21 December 2008
Tacinga cuttings
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti; Propagation .
I was recently sent some Tacinga cuttings, with field data, and due to the vagaries of the postal system, they took two months to reach me. I subsequently found out that the cuttings had been taken two months prior to being sent, and so had been four months detached from their parent plants.
When they did finally turn up, they were severely dessiccated, and as a result I decided it would be a better idea to get them rooting under lights indoors than to leave them in the greenhouse minding their own business until Spring.
This I did; I used my usual John Innes no.2/grit/cat litter mixture, gave them a good dousing with water and left them with my seedlings under the artificial lights in my spare bedroom.
Imagine my surprise when, just two days after potting, one Tacinga inamoena ssp. subcylindrica was noticeably plumper than when it arrived. I was so incredulous that I had to pull it out of its pot as I didn’t believe it could have rooted so quickly - and yet it had. The others followed suit very quickly afterwards. It makes me think that I might follow some advice Terry Edney gave me at the BCSS National Show earlier this year and try taking some cuttings in January when plants are thoroughly shrivelled, to see whether that improves the speed with which they root. It should be of particular interest when I get round to chopping up my graft of Mammillaria luethyi.
3 Comments so far...
Aiyana Says:
26 December 2008 at 6:36 am.
Hope you show a photo one of these days. I’d be interested in seeing it.
Aiyana
Ed Bartlett Says:
30 December 2008 at 3:41 pm.
I recieved two pads of Tacinga inamoena about 18 months ago and put them upright in the same 4″ clay pot. They have been 1/2 under a small eve on a flagstone table I made and now feel very well rooted.
My question is–Can the Tucson sun be more than they can take? I am not known for my H2O generosity with Opuntiads but after so long it seems to me that some visible growth should have taken place. The exposed part of he pads look the same as when I potted them. Perhaps a bit more dessicated but there is definitely some thickness to each pad.
I have pulled them in for our short winter because we usually get about 6 early morning hard freezes/year. Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Ed Bartlett-Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society-host to the 2009 CSSA Convention
Stuart Says:
30 December 2008 at 4:46 pm.
Ed,
Hello there, thanks for your comment.
I’m not enormously familiar with tacingas, having not grown them before, and am a little reluctant to try and advise you on your growing conditions given how wildly different they are from mine here in the UK.
That said, I have noticed before that some padded opuntias seem to need an awful lot of water to wake them up and get them growing properly. My Opuntia leucotricha is a swine for this - I’ve been letting it shrivel thoroughly each winter and then find that I have to keep it almost wet for a while to encourage it to do anything in the spring beyond taking water up into its existing growth.
I’d be inclined to wait until the better weather returns and then really drench your tacingas. Sod’s law says that they’ll go from single joints to small bushes in a matter of weeks 
Another thought is this - I find that some opuntioids do indeed just sit around grinning from time to time, even if given quite lavish treatment. My Grusonia invicta has done absolutely nothing for a couple of years now, despite thorough waterings, feed, et cetera. The plant has clearly decided to be stubborn and have a bit of a rest.
Aiyana,
Yes I will do - I’ve been meaning to get back into the habit of taking photos. In fact I might do so this evening as the majority of my tacinga cuttings are now in growth!