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Question: cactus reproduction
Hi! my cactus (I think it is a ferocactus - round with 14 ribs and yellow flowers on the top), has thrown small over the whole body. I read that the suckers grow at the base ... do these little ones serve for reproduction?
thanks for reply
Answer: cactus reproduction
Dear Isabella,
there are many cacti that produce basal or lateral suckers with time; generally this happens when the plants are adult and enjoy good health; some species, however, tend to shrink even when they are very young, and produce suckers at any stage of their development. These suckers are real miniature plants, except for the root system, which is obviously absent, as the seedlings exploit that of the mother plant. In nature, with the passage of time, or small plants tend to develop, giving rise to entire colonies of cacti, all stuck; or because of the animals that pass near the plant, or for other natural causes, they break off, and in contact with the ground they root, even quite quickly. So you have a nice amount of new small plants, identical to the mother plant. Now you can easily remove them from the mother plant, the operation is facilitated by the fact that usually the suckers do not have a great adherence to the body of the plant that produced them, and tend not to produce large scars when detached, since they are connected to the plant mother by means of one of the areolas. Once detached, it is good to leave the suckers in a partially shaded place, where they also enjoy a few hours of sunshine, so that they can heal the spot where they were attached to the larger cactus. Within about a week, or ten days, you can repot them individually, placing them on a very well drained soil, in a single pot. Watering must be provided only when the soil is well dry.
