Rooting Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku

[MatDz]

Hi Everyone!

I think I caught the C&S bug (knocking on wood for no real bugs though!).

My two highly anticipated Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku (I'll use MGF from now on) arrived earlier today (I know, a silly one, but I refrained myself for about 3 weeks after seeing one for the first time - I think this is what people call a "well thought out decision"):

One for rooting:



and one grafted (on something I cannot ID, if anyone could help here would be great!):



Frankly speaking, I have no clue about rooting cacti, but after browsing uncle Google and the forum (e.g. this "Cactus cuttings & rooting techniques" thread) I think I can simply leave him here:



like that:



and keep him in an indirect sun watering rather sparingly, or maybe even just sprinkling every other week, for the next 2+ months and we should be good, right?

For both MGFs I have used my regular succulents soil mix, about 1/3 of JI2 and the rest being various "lava" grit, pumice and kiruy (grit similar to cat litter from what I understand) - is this okay? In the rooting thread I linked above two methods are mentioned the most - a "regular cacti mix" and "cat litter" (or should I call it "Euro Car Parts Absorbing Granules" nowadays?), and sometimes a "cat litter on top of regular cacti mix", so I think we should be good here.

There is one aspect I saw on a few videos that I am not sure about - sometimes people cut off sides of the cutting, apparently to expose more tissue for rooting. Is this beneficial at all? I would rather not open the wounds again and stress the plant more if not.

Anything comes to your mind that I might have missed here?

Also, I would love to recommend a Polish grower I bought it from if it's not against the forum rules, but I will wait for confirmation here before doing so. The initial and further contact was great, shipping prompt given the circumstances and prices very moderate!

[Tina]

Hello & Welcome,
Nice plant I grow it too, the stock for the graft is normal mytilocactus .
The only downside with mytilocactus is they can't tolerate cold, can die or get marks on the skin.
Your potting mix looks fine but I would recommend going for a larger pottery pot with a wider base or this could topple over.

[MatDz]

Hello & Welcome,
Nice plant I grow it too, the stock for the graft is normal mytilocactus .
The only downside with mytilocactus is they can't tolerate cold, can die or get marks on the skin.
Your potting mix looks fine but I would recommend going for a larger pottery pot with a wider base or this could topple over.

That's a fair point I also noticed not long after potting them! I will repot to a 2x2" square BEF pots, similar size but square base almost doubled in size. Unless you recommend sizing up, I have no experience in how fast cacti roots develop and do not want to repot again too early, but also the root system of the grafted one is still pretty small and "shallow", so I do not want to use a too large pot. I hope 2x2" will be fine for this year.

[Tina]

Hi
I think 2" would be much to small, my smaller/shorter one is in 3.5 & tallest in 4" but of course its your choice, 2" would give it much root space.

[MatDz]

Hi
I think 2" would be much to small, my smaller/shorter one is in 3.5 & tallest in 4" but of course its your choice, 2" would give it much root space.

I guess you meant "wouldn't" re. the 2"? The rooted one has really tiny roots at moment, taking definitely less than 1/4 of the pot, buy I'll check on it when I finally get slightly larger ones (everything is so slow now...).

May I ask if you had any luck with propagating this particular cultivar? I guess cuttings are the only option, but would e.g. a single "boob" (taken from a much more developed specimen, maybe next year or so) grafted on a regular Myrtillocactus work? I'm really interested in growing a specimen "from zero" for my own satisfaction.

Edit: I'll leave my "single boob" idea above for everyone to chuckle a bit, but I just realised cacti don't grow/propagate that way - there has to be a "growing point" somewhere on them to actually let them grow. Correcting myself - I need to stimulate new pups grow, so would need to "behead" the one I have (hopefully rooting it back afterwards) and wait for some pups to grow from the old stem, right?

[Tina]

No I didn't mean 'wouldn't' but its only advice you don't have to take it, the stem once plump wouldn't leave much space for soil in a 2" pot.
You need to bury quite a lot of the stem to give stability, its never going to be happy just slightly buried & wobbling, there is quite a bit of weight as it grows, mine are in 3.5 & 4" pots.
Yes you can propagate it, just chop a piece off allow to callous & it should root.

They are a quite attractive plants & I don't imagine you could root from a 'boob' unless you grafted it.
Stock plant

Grown since about 2014

[Terry S.]

The single boob idea isn't stupid. The areole contains a latent meristem which is capable of growing if the terminal meristem is destroyed. People have raised mammillarias from single tubercles (the alternative name for boobs) and when the fine Hildewintera hybrid 'Helm's Neue' was first propagated in quantity it was done by cutting the stem into small sections, dividing each section into two pieces vertically and flat-grafting onto a Trichocereus via what was the vertical cut surface.

[MatDz]

No I didn't mean 'wouldn't' but its only advice you don't have to take it, the stem once plump wouldn't leave much space for soil in a 2" pot.
You need to bury quite a lot of the stem to give stability, its never going to be happy just slightly buried & wobbling, there is quite a bit of weight as it grows, mine are in 3.5 & 4" pots.
Yes you can propagate it, just chop a piece off allow to callous & it should root.

They are a quite attractive plants & I don't imagine you could root from a 'boob' unless you grafted it.
[...]

Amazing specimens, thank you for sharing photos! The first one shows exactly what I was thinking about - cutting the head off and hoping for some side pups to grow.

I must have had not enough coffee when I replied about the "would/wouldn't" to express myself clearly, I was referring to the second "would" in your "2" would give it much root space" - anyway, the conclusion is 2" is too small. I might have mentioned I am waiting for some larger clay pots, will repot as soon as I get them - although my cacti have about 3.5 cm and 6.5 cm, so they are way smaller than yours, I still might need to bury them an inch+ for stability, especially with looser soil.

The single boob idea isn't stupid. The areole contains a latent meristem which is capable of growing if the terminal meristem is destroyed. People have raised mammillarias from single tubercles (the alternative name for boobs) and when the fine Hildewintera hybrid 'Helm's Neue' was first propagated in quantity it was done by cutting the stem into small sections, dividing each section into two pieces vertically and flat-grafting onto a Trichocereus via what was the vertical cut surface.

This is great, thank you for sharing and clarifying my misconception on the meristems! I have a year or two now to learn the grafting craft!