Journal

Taking cuttings from your own cactus
When and where to cut a columnar cactus, how to make the cut, what the parent plant needs afterwards, how to remove pups, and how to callus cuttings. Read more...
When will my cactus flower?
When a cactus flowers and why it has not yet: the size it needs, hours of direct sun, a cool winter rest, summer water and food, and pots or ground. Read more...
Planting cactus in the ground
How to plant a rooted cactus in the ground: test the drainage, choose the spot, set the depth, then water and shade it through its first summer. Read more...
Caring for grafted cacti: stock pups, degrafting and re-rooting
How to care for a grafted Trichocereus: the first months, removing stock pups, winter, signs of a failing stock, degrafting and re-rooting. Read more...
Grafting onto San Pedro: preparing the stock and making the graft
How to graft a Trichocereus onto San Pedro: choose a tip, puck or slab, prepare the stock, line up the rings and tell whether the graft has taken. Read more...
Choosing grafting stock: San Pedro and the alternatives
Why San Pedro is a common stock for a Trichocereus graft, how long a stock lasts, the alternatives, and how to pick size, rooted or unrooted. Read more...
How a cactus handles shipping, and when to order
Why a bare-root cactus tolerates days in a box, what cold and heat do in transit, when to order from your own forecast, and what to do on arrival. Read more...
Choosing a cactus that fits your space and climate
How to choose a cactus for frost, wet winters, pots, windows, heat, paths, height or flowers: what to check in cold tolerance, size, spines and sun. Read more...
Cutting or rooted plant, tip or mid: choosing what to buy
A cactus cutting has to grow roots before it grows. A rooted plant already has them. How to choose between them, and between a tip and a mid-section. Read more...
A short botanical history of Trichocereus
How Trichocereus got its name: a garden cactus of unknown origin in 1850, San Pedro named in 1920, the move to Echinopsis, and the names used today. Read more...
Why people collect Trichocereus
What makes one Trichocereus stand out: shape, ribs, blue skin, spines, torch hybrid flowers, crested, monstrose and variegated forms, named clones. Read more...
A guide to Trichocereus: the species and where they grow
Where San Pedro, Peruvian torch, Bolivian torch and other Trichocereus grow in the Andes, with Kew names, elevations and how habitat shows in a plant. Read more...
Crested and monstrose cacti explained
What crested and monstrose cacti are, how their care differs, why they revert, and how to keep the form with cuttings and grafts. Read more...
The life of a cactus: pups, branching, corking, age and height
How a columnar cactus such as San Pedro grows: how fast and how tall, where pups and branches come from, and what corking and age do to the stem. Read more...
From flower to fruit: fruiting cacti
How a cactus flower becomes fruit, why some need a second plant, and ripening times for San Pedro, Peruvian apple, prickly pear and dragon fruit. Read more...
Cactus flowers and their pollinators
How a cactus flower works, night and day bloomers, who visits San Pedro's relatives, why one plant sets no seed, and how to hand pollinate. Read more...
How a cactus works: areoles, spines and stems
What each part of a cactus does: the green stem, ribs that swell and shrink, areoles, spines, skin and bark, shallow roots and night breathing. Read more...
Growing cactus from seed
How to grow cactus from seed: sow on the surface in light, keep it warm and humid, prevent damping off, and transplant seedlings by size. Read more...
Grafting cacti: how a graft works and why people do it
How a cactus graft joins stock and scion, why collectors graft rare Trichocereus onto San Pedro, the graft types they use, and what a graft changes. Read more...
Which way up to plant a cactus cutting
Plant a cactus cutting the same way up as it grew. How to find the bottom of a mid-section, plant it upright or flat, and fix one planted upside down. Read more...
How cacti reproduce: seeds, cuttings and grafts
How to make more cacti: seed gives new plants, cuttings and pups give copies, and a graft joins 2 plants. What each method does and when to use it. Read more...
Etiolation: why cacti stretch and how to fix it
Thin, pale growth at the top of a cactus means too little light. More light fixes new growth; the stretched part generally stays narrow. What to do. Read more...
Cactus pests: mealybugs, scale, spider mites and fungus gnats
How to spot mealybugs, root mealybugs, scale, spider mites and fungus gnats on a cactus, what removes each one, and how to use sprays without harm. Read more...
Cactus rot: catching it early and saving the plant
How to find rot on a rooted cactus, cut it out with a clean blade, dry and re-root the healthy part, and tell when a plant is past saving. Read more...
Corking, sunburn or rot: telling brown patches apart
Brown patch on a cactus? Press it. Soft means rot. Firm and dry is corking, corky scab, sunburn, a frost mark or an old scar. How to tell them apart. Read more...
Overwatered or underwatered cactus: the signs and the fixes
A wrinkled cactus can be thirsty or overwatered. Check the soil first, then read the signs. How to tell the two apart and what to do in each case. Read more...
What's wrong with my cactus? A symptom guide
Brown patches, soft spots, wrinkles, white fluff or a lean: check a cactus by touch, find the likely cause, and see what to do first. Read more...
Cactus pots and repotting
How to choose a pot for a cactus and repot it safely: pot size, clay or plastic, drainage holes, timing, handling spines and when to water again. Read more...
Fertilizing cactus: what to use, how much and when
Cacti need little fertilizer. Which feed to buy, how weak to mix it, how many times a year to use it, and the month to stop where winters bring frost. Read more...
After your cactus arrives: the first days
Just received a cactus? How to unpack it, check the callus, tell normal from damage, store a cutting, and what to do next, from the nursery that grows them. Read more...
Growing cactus indoors and outdoors, and moving it with the seasons
How much light a cactus gets indoors, when to add a grow light, how to rest it in winter, and how to move it outside and back in without damage. Read more...
Winter: cold, frost and dormancy
How to get a cactus through winter: keep it dry before the cold, know when and how to protect it from frost, and what to do if a freeze damages it. Read more...
Cactus sun and light: hard-grown, soft-grown and acclimating to sun
How much sun a cactus needs, why a plant burns when its light goes up suddenly, and how to build up to full sun over weeks without sunburn. Read more...
Watering cactus: soak, dry, and adjusting for climate and season
Water a cactus thoroughly, then wait until the mix is dry. How to check for dryness and adjust for weather, season, pots, ground and your climate. Read more...
Choosing soil for your conditions
What cactus soil has to do, 2 mixes for dry and for cool, humid or indoor conditions, how to test yours, and what to do when it stays wet. Read more...
Growing cactus for your conditions
Cactus care depends on where you live. How to read your winter cold and wet, your sun and heat, and your own spot before you pot or plant a cactus. Read more...
Names on the label: Trichocereus vs Echinopsis, hybrids and PC
Why San Pedro is labeled both Trichocereus and Echinopsis, what an x or a name in quotes means on a label, what PC means, and how to say the names. Read more...
How to root a cactus cutting
Which end goes down, the right mix, when to water and when not to, and how to tell your cactus cutting has rooted. Advice from the nursery that grows them. Read more...
Why cactus cuttings rot, and how to avoid it
Why a cactus cutting rots, the conditions that cause it, how to tell rot from normal changes, and what to do the same day if it has started. Read more...