i have had a load of life things to deal with recently and i have missed most of the growing season. i am getting myself back together now and i actually have a bigger space to use for a garden
and i did not lose too many plants in the process, but it does mean i missed my window of opportunity for certain jobs in the garden, one of which was cutting my roughly 3ft bridgesii into stock, log and tip.
i cut the bridgesii anyway in the beginning of july and i am hoping they will root okay or survive until next season. this is the first time i have taken cuttings this way from a cactus (i have only rooted picked leaves from prickly pear), but they have calloused beautifully and look ready to go to me.
yesterday (one month after cutting) i propped the tip up in some dry perlite so i can check the roots, but the log is still laying in a piece of cardboard waiting for me to do something.
so there is the back story, now the questions. i am in UK btw. also, in case it matters, the middle of the cactus was slightly etiolated, which is the part i am going to use as a log. it was not extreme, but there was a noticeable thinning in the middle.
1. i have no space to root the log indoors, but i do have a greenhouse that i keep cacti in over winter to go dormant. would it be better for me to keep the log wrapped in cardboard indoors until next season, or will it have time in UK to root before going dormant?
or maybe it is even safe to leave it outside even if it does not root in time?
2. how would you recommend rooting the log? is it better to root in perlite similar to how i have with the tip, but laying down, or should i go straight into the final soil with this?
3. how long can i expect to wait for new branches to start growing on the stock? i keep looking for them but i think i may not see anything until next year now.
any ideas, experience, etc? thank you