I just bought a Euphorbia succulent. The plant is less than 12" high, but is heavily branched. I concluded that pruning two inner branches would give room to the remaining branches and will give an overall balanced look to the plant. The warm temperatures mean I can then let the cuttings callus and they can be rooted. They have sufficient time to develop roots as the winter is mild and the coldest time of the year is around December.
I have not trimmed any branches off this plant yet, so I guess it is wise to ask for an advice before trying this:
The smallest scalpel I have would barely fit it and do a straight cut, so the trims would be damaged, as well as the neighboring branches (which I want to keep). Extra work will be needed to remove jagged edges and it may be bad to the plant as it is exposed to more pathogens through the wounds. I thought of another method:
There is a cutting device which comprises a thin wire with handles at both ends. I though of winding one loop around the base of the cutting and by pulling the handles the loop would cut through, right to the center. My question is, whether this is a very good way to make a good cutting, given that Euphorbia stems are often hard to cut towards the center. I have not yet purchased (or even found) such a tool but this may be possible in the future.
