Easter cactus cuttings

by Andrew S.
(West Henrietta, NY)

Hello again!

So, I chopped some pieces of this rescued plant off and have put them in some soil.

I have not watered them yet (well, I watered half of them when I first planted them, the other half not at all). And a few of them have some little buds on them. I wasn't sure if it was trying to flower, or just growing new segments, or what.

I think those are new leaves, which are actually modified stems, just for interests sake. The flower buds are quite distinctive; pointed, and larger than what those appear to be. However, those look pink, so it's possible that they are flower buds. Let them get a little bigger before you deal with them one way or another.

I normally won't allow them to get too carried away with blooming; sometimes it's a last ditch effort to reproduce before they keel over for the last time, and it drains them of any energy that they have left.

You can rub them off once you're sure they're not leaves, and hope that there are leaf buds alongside them which the removal of the flower bud will allow to grow.

If you tug on the cuttings, do they resist being pulled out? This will indicate that they're rooted!

The pale color of the cuttings tells me that they're not quite there yet; they're still surviving on the nutrients that they contain in the leaves, and they haven't put out any roots to replace them yet.

Good job, Andrew - those look great!

Isn't propagation exciting?

Jacki

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