I would have kept them all in a fir bark-based mix, with just a pinch of potting mix and perlite. The mix you've put them in doesn't look very gritty to me....

Those cuttings are desiccated big time....they need hydration. Are they in strong sunlight? If so, move them into bright shade. The red cast indicates lots of light and lack of moisture. Once established, the red isn't an issue, but at this stage I'd protect the cuttings.

Josh

Hmm....not sure whether it would be considered bright light, they're under 34 watt shop lights.

As far as gritty, the mix dries out within 24 hours, as i'm only misting. The pot with multiple cuttings is 4" and the other one is only 1.75".

The cuttings all had wee roots, so I thought it would be safe to switch from the bark they were in, to an open mix with some degree of organic material.

'Open' is probably a better way to describe this mix rather than gritty. I've moved them a bit further away from the light and will continue to mist in hopes of plumping these guys up.

Wasn't really concerned before as I'd read they look really crappy during the rooting process. I put one segment with wee wiry roots into a shallow dish of water just covering the roots to see what happens.

So far, no changes :)

I keep reading they're super easy to root and apparently there are lots of ways to do it. Rot had been the only complaint I've read about.

I implemented a couple of changes this morning in relation to moisture, they may rot, they may not.

I guess we'll see =)

I took one cutting and speared it with a toothpick to suspend it over water in a glass so I can see how it's progressing, or not. (Have seen this demonstrated through internet searches but have never tried anything like this personally on anything before.)
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It already has wee roots, hope that's enough to give it a good start.

The others, I slipped a humidity dome over, and of course, moved a bit away from the shoplights. The room does get natural supplemental lighting when it's a bright, cloudless day here in NY, (like today).
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I'll see how it goes.
If they rot, I'll just have to beg cuttings in the spring =D

Thanks for the input btw
=)

Should have kept them in the bark. Schlumbergera grow on trees and their roots hang down.

My cuttings never looked crappy when I took cuttings. You fussed with them too much. I just mist the cuttings daily and water the soil when it feels kinda dry. The leaves take in more water than the tiny roots do now. I'm growing a red summer flowering cactus now that is probably related. It is alot harder to keep the cuttings alive. Hang in there! They are probably on sale now at the stores. You could get a few small ones and try again.

My cuttings never looked crappy when I took cuttings. You fussed with them too much. I just mist the cuttings daily and water the soil when it feels kinda dry. The leaves take in more water than the tiny roots do now. I'm growing a red summer flowering cactus now that is probably related. It is alot harder to keep the cuttings alive. Hang in there! They are probably on sale now at the stores. You could get a few small ones and try again.

Bad idea to skewer with the toothpick.
That segment was ready to be potted with those tiny roots present.

Josh

I dunno. I keep reading that it's not unusual for cuttings to wilt while getting on. I've had them both look good and look crappy, but not at the same time 8)

I took a piece that broke off my Walmart schlum (he doesn't mind when I call him that, we're kinda chummy that way) and didn't allow it to dry out, rather stuck it in the 'open' mix that I have laying around.

He never got dried out looking, and looks very much the picture of health, like the mother plant. Never wilted, blushed etc. He was misted a couple of times a day, same as the desiccated looking ones. Those were put into fir bark, but had been under 34w shop lights.

Again, all had roots when I potted them up.

All were being misted a couple of times a day, but since adding the humidity dome, I looks like it's only necessary to do once daily.

I guess time will tell. The speared segment appears to be growing feathery roots, but I can't be sure. I took pics with my phone to expand so that I can see better, then it occurred to me that I'll know in a few days or so anyhow =D

No point in squinching up one's face and encouraging wrinkles when pass or fail, it will be evident in good time LOL!!!

Thanks again for chiming in guys =)

Here is a link that might be useful: spearing segments for rooting in h20

You could also try rooting a few the way I've successfully rooted dozens of cuttings. I wick them using African Violet mix with extra perlite added, about a 50 - 50 mixture. I run a small section of yarn from the mix down through the hole in the pot and into a water reservoir, a sort of do-it-yourself self-watering pot.

My method violates all of the rules, but the cuttings don't seem to mind! After the cuttings have grown, simply transfer them into the mix of your choice. Although my other holiday cacti are grown conventionally, I left one plant growing "wet" all of its life by transplanting it into a real self-watering pot as an experiment. It grows and blooms just fine as shown below.

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Rooted in a Pot Wicked Into a Peanut Butter Jar

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Growing in a Self-Watering Pot on Christmas 2014

@ donna:

All input greatly appreciated =D Interesting stuff!!

I was eyeballing the AV mix today at Home Depot for another plant I just got that likes rich soil but adding perlite for the shlums sounds like a great idea.

Will keep it in mind when it's time to transplant.

The white self watering pot pictured above, is it a 2 part AV pot?

Yes, the white pot is a two-part pot advertised for AVs and other house plants. I bought it on eBay for a whole $3. I figured it looked better than a peanut butter jar!

My late mother-in-law gave me her ancient Christmas Cactus and I broke a branch off in moving it to my home. I was going to be immediately leaving town for several weeks but I didn't want to throw away a perfectly good branch. Since I wick African Violets and had supplies and mix handy, I used what I had and found it worked. Probably any kind of potting soil would work. The extra perlite helps make little gaps in the mix to keep the roots from drowning, so don't forcefully pack down the mix around the cuttings.

When I trimmed my holiday cacti I started the trimmings that way too and later gave away dozens of the new little plants. I had also read that starts often look wilted at first, but your sections look way beyond wilted and much too dry to me, which is why I wanted to give you an alternative to try with a few. The cuttings I root that way don't get wilted or rotten. I'm not saying you should permanently grow your plants that way like my experimental Christmas Cactus, but in my growing conditions it's a pretty fail-safe way to root cuttings.

I've started rooting my Thanksgiving & Christmas cactus cuttings I've been given last month in water. I read about this way of rooting and gave it a try because I've lost several to rotting or drying out in soil. I bought a shot glass as suggested and put enough water to cover the bottom. It has worked well for me. Once the roots developed, I pot them up in a mainly bark base mix.

This post was edited by Camellia1 on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 23:55

So of all the cuttings, the one toothpick speared claddode in water has shown the most improvement.

It has grown more roots since last week and the leaf turgor is more rigid. When I first stuck it in the water, it was quite floppy.

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The others from the original pot look the same, so I unearthed one of them & found roots have clumped around the base. I'm encouraged because it appears that what's going on above was not a fair representation of what was going below, lol. Though I've never thought the ol' 'tug to see if roots have developed' a smart idea, on an impulse, I tried it and much to my surprise, it worked!

Only one of this group did not thrive, it didn't rot, but dried up. I'm guessing they could use some more water, especially since the one *in* water felt more hydrated and improved than the others. I guess I shouldn't be afraid to water.

Here's what the pot looks like today...yes...very much the same as it did last week=)

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This is fun!
I think next time, I will try a U shaped wire to 'pin' a length to the potting medium, since roots emerge from all segments.

Very resilient plants!