Yesterday I noticed that my cactus had a white tuber type thing growing out of it. Is this normal? It's almost doubled in length in the past 36 hours.
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Looks like a root. Is that a flower bud opposite it?– Wayfaring StrangerApr 6, 2020 at 13:22
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2 Answers
It's an adventitious root. I think that's a Hylocereus which is an epiphytic plant (grows on other plants). It's native to the jungles/rain forests of central america.
I recommend cutting both offsets off and planting them in some cactus soil. That's if you want three cactus instead of one. You can leave them, but the new shoots will take energy away from the graft (the red part).
You have a Gymnocalycium (scion) grafted onto the Hylocereus (stock). The Hylocereus provides photosynthesis services to the Gymnocalycium. The Gymno can't photosynthesize because it has been modified/bred to not have any chloroplasts. The red is what's left when you take the green away.
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Thanks, that answers a lot of questions. I wasn't sure if the offsets would "flower"as well. Didn't know it was a graft. Apr 6, 2020 at 19:58
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1The offsets will flower but they need to grow to 4 feet or more. They will grow to many tens of feet. They have huge flowers and some will make "Dragon fruit". Glad you found the info useful. Apr 7, 2020 at 14:47
Woah! That looks like a root, right? Not sure why it'd want to shoot off a root from there, unless maybe the junction to the main plant is compromised?
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No idea. The main plant should be fine as far as I know, it's never taken any damage. Apr 6, 2020 at 19:20
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Hi Hanktus, sorry but you have not answered the question, can add more details on what it is?– kevinskio ♦Apr 7, 2020 at 11:49