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[Radium]

I have a 3 inch san pedro cutting.
The cut is not angled.
It was perfectly cut with zero angle, like the cactus was placed into a guillotine.
After it dried, the center of the wound went inwards a little, and now a small bowl-shaped hollow space is present at the bottom of the cactus.
If I plant it, will this cause water to accommodate there and rot the plant?
If so, what is the solution?

[oplopanax]

Huh, that's a pretty small cutting. I imagine that it would root fine though, just be really ginger in how much you water it while the roots are establishing...

[happyconcacti]

Or just plant it at an angle and it'll eventually straighten out.

[New Wisdom]

If that part is the part that goes into the ground then you don't have to worry.

[MadPlanter]

Could it be planted sideways? It may help it to pup upward to get a nicer cut in the future to replant.

[Radium]

Okay, how should I treat the plant until the root is established?
What am I supposed to do? because I'm going to plant it tomorrow.
Should I just plant it in dry soil? and wait a week or two before watering it?
Or should the soil be damp/wet?
I'm totally sorry about asking these, because I'm sure the answers are mentioned already somewhere in the forums, but this week I'm a little in a hurry, so excuse me today 

BTW, somebody told me to just lay the cutting on the soil sideways, without planting it at all.
And it will eventually grow roots, and start to pup new baby heads to grow.
He called this "the log" method.
What do you think about this?

[New Wisdom]

I think the cutting is a bit too small to do the log method, but you could.  Just put it in soil in indirect light, preferably somewhere warm, and wait till roots form to water. It is very small so it will grow rediculously slow for the first year or two, but it might work.

[Radium]

How deep should I put it into soil?
And how can I know if the roots are formed or not, before deciding to water it?

[New Wisdom]

It's a tiny cutting so not very deep. You don't have to burry them deep though.  I've had cuttings sitting on the surface root and start growing. Just put it .5-1" into the soil.

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[Radium]

Okay done, it is buried 0.5" in soil.
It is sitting in a fuzzy warm place, with indirect sunlight.
When can I start watering it? is after two weeks a good idea?
How do you guys notice if a cutting has developed any roots yet or not?

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[Ian Morris]

RE:  When are roots growing?

For me the best method is to just dig it out again.  Carefully with your hand remove the soil around the base until you can pull the cutting free.  This way you will actually see the roots growing and know you are good to water. 

The problem is if you guess wrong and over water a small cutting like that will rot in a matter of days.  If you overestimate the time it takes to strike roots you might get some etiolation, which isn't fatal but makes you cactus look silly. 

-Ian

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[Radium]

A curious question:

Does the cutting begin to develop roots if it is not planted?
If not, how does the little guy notice he's planted in soil?
I mean the soil is dry, so no chemical contact is possible to trigger rooting.
Then how does our little fella know he's planted or not?
Is it because of the darkness?

[Ian Morris]

I am tempted to say darkness is the trigger for roots, but I have on at least once seen aerial roots grow from a central column (to be fair it might have been in enough darkness because I had a big guy throw roots after being knocked over and laying on the ground).

[Radium]

Okay it's been a long time, and today I decided to take a look at the cutting to see if it has developed any roots or not.
But to my surprise, there was no trace of any roots AT ALL.
No rot and infection, but no roots either.
The soil is standard cactus mix I bought from garden store.

[happyconcacti]

it can take months sometimes.

It's not recommended but sometimes I water the unrooted cuttings ever so lightly. Sometimes it seems that helps roots break the surface tissue.

But don't take my word for it.

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