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[Convergence]

1. When should they be fertilised? Mine are almost a week old now, but no spine growth yet.

2. Can I graft Saguaro seedlings onto Pereskiopsis? If so, at what age?

3. How much light is needed at 1 week? 1 or 2 CFL tubes?

[Frog Pajamas]

I don't know the answers to your questions, but thought I'd add a quote from happyconcacti...

If you're going to grow these, be sure to document your grow with pictures and dates.

It's very illegal to procure live plants from the desert so having documentation that you grew them is key.

A few nurseries that sell these use a "red-tag" system. The tags must always be attached to the saguaros and describe it's history. I'll try to find more details about this.

Hcc

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[BubbleCat]

Wanted to answer earlier but didnt have enough reason back then. Regarding the light, you shpuld specify the output (or at least input) of your cfls so people have an idea what 1 vs 2 is. Also I think you can hardly give a plant too much light with cfls just make sure you dont burn them.

Regarding the plants from the wild: In case of rare plants I really oppose removing them in the wild, but what really grinds my gears: guilty until proven innocent ? At least in semi civilised societies people like the idea the other way round, you have to be proven guilty to be sentenced. Is there a incident, case or report on someone getting busted on such charges because they couldnt prove themselves innocent ? Or are there cases where the documentation apparently saved somones arse ? I'd be technically interested, HCC maybe ?

[FewTrueSeed]

I don't see much harm in growing from seed. Do you need a permit for all saguaro growing? From what I read they are not a protected or endangered species.

[Frog Pajamas]

It's totally cool to grow from seed. I didn't mean to open a can of worms here (love for our anarcho-mod Bubble  ).

I was just sharing hcc's advice since he is someone who lives in a region where saguaros are native and has first hand knowledge of practices used to differentiate seed grown versus poached plants. It probably would never be an issue, but, if say you decided to sell a seed grown saguaro at some point, it might become pertinent.

[Ian Morris]

Saguaro is neither protected nor endangered. 

Although sacred and beautiful its not really going anywhere.  In Arizona the state has made the destruction of Saguaro a criminal offense, which is really just a way to limit the asinine practice known as cactus plugging. 

My unqualified legal advice is to grow this sacred plant and add something ur sacred to your collection. 

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[Convergence]

I'm from Australia. There are no wild Saguaro here. Relax please.

What about grafting?

Also, they sell saguaro seeds at mesagarden, an American business, so I think there is no problem with growing them?

[FewTrueSeed]

My appolagies. I'm interested in the debate in any case. I would , love to see a saguaro graft. Keep us posted. Pics?

[Convergence]

Did some reading. Saguaro doesnt root from cuttings, so grafting would be pointless. Unless you know of a stock that could support an adult Saguaro?

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[modern]

Did some reading. Saguaro doesnt root from cuttings, so grafting would be pointless. Unless you know of a stock that could support an adult Saguaro?

This is not true however there are limitations and techniques needed to root them. I've found that most things that people say are wrong like Salvia seeds. Saguaro can be rooted from grafts however your success rate will vary on your technique.

Be aware however that rooted arms from adult plants seem to root and live for around 15 years but grow little. The is a source of an Arizona or Nevada company that has success doing this with broken arms but I don't remember them if they told their technique.

You would never use an adult saguaro as a stock however a low trichocereus or other columnar cactus would work as a permanent stock.

[happyconcacti]

Oh my, sorry about the can of worms with the legality issues. It really only applies to Arizona.

In Arizona state law, the crested form of saguaro is "Highly Safe Guarded" and "Salvage Restricted". All saguaros are "Salvage Restricted". (https://agriculture.az.gov/protected-native-plants-categories)

So what's salvage restricted?

"2. Salvage restricted native plants to be afforded the exclusive protections involving the use of salvage permits, tags and seals provided in this chapter. This category includes those native plants which are not included in the highly safeguarded category but are nevertheless subject to a high potential for damage by theft or vandalism."

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/3/00903.htm&Title=3&DocType=ARS

So here's the kicker, in Arizona it really only matters if you plan on moving the cactus. Furthermore, it simply says that if grown by humans it completely exempt. Thus, tracking the growth of your saguaros is just covering your own shit.

"B. In addition to the requirements prescribed by this section, a person who moves or salvages a saguaro cactus (cereus giganteus) that is more than four feet tall, from other than its original growing location, must purchase a permit, tag and seal from the department. A person may move a saguaro cactus without obtaining a permit, tag and seal only if the person maintains documentation of a previous legal movement or if the department has record of a previous legal movement of the cactus by the person. Saguaro cacti that are propagated by humans are exempt from the requirements of this subsection."

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/3/00906.htm&Title=3&DocType=ARS

And as far as seeing the tags on plants at nurseries, I'm guessing they've salvaged plants from people's houses but cannot remove the tag until the cacti is in it's final location:

"The division shall provide tags and seals for each permit issued for taking, transporting or possessing highly safeguarded, salvage restricted or salvage assessed native plants. The director by rule shall establish procedures and forms for permits, tags and seals to be issued for the collection and salvage of highly safeguarded native plants and the salvage of salvage restricted and salvage assessed native plants. The director by rule may establish and modify the form and character of the tags and seals described in this section. All such tags and seals shall be attached to the plants at the time of taking and before transporting. It is unlawful to remove a tag or seal from a protected native plant that has been taken and tagged pursuant to this article before the plant has been transplanted at its designated site. A tag or seal may be removed only by a designated agent of the division or by the owner of the plant."

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/3/00906.htm&Title=3&DocType=ARS





Also, different parks have started micro-chipping their saguaros to hopefully prevent theft. I'm sure this applies particularly to the crested specimens.

I have a good friend who runs a "saguaro-doctor" business. He's rooted many arms. I'll ask him what he does and report back.

Peace,
Hcc

[happyconcacti]

This is what the saguaro doctor said about rooting cuttings:

I've had the best luck rooting Saguaros by first spraying the cut with a 50% diluted bleach/water solution then applying Sulphur powder (dusting sulphur) to the cut while still wet so it sticks better. Be sure to cut back at least 1/2 inch into good green tissue passed any sign of rot. I like these to root these up in a gritty mixture of cactus soil, pumice and coarse river sand. This time of the year [November] is a bit cool in the northern hemisphere so put it in the warmest possible spot or on my windowsill with some morning sun to warm it up and keep it from going dormant otherwise it will not grow any roots until Spring, that is, if it makes it until then. Good luck!

So yeah, he made it sound possible but not likely.

Peace,
Hcc

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[Convergence]

Wow thats interesting, so you can actually root Saguaro cuttings. I'm going to put one on pereskiopsis then, the other 5 can keep own roots.

[Convergence]

Hmm... did some more reading, and it does appear that the original assessment rings mostly true.

With difficulty you can root a Saguaro cutting, but for some reason it will not continue to grow. I wonder if this could be overcome with BAP-6 or other hormone treatments?

[happyconcacti]

Yeah, I don't think people re-root saguaros for mass propagation, they're almost all grown from seed. It's mostly if a storm knocked down an arm or a tip broke off and they figure, "Well, might as well try to save it".