Red flowering torch cactus in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mother plant

Torch Cactus Cutting

Red
$30.00
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Red flowering torch cactus in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mother plant
  • Red flowering torch cactus in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mother plant
  • Red torch cactus flowers in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mature mother plants
  • Yellow torch cactus flowers massed in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mature clump
  • Red flowering torch cactus, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, 10 to 12 inch cutting
  • Yellow flowering torch cactus, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, 10 to 12 inch cutting
Torch Cactus Cutting

Torch Cactus Cutting

Trichocereus hybrid, grandiflorus group (syn. Echinopsis huascha; Soehrensia huascha)

$30.00

Unrooted 10 to 12 inch tip cutting, you root it yourself
Flower Color

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Description

Trichocereus hybrid, grandiflorus group (trik-oh-SEER-ee-us gran-dih-FLOR-us), the torch cactus, is a low, clumping cactus grown for its flowers rather than its height. The short green stems stay roughly knee-high, one to two feet in a pot and taller in the ground, and branch freely at the base into a widening clump. From late spring into summer it opens big funnel-shaped blooms, several inches across, that all but hide the stems beneath them. We grow a red-flowering form and a yellow-flowering form.

Torch cacti trace to the dry hills of northwestern Argentina, in Catamarca and La Rioja, between roughly 1,600 and 6,500 feet. The name has never settled: botanists have placed this plant as Echinopsis huascha, Soehrensia huascha, and Trichocereus rowleyi in turn, and nearly every torch cactus in cultivation carries generations of hybrid breeding for bigger, brighter flowers. Our yellow form is a case in point, since the wild plants in this group run red through orange into pink and white, and a large clear yellow points to that breeding rather than away from it. We have no collection data for our plants, so we call ours what it is, a garden hybrid in the grandiflorus group, rather than claim a species we cannot prove.

Every cutting comes off mature, flowering mother plants we grow, and each is labeled by the bloom color we have watched that mother open, red or yellow. A cutting is a clone of its mother, so the flower color comes true, with no seedling roulette. It roots first and flowers once it is established, and a cool, nearly dry winter is what sets up a heavy spring bloom. Starting from mature wood rather than seed is what puts you ahead.

This listing is an unrooted tip cutting, 10 to 12 inches, fresh and callused, in your choice of the red or yellow flowering form.

Special note: the torch cactus is non-toxic and pet-safe if nibbled, though its spines are sharp, so give it a spot out of reach of curious pets and kids.

Sold strictly as an ornamental specimen.

Tending to your Torch Cactus Cutting

Yellow flowering torch cactus in bloom, Trichocereus hybrid grandiflorus group, mother plant
Hardiness Zone: zone 9a (kept dry)

Hardier than most flower-first cacti, but not an everywhere-outdoors plant: reliably hardy to about USDA zone 9a, and a mature, established clump kept bone dry can take brief cold toward 20 F. Wet cold is the real killer, and a hard freeze on damp soil will take the plant, so protect it from winter rain and frost together and grow it as a potted plant you move indoors for winter everywhere colder than zone 9a. Some sources rate torch cactus into zone 8; we publish to the safer, tenderer end on purpose, since garden torch cacti carry mixed parentage and understating hardiness only costs you a little shelter, while overstating it costs the plant.
Light: full sun in mild climates, shade in heat

The torch cactus blooms in proportion to the light it gets. In mild and coastal climates give it full sun, which keeps the stems compact and drives the heavy flush of flowers it is grown for. In hot inland and low-desert areas, including our Riverside County nursery, relentless afternoon sun can scorch the stems, so give some afternoon shade or acclimate the plant over two to four weeks before moving it into full sun. Grown too dark it stretches, pales, and blooms poorly, so indoors give it your brightest window or a grow light and consider summering it outside.
Water: soak, dry

Soak, then dry. Water deeply so the whole root zone is wet, then wait until the mix has dried before watering again, roughly every 10 to 14 days in warm growth and much less as the weather cools. Through winter keep it cool and nearly dry, both because a wet base rots and because that cool, dry rest is what sets up the big spring and summer flowering; a plant watered right through winter blooms poorly.
Soil: gritty (fast-draining)

A gritty, fast-draining cactus and succulent mix cut with extra pumice or perlite, in a pot with a drainage hole, so the roots never sit wet. Because the plant clumps outward rather than growing tall, a wide pot with room for new pups suits it better than a deep, narrow one.
Fertilizing: spring to summer

Feed lightly and only while it is actively growing, roughly spring through summer. A balanced or low-nitrogen cactus fertilizer diluted to about half strength every three to four weeks in that window supports the heavy flowering without pushing soft growth. Feed onto already-moist soil, never dry roots, and stop entirely through the winter rest.
Re-potting: spring, wide pot for the clump

Repot every two to three years, in spring as growth picks up, into fresh fast-draining mix. Choose a wide pot over a deep one, since the plant spends its energy pupping outward, and move up only one size, because an oversized pot holds water the roots cannot reach and invites rot. Let a repotted plant settle for about a week before its first watering.
Propagation: from tip cuttings and basal pups

Two easy routes. The clump throws pups at its base, and each can be cut or twisted free with a clean tool once it is a usable size. Mature arms can also be taken as tip cuttings, which is how we produce this listing: we cut at the narrow base of an arm so the mother heals cleanly and the cutting carries an active growing point. Either way, let the cut end dry and callus for several days, then set it on or just into barely-moist gritty mix in bright, indirect light and water sparingly until roots take, usually within a few weeks in warm weather. Both are clones of the mother, so flower color comes true.

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