Rhipsalis cuttings

I recently gave a friend some cuttings of Rhipsalis ceruleusca and she asked if they'd root in water. I want to tell her 'no they will rot' but I really don't know. Does anyone know, or tried this ...

 

I haven't a clue, but isn't it normal to let cacti cuttings callous over before rooting.

 

That's true, and the cuttings will have done that - they took a week to get to their destination (Royal Mail 1st class post !) but I'm not sure whether they'd like standing in water. They're not desert cacti and that's why I'm wondering.

 

In this kind of situation I'd try some in water and pot some up.
But obviously I dont know how many you sent.

 

I sent two. She's potted one up and thought she'd put the other one in water. I suppose she could try and see which one works best.

 

We took Rhipsalis cuttings from a plant at school in the 80s, they all rooted both in water and in pots. I think mine were plopped into soil but in general everybody was successful.

I now have an experiment going on with succulent hydroponics, no rotting whatsoever and good root growth so apparently succulents can adapt to being in touch with water. (old photo from autumn)



Rhipsalis was very fashionable novelty at the time

 

Here is a "cutting" I took of my Flamingo Lily. It's not "technically" a cutting as I pulled it off the mother plant & put it in a jar of water. It was only supposed to be there till the next day but it ended up being in the water for several weeks! Even after that time there was no sign of it making roots. A few days ago I finally put it in a pot with some compost. So I'll have to wait & see now if it roots or not!
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String of buttons also develops roots in water. It was there almost a month I think then I repotted it, babies are already developing.
It would be an interesting experiment if your friend uses both methods @Michael Hewett . Let us know what happens if you can.

 

She said she was going to try both methods. I will let you know. I only know her in another forum so I'll have to ask her next time I go on it.