Xmas cactus don't have leaves. Each 'branch' is a stem composed of numerous little segments or joints. At the end of each segment are the cells that will initiate new root growth. And more stems, down the road. Stem cuttings won't work unless they are nice and healthy. Don't even bother if the stem sections you're trying to propagate are still soft and wrinkled. Each cutting should consist of three or four segments. Don't be tempted to take large cuttings (with a bunch of segments), as that will greatly reduce your success. I actually never let mine dry out for a few days, but I know that others urge that you do so. As long as you use plenty of perlite in your potting medium, rot will not be a problem. Take as many cuttings as you like. I will typically take three from the same plant and insert them (together) in a small clay pot for rooting and growing. These cuttings result in a well-balanced finished plant. Also, I'd strongly suggest that upon sticking the cuttings into your perlite/potting medium that you drench it then and there. Those cuttings will need moisture in the beginning. Again, by adding plenty of perlite, you reduce the chance of rot. (You can even use 100% perlite, which is what I do.) Attached is an image of a cactus stems consisting of about three segments each.

Purple, I've enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to add my $.02 worth. The first thing I noticed is that the stems appear to be flacid.....wilty. That could be caused by over OR under watering.....whichever might cause the roots from being able to access water. In this case, I wonder if the water you're applying is evacuating before soaking the whole soil volume. One thing about these plants (all plants) is that though they need to dry out somewhat between drenchings, the potting soil must be completely saturated on watering day. This is true for all plants, even those cacti that are native to extremely arid regions. Have you ever seen "Medicine Man ", a movie starring that gorgeous specimen of manhood Sean Connery? It takes place in the rainforest of Brazil. There are scenes of my lovely Sean ziplining through the forest canopy, sharing the scenes with huge epiphytic cacti and other plants. Really neat movie. Plus, it stars Sean Connery. I get that it's difficult to understand how those prickly, barrel shaped desert cacti have ANYTHING to do those graceful rainforest plants. Here's what I "think " is a good analogy, but don't laugh at me toooooo hard if it really stinks. Take your dog into consideration for a moment. It's a mammal. So are you and the pesky squirrels in your yard. Big differences amongst those three mammals yet they share essential similarities. Still with me? Now, think of those incredible bottlenose dolphins familiar to anyone living in coastal areas. Superficially, they seem to have so little in common with your dog, but those porpoises are just another type of mammal. They live in a different environment, for sure, but the similarities are much more important than the differences. You just need to try to provide the kind of environment your dolphin needs. :-) Dorie

Ok thanks for the advice!! So far I have just left it in the soil it came with, which is kind of a grainy soil on the bottom and a layer of sandy gravel stuff on the top (cactus sand). I've wondered about fertilizing it but I heard you shouldn't do that in the winter. I also have an aloe vera plant, would you recommend repotting that one in this soil as well? The aloe vera seems to be doing ok and is in some kind of clay-like soil. Also another random question, how often should I water the aloe vera? My question is though, if these cacti already have root rot, is there a way for it to recover or is it already too late? The dying cactus, idk if you can see from the photo, but it has a brownish "tough" tissue thing on the bottom, which looks like it COULD be corking, except that type of tissue is also on the top of the plant and in spots along the middle, and the middle green part is turning light green from the top down. Also from the photo do you think the barrel cactus has root rot or is that just corking/normal discoloration? It's kind of a brownish tinge over the normal green color of the plant, going about halfway up the plant from the bottom up. I did take it out of the pot about a month ago to check for root rot and didn't see any wet or rotting roots...it did seem a bit rootbound though. I went about a month without watering it after that because I didn't want root rot to happen, could that have caused the discoloration? I keep them in the living room which has three west-facing windows and I always open the windows in the morning. In the summer they got a TON of sunlight and the dying one even got sunburned on one of its stalks. The barrel cactus didn't grow at all (hasn't grown since I got it) and the dying cactus only grew a tiny bit, but my third cactus, which is one of those cactuses that looks like a bunch of ovals stuck together, seemed to love the sunlight and grew a ton. Now that it's winter they don't get quite so much light but it's the most natural light they can get in my apartment. I am a first time cactus owner so I really don't have much experience with any of this stuff, so any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Personally I think your cactus has made some very good progress though out the summer. Although I would have removed the clear plastic pot covering and would have PIG'd buried in apx 1/3 of a good part of what leaning thinner lanky pads it has. Which with the lack of zone mentioned it might not be to late for you to bury in those parts that are less eye appealing I would hold off on re-potting any secondary plant parts of it or as a whole for a later date but would favor removing the better looking rounder pads for fresh new plant rooting potential in respectable sized pots of your choice. A smaller scale example with explication of plans Although very dry and burnt knowing it is in real rough shape my plan is to bury the wrinkled bottom segment deep in a pot ( plastic, TC or what ever type I happen to have on hand that's deep enough). Some time between October early Nov. I'll be also burring in the deeper pot any of the existing root. soak it to it's drowning death then find a warmer than frost basement dim lighting corner until apx mother day of 2016 at which time it'll be forced outside for for an hour of sun and be moved for more hours of full sun after a couple weeks as the sun increases to total of five hours by early June After June it's on it's on there after for at times what is a good 12 hours of fullest hard direct sun When repotting I suggest you use a very good draining soil, gravel sifted for size and other good draining materials such as pumice or perlite with some light organics that can be found in a standard potting soil for feeding. The mentioned potting soil may require sifting and would preference you to use a harder wall pot over the thinner flimsy plastic pots.