Beheading the medusa

One of my recent purchases was this euphorbia pugniformis

Also known as a medusa euphorbia for obvious reasons. You probably know by now that I can't help but try to propagate my plants, the more difficult it is suppose to be, the more I want to try it.  This is one of the euphorbias that wont come true form simple cuttings. Apparently if you cut a branch off and get it to root, the branch just keep growing and never splits.

So how to increase your stock?  It is far to nice to top cut, I am not that brave.  A bit of research online suggests there may be one sneaky method that works.  It is a two step process, with stage one being to root one of the branches.   Once rooted you cut the the top off just above the roots.  You have effectively carried out a top cut and this should (fingers crossed) force the offsets you want.  So I have take a few branches to try rooting them in different ways.

 

Now I just need to be patient, not one of my strong points. The good news is that if it works,  you can start again with the top of the branch, re-rooting it for a second attempt.