Hi. I have the red version of this cactus...ok...euphorbia, the 'Sticks on Fire' variety. It is so easy to root it is unreal. It sound like you need to take TOP tip cuttings,not cut it to the ground let it grow from the root. It wont, that will kill it. You need to take as much of the top off that is not damaged, and root it in a good cactus type soil, or a another good potting soil with a lot of perlite in it to drain fast. Are you in south Fla? Mine did fine during our cold snaps,down to the upper 30's so far. Tonight it is the upper 40's,so no freeze. I don't know about these 'dents' in the main stem. I don't know if that is rot, or damage from rotted stems falling off? If the stem is still firm and doesn't rot when you cut the tips off, leave it alone and let it resprout where it will. It should do it. I hack mine back with lopping shears like 3 times a year, it sprouts out all over the place on the main trunk. Just depends if those dents are from frost damage or just from the stems falling off after the freeze killed the stems. The plain green one, which I assume you have will root and respout just as well as the 'Sticks on Fire' one.

Cactus McHarris, I haven't been here for some time, but it's good to know you are still around, if far removed geographically. Are you able to grow any succulents outdoors where you are? Someone in this thread mentioned the possibility that E. tirucalli may not be so irritating to everyone, but that an allergy may be involved. Do you know people who have had experiences with the plant? I remember hearing that someone in SDCSS had a very unpleasant one or two week experience with the sap, but their sight was not affected in the long run. Opinions seemed to vary as to which euphorbias might be the most dangerous, and that would make sense if allergies are in play. I once had a big E. tirucalli, but had a minor scare with the sap irritating my eyes, even though I wore gloves to handle it and washed my hands. Fortunately, just flushing the eye for several minutes got rid of the unpleasant sensation. Then I got rid of the plant. The sap from other euphorbias I have grown never bothered me at all. I can't pinpoint the neighborhoods exactly, but there seem to be a great many yards with E. tirucalli in some areas to the east of San Diego, like Lemon Grove or Spring Valley. It does look beautiful. I have seen small ones planted along the strip beside a sidewalk and even one largeish one right on a street corner. Now that we have a door to our back garden so no innocent person could wander in and be harmed by E.t. sap, I am thinking of growing it again--but not in the front succulent garden, where anyone could enter through the gate and might be tempted to break off a piece unprotected. Our next-door neighbor has several bushes of it growing on a high level behind their house and will give me some cuttings. ---Biwako

Thanks everyone for the encouraging remarks. Yes, I had looked around for frost damage using the search and found some older threads but nothing pertaining to watering or putting them back out after a freeze. I really don't know much about the jades, just a beginner here starting out with a new love for succulents and cacti. Been doing lots of reading and researching for what's best in my area (zone 7 in the No. Calif. foothills) I had thought my jade was "large" until I finally saw some pics here. Mine is just a baby compared to those. It's about 2 1/2 feet tall but had been pruned like a tree with beautiful twisty, knarly thick trunk and branches. I think mother nature decided it needed to be a little fuller. I'm hoping it will come back even more beautiful and interesting than it was before. I actually just got it earlier this summer from a Craig's list add from a woman getting rid of a lot of old plants left from an nursery that had gone out of business. I only paid $2.50 for it. I bought a lot of stuff I know nothing about just because it was so cheap and cool looking. Now I'm trying to figure out what they are and how to treat them. Since I'm handicapped I can't really do much "in the ground" gardening but I do have lots of container plants on my decks. They looked so beautiful during the spring and summer months. I think this new hobby may turn into an obsession if I'm not careful! Thanks again everyone. Christine

I’d love to find out what happened to your cactus. I bought one in the summer and within a month it started dropping pencils. I thought I was water it too much, so I cut back to every three weeks and added a grow ligh. Then it started throwing off an alarming amount of pencilS. I took it to the store I bought it from and they exposed the roots. It only had a couple leading me to believe it what a cutting that wasn’t rooted enough. They told me to keep it in water to grow roots, that did nothing. Finally after a month and a half I planted it in well draining soil and within two weeks the plant turned grey and died. The owner of the store felt so bad she gave me a huge one of her own to replace it. The only problem is she used normal soil from a company called “Good Dirt.” It’s mostly peat. I feel like I should repot it in Al’s gritty mix that I made, but I’m gun shy after losing the first one. Please note the giant rocks are only a temporary solution. The plant is so top heavy and the soil is so light I’ll be fixing that problem when I repot.