember the name of it, but it's crystalline predator urine. Bobcat, Cougar, Wolf, etc. Spread it around the perimeter and surrounding area, and viola!
Never had to use it, but I've heard it works pretty well for them sort of problems. :thumbsup:
They sell this stuff, can't remember the name of it, but it's crystalline predator urine. Bobcat, Cougar, Wolf, etc. Spread it around the perimeter and surrounding area, and viola!
Never had to use it, but I've heard it works pretty well for them sort of problems. :thumbsup:
I've tried everything short of watering around the planted areas myself if you get my meaning. I've even picked up large animal waste from a small zoo I used to sell rodents to and it didn't stop them. The critters around here don't fear much short of projectiles. I was out cutting up a tree that had fallen and I had 4 bucks walking up on me. They weren't even phased with me moving towards them with the saw running and revving. It wasn't until I cut a branch about the size of a base ball bat and threw it at them that they moved away from me. Not the showing of the white tail and running away but a dodge of the branch and walking away slowly.
At least the cacti are doing well as you can see. I'm not sure if they are going to flower or exactly what they are doing with the Jack and the beanstalk looking off shoots. :shrug01:
crotalusadamanteus
03-28-2010, 09:01 AM
If I ain't mistaken, they'll fatten up and widen out to be a new leaf like the one it's sprouting from, but larger. All the little spiny looking things will become needles. That's a Prickly Pear in case you didn't already know. We got some out this way larger then a man on a horse. :yesnod:
Cacti roots LOVE oxygen. When you transplant, add plenty of sand to the soil so it drains good, and it'll love you for it.
If I ain't mistaken, they'll fatten up and widen out to be a new leaf like the one it's sprouting from, but larger. All the little spiny looking things will become needles. That's a Prickly Pear in case you didn't already know. We got some out this way larger then a man on a horse. :yesnod:
Cacti roots LOVE oxygen. When you transplant, add plenty of sand to the soil so it drains good, and it'll love you for it.
They are in a "cactus mix" I picked up from the nursery years ago when I had a bunch of cacti cutting from a friend. There is a pretty good amount of sand in there I just put put some peat on top after putting a god layer of cricket doo doo for fertilizer down when first starting them.
I'm looking forward to them opening up. Do you know if they flower at all? I haven't remembered to look hem up to see if they do.
crotalusadamanteus
03-28-2010, 09:22 AM
Sure they do, but not normally when they are that young. There's about probably 50 different kinds of Prickly Pear though. LOL I think they all get a different color flower, which will die off and become a "cactus apple". These are seedy, but edible when ripe, if you feel like messing with the micro needles they'll have. Each apple will have about 500 seeds or so.
Some species are farmed and Jelly is made, as well as the leafs being eaten in the Mexican culture, known as Nopales, or Nopalitos.
Sure they do, but not normally when they are that young. There's about probably 50 different kinds of Prickly Pear though. LOL I think they all get a different color flower, which will die off and become a "cactus apple". These are seedy, but edible when ripe, if you feel like messing with the micro needles they'll have. Each apple will have about 500 seeds or so.
Some species are farmed and Jelly is made, as well as the leafs being eaten in the Mexican culture, known as Nopales, or Nopalitos.
Cool deal, thanks for the info. Maybe once they fatten up I'll transplant them and put them into a bigger pot or pots.
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