Have You Seen This Type of Cactus Before?
It’s called a Pachycereus Schottii F. Monstrosus, more commonly referred to as a Totem Pole Cactus. Since I can’t say the other pronunciation I’ll go with Totem Pole Cactus. I absolutely love the look of these cactuses. so obviously I wanted more. This is how we propagated our Totem Pole Cactuses. We’ve included some pictures to make it easy to follow along. Hope you enjoy, feel free to ask questions and enjoy your new plant baby!
Materials to Propagate a Totem Pole Cactus
- A “Parent” Totem Pole Cactus to take your cutting(s) from
- Sharp/ Clean Knife or Blade
- Pot
- Potting Mix
Basic directions – How to Propagate a Totem Pole Cactus?
- Identify the Totem Pole Cactus you want to propagate and figure out where you want to cut it. We chose to propagate a couple pieces from our front yard. One, because these are the only ones we had available and two, because there was one getting really tall and about to hit the roof. Win, win, win – We got to trim the cactus back. My fiancé and I had a fun weekend activity. Plus, we have a new plant baby!
- Take a clean, sharp knife or blade to take your cuttings. Try to cut at an angle so water doesn’t pool and rot the base left behind. We chose to do larger cuttings but they say the cuttings should be at least 3 inches or more in length. We’ve found propagating larger pieces tend to do better. But propagating a totem pole cactus is a first for us so we’ll see how it goes. You’ll need to use a little muscle, the middle of the cactus has a pretty strong core to get through. So be careful not to cut yourself and be careful with the parent plant.
- Let the cuttings dry out for a couple days, just sit tight. They need to callus over the cut area.
- Pick a container to pot your cutting in and fill with potting mix. You’ll want to choose a well draining potting mix made for cactuses. But don’t water quite yet, give it a couple days to adjust to the new home in the shade. This is our new little plant babe chilling in the shade before the final photo shoot. We chose this pot because we had it on hand, it was big enough for two cactuses and it’s plastic, so it’s light weight. It’s not the prettiest pot, but it’s practical and will do for now.
- After a few days, you can water. Then water weekly or as needed while it roots. Give it indirect sun while it roots, then full sun once rooted. It should root within 3-4 weeks.
And voila – a new Totem Pole Cactus.