ROOTING CACTI
IN WATER
By
Jorge Quiñónez
(Para ler o texto traduzido, acesse via Google Chrome e escolha a opção Translate)
INTRODUCTION
I’ve
collected cacti now for five years. I began with desert cactus, and one of the
most important things (rule) I learned was not to overwater or leave my cactus
in water (H2O, dihydrogen oxide) or else the cactus or its roots would
rot. The end result was that liquids would kill the cacti. Several years later,
when I began to collect epiphytic and related cacti, I learned by researching
the internet that this “rule” was a little more flexible.
When
trying to root a cactus, you usually place a cutting vertically or horizontally
in a substrate, the most common being a mixture that is half organic and half
inorganic (for example, half potting soil and half pumice or perlite). After
waiting a few weeks, your cactus cutting develops roots and is ready to be
watered. This method is the most accepted and effective way to root a cactus.
But, I learned there was another way.
 |
Hatiora sp rooted in water.
Jorge Quiñonez |
EPIPHYTIC CACTI
With
the exception of cactus species from the Pereskia
and Leuenbergeria [1] genera, 98% of
all cactus are succulents. But while all epiphytic cacti are considered to be
succulents, the problem with many of the small epiphytic cacti is that they are
some of the least succulent. For example, some Rhipsalis species have stem
diameters of, at most, several millimeters (e.g., R. campos-portana or R.
burchellii). If you’re not careful, when you try to root them in a pot, they
will easily dry out before developing roots. To keep them from drying out,
experienced cultivators place cuttings in a humid plastic dome or terrarium or
spray them with water daily or as needed.
I
was very intrigued when I slowly began to find out on the internet about other
people who were rooting and even growing Schlumbergera
hybrid cacti by placing the bottom third or quarter of a stem in the water [2].
I tried this water method myself and it worked. Then I slowly tried it on other
cacti from most of the epiphytic cactus genera, though I haven’t confirmed that
it works with Lymanbensonia, Weberocereus,
or Strophocactus.
Over
the past year, I discovered that cuttings sometimes rooted quickly – in less
than two weeks – and other times rooting took up to a couple of months. And I
noted that none of my cactus cuttings dried out while they were rooting in
water. The only problem I’ve encountered is occasional rot at the bottom of the
stems – perhaps because the ends of stems had not properly calloused – and from
stems that become completely submerged. This problem of rot can be prevented by
checking your cuttings every few days. If they don’t rot within the first week
or so, my experience is that they probably won’t rot later. Once roots begin to
develop, take the cutting out of the water and pot it. Remove any flowers or
buds because they will delay the rooting process. If left on the stem, the flowers
will try to develop into fruit or buds that will try to flower, rather than the
stem trying to develop roots.
 |
R. paradoxa rooted in water - 1
Jorge Quiñonez |
 |
R. paradoxa rooted in water - 2
Jorge Quiñonez |
NON-EPIPHYTIC CACTI
I watched
a video on YouTube where the narrator showed a cutting of Pereskia aculeata (called “ora-pro-nóbis”
in Brazil) rooted in water. Water-rooting also works for Leuenbergeria quisqueyana [3]. Leuenbergeria is the sister genus of Pereskia. So, this technique could
presumably work for other species in both the Pereskia and Leuenbergeria
genera. Some grafters of cacti know that rooting in water also works for Pereskiopsisspathulata, a commonly used
stock. Interestingly, Pereskiopsis is
in the Opuntia family. The connection
between Pereskia, Leuenbergeria, and Pereskiopsis is that they all have persistent leaves. While it is a
fact that Pereskia and Leuenbergeria are non-succulent cacti, I
wonder whether there is a connection between cacti with leaves and the ability
to root in water? I think probably not, since no one else has seemed to have reported
that it worked with other cacti with persistent leaves such as species from the
Austrocylindropuntia or the Maihuenia genus. But, then again, maybe
no one has tried rooting plants in those genera before. It might work for Quiabentia species since it’s so similar
to Pereskiopsis. I encourage anyone
to let me know if they succeed with any of these cacti with persistent leaves.
See
Table 1 for a list of cacti genera that can be rooted in water. Note that this
table does not mean that it worked for all species in each genus, only that it
worked for one or more species in the genus (usually the more common ones) based
on my own experience or research. Table 2 is a list of cacti genera that I
suspect might be able to be rooted in water.
CONCLUSION
I
wouldn’t consider using water as a first option for
rooting. Some people have reported success while others have reported failure.
Keep these results in mind because I wouldn’t want anyone who attempted this
method to lose all of their cuttings. I recommend that you try a few cuttings
in water as an experiment. If you have success, try more cuttings until you
feel confident about success. Compared to a dry substrate, water has the
advantage of allowing you to see directly whether a cutting has developed
roots. While there are always exceptions, I feel my success rate is about the
same whether I root in water or in dry substrate.
TABLE 1
Cacti Genera that Root in H2O
|
Rhipsalis
|
Lepismium
|
Schlumbergera
|
Hatiora
|
Hylocereus
|
Selenicereus
|
Disocactus
|
Epiphyllum
|
Pfeiffera
|
Leuenbergeria (non-epiphytic)
|
Pereskia (non-epiphytic)
|
Pereskiopsis(non-epiphytic)
|
TABLE 2
Suspected
Cacti Species that May Root in H2O, but that requires confirmation
|
Weberocereus
|
Lymanbensonia
|
Strophocactus
|
Quiabentia (non-epiphytic)
|
SOURCES:
1) Leuenbergeria is the new name given to the
group of Pereskia species native to the Caribbean and Central America,
which molecular research has demonstrated to be distinct from the species in
the original Pereskia genus. The remaining Pereskia species are all
native to South American.
