A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Cactus Question

I have a Echinpopsis Multiplex and I was wondering wheather or not it is possible to cut the babys of it and plant them, and, If so, what sort of fertillizer should I use and how big should I let them Grow before I remove them???

I spent alot time typing you an answer...and then hit the wrong button and poof went my message for you, so it is late and I am tired and will answer tomorrow.

You can pluck the babies at any size, I have found from experience, that if you wait until they are the size of a nickel they do better, the tiny ones will survive, but tend to take longer to grow to larger size, and some don't even survive. I use a pair of leather gloves, or kitchen tongs when used gently works good to pluck and plant with. The baby needs to just be firmly pushed down into the soil, so that it is touching the soil, but not buried, water lightly and then forget about it. I like the look of all the babies on the mother plant and sometime they just fall off and root beside the mother plant, as you can see from the photo's I posted in the first topic about this: Echinpopsis Multiplex As far as soil goes, I use cactus soil, or sometimes I use potting soil with sand added, or mix cactus soil and potting soil together. I have used strait potting soil and it works alright as long as you have good drainage. My cactus seems to do fine with neglect, getting water only once every other month or sometimes longer then that. Someone once ask me..."How often does it rain in the desert?" Well that is how often you should water cactus...Not very often. Hope this helps.

Bummer about that ay! It happens to me all the time!!



My cactus has gone much greener now - I think it was the rain. I'll wait a little while more before taking off the babies.
Thankyou!!!

Guessing by the picture I would wait just alittle longer to have a 100% success rate before plucking my babies. I have plucked them that small and "most" make it just fine.