BCSS - Forum

A few weeks ago I was given an Echinopsis hybrid which had suffered the fate of having its Shoot Tip damaged. It had several offsets, and these are now sitting in a sand covered cactus compost in a propagator and I'm hoping that they may root and grow. They have not yet died! Since removing the "pups" - some with a sharp sterile blade and some dropped off in transport - another couple of offsets have started to form. Obviously, the plant will never grow into a large perfect plant, but --- do I keep it as a source of new plants? Or do I consign it to the bin once the pups have successfully rooted and started to show signs of growth? It may not be the prettiest plant in the place, but, it is being productive. (alliteration intended) As a new collector, I'm not pushed for space; I'm just seeking sensible guidance.

It really depends on whether you will be able to pass on the resulting plants or not.

You may not have space problems at the moment, but you won't want a collection that is all the same plant.

Once you are successful with the offsets will you really need to keep original plant?

cactuspip wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:35 pm ................................... You may not have space problems at the moment, ..............

Ah but exceeding my storage allocation will incur a penalty from my wife!

You will find, if you retain the damaged plant, that you will soon be inundated with offsets, as echinopsis can be very productive in this regard. My suggestion would be to bin the mother plant once a couple of the offsets have rooted. It isn't the ideal time of year for rooting, spring and summer would be better but echinopsis hybrids generally root very readily so you should be ok. Your first post suggests that you are rooting them on a bed of sand. This is a very dense medium and isn't conducive to quick rooting. You would probably get better results using grit or cat litter, very lightly dampened.

If you show us picture we may be able to help better
If it is the growing tip you can either cut the top off and it will send out pups/offsets around the cut or just leave it and see what happens

rodsmith wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:03 pm You will find, if you retain the damaged plant, that you will soon be inundated with offsets, as echinopsis can be very productive in this regard. My suggestion would be to bin the mother plant once a couple of the offsets have rooted. It isn't the ideal time of year for rooting, spring and summer would be better but echinopsis hybrids generally root very readily so you should be ok. Your first post suggests that you are rooting them on a bed of sand. This is a very dense medium and isn't conducive to quick rooting. You would probably get better results using grit or cat litter, very lightly dampened.

Not quite sand -- more gritty stuff - about 3 - 5mm over gritty stuff added to "cactus" compost ---- and a brief careful look suggests that light fibrous roots are forming on at least one pup. As for inundated ---- perhaps a way to making friends ---- and the Branch raffle

Chris in Leeds wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:02 pm If you show us picture we may be able to help better
If it is the growing tip you can either cut the top off and it will send out pups/offsets around the cut or just leave it and see what happens

Mollusc ate the entire top of the plant!

Another thought ....
How does one FORCE a plant into making offsets? (Apart from removing growing point)

An update on the partially poorly plant.
After a recent rather enlightening York branch meeting (yes I know not MY branch, but near to my abode) I learned much about preparing plants for showing - and this is what could be best described as good housekeeping for the collection.
Two other rescued plants looked as though they needed some attention and I duly set about the task of re-potting them to give them a bit of TLC. Yes, they had had a long spell of neglect if I applied all that I'd recently learned.
In my preparations for the task I'd made up some very gritty compost (read about the needs of these Echinopsis) and had made too much mix. Now living in Yorkshire I realised that this mix should not be wasted and set about re-potting the damaged Echinopsis too. It's roots were truly in a state - not only had it suffered the trauma of being the breakfast of a mollusc, but also the mistreatment from bad greenhouse management. I know that non-organic filler is important for drainage - but broken plant labels? The indignity too of labels from other genera?
A couple of weeks on from my re-potting --- all three plants are looking much better --- and the damaged one? --- that one has started to produce a further crop of offsets, some of which are quite large. It has repaid my kindness, so far from resigning it to a fate in the compost bin as has been suggested, it is going to produce a continual crop of plants!