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[LIBERTYNY]

Is their any benefit rooting a larger Trichocereus cut over a smaller one  ? ?

I just bought a 12" cutting of Trichocereus pachanoi 'var' LER, and im wondering if rooting a 12" cutting is better than 2 six inch cuttings, or even 3 ?  ?

[Mangrove]

Bigger ones have more energy to burst out into and stay viable for longer; smaller ones take more time. Best way to find out or demonstrate this concept is to try all options; if you only have one tip cutting, chuck that into the mess! It'll grow faster than center cuts.

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[Chicsa]

I disagree ive had super huge cuttings take a very very long time compared to thinner cuttings a few inches shorter. I have fat 12 inch cuttings that took 8 months to root skinny and 10 in cuttings that root super fast. U have several factors at play as well. Genetics... mother plants conditions at time of cut. The time of cut itself [season] The ecology of the place it came from and then its new locations conditions and season. Those all effect time it takes to root.

That bein said optimum cut length is about 6 to 12 inches. Id keep it as is tho... less stress on the plant. Up to u tho.

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[Jet]

I'm seeing some pretty good results with a bunch of 6" bridgesii cuttings right now. I ordered 12" cuttings about a month ago. Ignoring the bottom six inches, I put some clonex on each of the fresh cut ends of the 6" tip side I planned to root. I left these hanging vertically (noose-style) in a window for a while, and then moved them onto a wire shelf under fluorescents. This was under a month ago and I'm seeing root buds already. I've read in a few places that you can't/shouldn't root cuttings over the winter, but this seems to be going well so far.

I'm still pretty new to this, but I think the trick is to keep them vertical and lit more-or-less from above, so they don't get confused about which way is down. Hanging them seemed like a good way to accomplish this while allowing the base to callous over. The open air on the to-be-rooted base keeps it dry (so it won't rot) and provides zero resistance to the soon-to-be-newly-growing roots.

I probably would have left them like this, but we were having company and it wasn't a great look for the window, so they got moved. There's still minimal resistance to rooting on the wire shelf, but a few of them have fallen over as the root buds pressed out against a wire. I just check on them daily and stand them back up if they fall.

We'll see how it goes, but it's looking like 6 inches is plenty big enough to stay viable while rooting. I might go a low as four, but I probably wouldn't go below that and expect good results. This certainly isn't definitive, but hopefully it helps add to the collective knowledge.

Also, I've heard that cuttings tend to double in size every year until they reach their mature growth rate... I can't verify this, but, if it's true, you'd see the exact same growth out of 1x12 vs 2x6 vs 3x4 and so on, until maturity. The trade-off being that maturity takes longer to reach, but you end up with a larger number of mature plants. Maybe next time I order cuttings I'll try each at the same time for a side by side comparison. Would be nice to have a more definitive result.

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[dolphingunblade]

Iv gotten cutting at 6 inches and cutting at 12 inches, every 12 inch plant I got has already grown 6 inch pups of their own or has doubled in size in the span of almost 8 months. My 6-inch cutting on the other hand have grown maybe 1-2 inches. So if possible I would say 12+inch cuts are an infinitely better option when possible.

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[Coastghost]

If it was me I would just root the whole thing that way you Will have less chance of getting infected and it will be nicer to look at

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[Inyan]

If it were me and I had the extra stock available, I'd like to see 12 inches cut up 24 times at the least and grafted to twenty four 2 foot long PC specimens so I could have a multitude of these little babies by now. Still, enquiring minds want to know how you did with this one. Great specimen by the way!

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[flip]

I agree with jet on this.

You need not have mass, what is more important in the rooting and vigor of any of the trich cuttings are

• The time of year the cutting is made.

• Tip of Center cut

• If the cutting was well calloused over and kept upright vs laying down (below)

You do not need much... a 3 inch side branch is more than enough
often, those have already have developed rootlets emerging from the base.

A 6 inch cutting tip will also do quite well if given enough time.

I think that the greatest problem is that most people tend to either give too much or too little sunlight when they first get their cuttings

Bright indirect light will work for most people - years ago there was this meme floating around about keeping them in the dark as the best way to get rooting and growth (?) some people have a strange sense of humor.  These plants like to be on hillsides and under trees if possible for best growth, the tips are sensitive to strong noonday light that will impede growth.  so morning and evening direct light is preferred... lots of water in the summer as long as they can have the soil medium dry out completely once a week in a pot.  If the grower lives in a humid climate, they might have to walk a bit more gently with them.  Well draining soil with sand works best ime.

Anyway, the hormones that dictate root development are a product of the growth tip (explaining why center cuts take longer)
as mentioned before, they gravitate down to the lowest part of the center woody core for root formation. A side branch will have a "bend" in it so that the root growth hormones  will pool and collect there and it's not unusual to have a few air roots push out from the skin early in a side branch's development.   

Roots also sent up hormones for tip growth as part of the growth regulatory system.  So a well rooted base will regrow new branches from the areoles at the top faster than something with a new base and limited root system.

That's why a arial root good side branch is preferred... vs a cutting with a large scar that needs to heal.

sorry if this is long.

TLDR:   A tip is preferred, stand it upright 2 weeks after making the cutting (healed over) and it'll be ready for potting a month or so afterwards.  Water lightly and keep it in bright indirect light until you see new tip growth (signs of having rooted).  This might take an entire season for a center cut to build up enough hormones to break out of it's wait period.

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[Inyan]

Just make sure your cuts are at least this big and you will be fine. Graft them if you want them to grow faster.

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[MeanGreen]

Agreed.

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[Inyan]

I think your cutting beat mine in size, by being smaller, by at least an areole.

However, don't think I didn't notice that you cheated by watering your baby! Good work my friend. Always good to be outdone as it gives me a new goal to strive for.

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[MeanGreen]

Haha, idk yours seem thinner let's call it a tie 
I didn't water it, it's just that I had already potted it but I had to dig it up and wash the root(s) to take the pic. Just rooted in perlite that I sprayed every once in a while.

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[DansMaTete]

Indeed small cutting can root.

From my side :

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[MeanGreen]

Just in case someone wonders the same thing about Pereskiopsis:

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[geezer]

Small minds think alike 

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