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Sea Star Stapelia

Hi folks,
I just recieved in the mail a hand sized cutting from a large Stapelia (carrion Flower succulent), it may be S. gigantea or some other species with a very large flower. Anyway, I was wondering how do I root it? do I need to make cuts to allow the roots to emerge, soak in B vitamins, or simply stuff the (healed) cut end into some potting mix and it'll pretty much do the rest? The only other cactus I have is another Stapelia I got from a garden center which hasn't yet bloomed.

Any info you can give me would be great!
 
Allowing it to heal over first is right, than put it in some well drained compost and if possible give a bit of bottom warmth. Rot is the main enemy so water carefully until rooted.

Best regards
Chris
 
It has a tough callus now on it's cut end. It's also quite soft (my other one is not this soft) it appears that there are a few white "zits" appearing on the lower portion and some of the stem, are these root nodes emerging?

How often should I water if the pot surface where the cutting sits drains dry almost as soon as I pour water on it? Will the humidity from below the surface dressing be enough to cause it to root? I've read onlie not to try and root stapelia vertically, to just lay it on the soil topdressing of sand/grit and let it find it's own way. to the moister pot below. Do you find that to be true?
 
Like previously mentioned, the main enemy is rot. These in particular are very prone to rot considering their fuzzy, succulent body.
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I rooted mine erect with no problems but many do root lying down. It's kind-of a trade off; on the side it will root faster but the root system isn't quite as expansize and stabilizing however rooting from the bottom takes a little longer but can become quite a large and stabile root system. As for rooting powders and such, i wouldn't mess with any of it since you already have the end callused.

Joe
 
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