stem cuttings twisted off holiday cactus plant
This spring is a long, wet spring, the kind that prevents you from getting out in the garden. Frustrated? Take heart, we can still garden indoors. Now is a great time to taking cuttings of your holiday cactus. It should be done blooming now and cuttings are a great way to make many more plants to give away as gifts. Continue reading
Thanksgiving cactus with yellow anthers and sharp leaf edges
A popular blooming holiday plant is the “Holiday Cactus” which is an umbrella term to include the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) and the Thanksgiving cactus (S. truncata). These are not cacti at all but epiphytes from the Brazilian rainforest. In their native environment, they grow among tree branches, in the humid, shady jungles. Continue reading
Posted in houseplants, propagation
Tagged Christmas cactus, Holiday cactus, houseplant, plant propagation, stem cuttings, Thanksgiving cactus
Thanksgiving cactus with yellow anthers and sharp leaf edges
A popular blooming holiday plant is the “Holiday Cactus” which is an umbrella term to include the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) and the Thanksgiving cactus (S. truncata). These are not cacti at all but epiphytes from the Brazilian rainforest. In their native environment, they grow among tree branches, in the humid, shady jungles. Continue reading
Posted in houseplants, propagation
Tagged Christmas cactus, Holiday cactus, houseplant, plant propagation, stem cuttings, Thanksgiving cactus
Weigela roots coming out of container
In May I posted an article on propagating plants with stem cuttings. At the end of June, I checked on my cuttings which had been sitting in plastic bags on the deck, in the shade. I opened the bags and discovered that rosemary and weigela cuttings had roots coming out of the bottoms of the containers but the spirea had minimal roots.
I took them out of the bags and placed them in a very shady place and watered them well. I continued to watch and water because even though they had rooted, it was not a lot of roots to bring up the water they would need to compensate for the high rate of transpiration in the summer’s heat. After a few weeks, I moved them to a sunny place on the deck.
rosemary roots coming out of container
For the rest of the summer, I will keep them on the deck in containers. As they grow, I will pot them up in larger pots. In the fall, when the temperatures cool down and the plants have grown large enough to survive a transplant, I will put these in the back of the garden. This place is in full sun and usually I do not water with a hose so they will learn to survive on their own with rainwater. This is much like raising children and sending them off to college, but they will survive and next summer, after their freshmen year, they will thrive.
stem cuttings twisted off Thanksgiving cactus plant
Taking cuttings of your Thanksgiving cactus is easy and yields many more plants to give away as gifts. Now that the holidays are over and your plant has finished blooming, this is the perfect time to increase your holdings.
Line up a few clean, small plastic containers such as yogurt containers, fruit cup containers, or plastic cups and puncture the bottoms to allow for drainage. Fill with packaged seed starting mix and water each cup so water runs through the drainage holes.
To take the cutting, simply twist off a piece of stem about three to four segments long. The stems are made up of joined rectangular segments. Each segment is called a cladode. The length should be long enough to insert into soil and stand up. You want to twist so you have the end of a segment or cladode, not mid-way into a segment. Insert into the container, water again, and tamp to ensure the stem is standing upright. You can insert several per container or just one per container.
Place on a tray, in a well-lit place, out of direct sun. The room should be warm, “room temperature,” not a cold, drafty basement. It is not necessary to place the container in a plastic bag or to fertilize.
stem cuttings planted on February 6
Some people insert the cutting directly into the soil while others wait a day or two for the cut part to form a callus. This is done to prevent rotting. I have never had a problem with rotting so I simply insert the cutting into the wet soil.
I do not use a rooting hormone because the plant roots easily. A Thanksgiving cactus is an epiphytic plant that grows on trees in Brazil’s coastal mountains. In their natural habitat, they have aerial roots, which is an indication that the cuttings will root easily without added hormones.
For the first few weeks, I water the containers often enough so the soil is moist but not waterlogged. Because the containers are very small, the soil will dry out faster than a full grown plant in a large container. After a few weeks, I check to see if roots have formed by gently pulling to see if there is resistance. Also, if the plant is still turgid, there is a good chance it has survived the cut and is still trying to form roots. If the plant is obviously wilted or rotted, I throw away the entire plant and container into the trash. This is one advantage to having one cutting per container; if it does not work, you only lose the one cutting and container, not many cuttings in one container.
roots formed on cuttings on February 23
Eventually, the cuttings will form enough roots so you can transplant to a larger container with potting soil. For the cost of seed starting mix, cuttings are an inexpensive gift for friends and family. Makes a great teacher’s gift too!
close up of small white roots with seed starting medium attached
The Thanksgiving cactus is an example of a stem cutting and I will be talking about this technique as well as others at my “Plants & Design: Multiply Your Plants” workshop. Join me at Green Spring Gardens on Saturday, March 30, from 9:30 to 11:00 am as I demonstrate how to multiply plants through simple techniques that you can do at home. Learn how to take stem cuttings and divide plants to save money and enhance your garden. This is a hands-on, get dirty workshop so you can take home a starter plant plus handout. To register, call Green Spring Gardens at (703) 642-5173 or register online at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes/ using code 586.37E6. See you at Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA.
Posted in Events, houseplants, propagation
Tagged multiplying, plant propagation, stem cuttings, Thanksgiving cactus
