Santa Rita prickly pear cactus plants are among the cacti from which cuttings can be taken.

Mamta popat / Arizona Daily Star

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Any cacti having pads, segments or branches can be propagated easily from cuttings taken during the summer.

These include prickly pears, chollas, hedgehog and branching columnar cacti such as night-blooming cereus.

Take your cuttings from healthy cacti, and — most important — the cacti you want to propagate should not be stressed for moisture. Those are the ones whose pads or stems are wrinkled, sunken or shriveled.

If you must take your cuttings from moisture-stressed cacti, water them a few weeks before taking your cuttings to re-hydrate the plant tissue.

Individual pads, segments or branched columns can be removed from existing cacti without disfiguring or damaging the plants.

To avoid getting thorns in your hands, wear heavy leather gloves when taking cactus cuttings. Tongs also are handy for handling thorny cuttings.

Cut the cactus segment at its base with a clean, sharp knife, hand pruners or long-handled loppers.

After removing the cuttings, lay them in a shady spot for several days to let the cut ends dry and callous over. Callousing seals and protects the cut from fungal and bacterial organisms that could cause rot when the cutting is planted.

Plant your cuttings where you intend them to grow. You also can pot them, allowing roots to form for later planting.

If you plant them directly into the ground, loosen the soil in your planting spots. Then dig a hole in the loosened soil deep enough to place the bottom end of the cutting in the ground a few inches deep.

You may have to mound rocks around the cutting for support, particularly if the cutting is a top-heavy stem from a columnar cactus or large pads from a cactus such as Indian fig.

Once roots form and the cutting is securely anchored in the ground, the rocks can then be removed.

At the time of planting, wet the soil thoroughly around the cutting. Then cover the ground around the cutting with an inch-thick layer of decomposed granite or crushed rock. Let Mother Nature provide additional water to the cutting in the form of monsoon rains. Don't worry if the ground dries between rains; cuttings will root in their own time.

Don't try forcing faster rooting by applying additional water, because the cuttings may rot.

If you're rooting cactus cuttings in pots, be sure to use well-drained potting soil.

Pre-mixed cactus soils are available, or you can mix your own using one part sand, one part fine chipped bark mulch and two parts perlite or pumice.

Pots should be large enough to comfortably accommodate the cuttings' size. A big cactus pad (Indian fig, for example) requires a pot large enough to accommodate it.

Locate the pot in full sun. Water, and then let the soil dry out before watering again.

It isn't necessary to apply a rooting hormone to cuttings. Just stick the cuttings in the ground or in pots and wait. In time — usually a month or so — roots will form, and the cactus will be ready to grow on its own.

Don't apply fertilizer until the next growing season. Then use a mild solution of water-soluble plant food.

Gardening

Advice by John P. Begeman