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I have a question about cacti.


heidiiiii

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I have several cacti that I have bought over the years. Some of them are walmart finds. Those $1.98 baby cacti.

My question is this. When they start to grow off shoots, can you propagate them for other plants?

They have all become very big and I have to do some transplanting of them into bigger pots (some are starting to fall over they are so big). This one in particular is starting to grow babies (the one on the right). I have no real cactus knowledge and i dont want to kill it. My father was the green thumb and taught me all I know but he never had succulents and cacti so I branched out.

I know I can do a search on the internet, but i wanted to start here first because I know that I would get the right answer.

Thanks

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yes, you can carefully cut off those "babies", put them in another pot, and they'll grow. Slice down into the soil as nearly vertical as you can alongside the "momma" and "baby", cutting through the roots. Remove the baby and put "her" in "her" own pot, then fill in the soil. Water as you usually do for the cactus, and eventually it'll start to grow again, once it's roots are established.

With some of these cactus you'll discover that there aren't "roots" -- the babies seem to bulge out from the momma plant. They'll transplant too -- carefully cut them off, place them in soil about 1/4 inch down, prop them up with toothpicks or wire, and water carefully. Eventually the roots will grow.

Not much different than transplanting other plants, but a bit prickly! I get a "cactus soil" mix from Steins Garden Center, but I've seen similar in other places where "dirt" is sold. And the larger one to the left -- the "babies" can be carefully divided away from it, too, and put in other pots.

I love cactus but hate the thorns. The tall one you've got there -- I've got one that looks similar, and its thorns are "deadly"! I have a housekeeper that helps me clean -- she won't get near it, swears the thorns "jump out and stab (her)!" :wave:

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Lloyd has several cactus gardens that he's assembled from Wal-Mart and Lowe's. He's forever propagating new plants from sections of the parent plant. He lets the cutting dry for a few days before planting. Cacti are susceptible to rot, and drying them before planting seems to help. Don't water them too much. They'll just sit there for several weeks/months and then you'll see signs of growth.

Hint: use a safety pad of a few layers of newspaper to wrap the plant to avoid getting stuck while handling.

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Thanks so much for the information.

I thought I would share a yard sale find of mine. I paid $5 for this cactus. A woman sold her house and was getting rid of 40 yrs of accumulation. This was one of her babies. She told me that it was about 20 yrs old. I transplanted it and have been the owner for about 2 yrs now.

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Beautiful Plant!! Looks like your treating them good. I also cut them off and let them dry for a couple of days. I learned this at a nursery that I use to work at. They call it callusing. Hardly ever lose one that way. I use cacti soil also. Keep up with what ever your doing they look great.

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Yes, let the sliced off portion dry for a few days.

Heidi, does Monster Face bother your stickery cactuses?

I have other succulents but would not dare have cacti,with stickers,because of my curious kitties.

When I was still teaching we even had student who "kissed" a cactus in a classroom. The school nurse had to pull out the stickers with tweezers

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MF likes to bat at the big one. The stickers are so big and thick that he never gets hurt. He avoids the smaller ones. He is in my face every night and I have never had to do facial surgery.

Now if I could just conquer African violets I would be a happy camper. My mom had beautiful ones. I just cant seem to keep them alive no matter what I do or dont do.

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Heidi,

I have grown African violets for years.

The soil should be really light...lots of perlite added.

Also good light but no direct sun

It is a good idea to keey them away from plants you've had outside too because of the possibility of mites.

I learned that the hard way!

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