These red, and other colored, gymnos cannot produce chlorophyll and are grafted on Hylocereus understock. That is the understock growing. You can remove both of those side shoots, and in fact should, or they will take over. They will root if you wish. But be prepared...they grow HUGE and in a very short time. Hylocereus has the largest flowers of all the cacti, I think, and are night blooming. Dave

Thank you for responding. Wow, really?? "too deep a pot..."??? The pot they're in is 1.5" tall and there is nothing but 1" of cactus mix in there, probably a tablespoon in total. The pups are sitting on top of the soil, which is kept relatively dry with just a periodic misting. As I mentioned in my initial posting, the green ones rooted just fine and they were all together all winter. There is no "ambient warmth" because they just came through a cold New York winter. Perhaps the very reason why they haven't rooted. I'll take "cactus surprise!" I'm a little more positive and optimistic and don't consider them 'gonners' at all, because they are firm, with no soft or dessicated areas. Also, the red/brown hues are just as vibrant as the day I received them. They had just been removed from the mother plant that day. I'll be patient...that little pot is not bothering me at all. I imagine you have experience rooting these red/brown ones in the past. How long has it normally taken? Also, have you ever grafted on onto echinopsis which, to me, they look very similar to? All the best. This post was edited by LatinLady on Tue, Apr 29, 14 at 23:27

Very nice. Thanks for taking the time to post and be sure to thank your mother for us. tj

Depends on whether or not the plant is completely red or not. In this occasion, since you did not specify its exact color. a photo would be very helpful. If the plant lacks chlorophyll- the red, pink, orange and yellowish cultivars need to be grafted at all times - they cant live on their own. The purple ones can- albeit growth speed and durability may vary. You may place them in coarse soil and see what happens - there was a topic about degrafting.