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

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

What you receive: One unrooted torch cactus tip cutting, 10 to 12 inches, in the flowering form you choose, red or yellow. Each is a fresh, callused tip taken from a mature, flowering mother plant and labeled by the bloom color we have seen that mother open. A cutting is a clone of its mother, so the color comes true. Like all our plants it ships bare-root, with no pot or soil. Expect it to spend its first season putting down roots; flowering follows once it is established and has had a cool, dry winter rest. Exact size and shape vary from the photos, since every arm grows a little differently. Minor scarring is normal.

Pack size

Mix any cacti you like, rooted or cutting. Discount applied automatically at checkout, no code needed.

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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, 1 to 2 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. Like all our plants it ships bare-root, with no pot or soil.

Special note: its spines are sharp, so give it a spot out of reach of 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

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. Start protecting at 28 to 30 F, earlier for pots and in wet winters, and protect a cutting or newly rooted plant from any frost in its first winter. 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.

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, and acclimate the plant gradually: several weeks in light shade, then add direct sun a little at a time over several more weeks, morning sun first. 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.

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.

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.

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 3 to 4 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.

Repot every 2 to 3 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.

Two easy routes. The clump throws pups at its base, and each can be twisted free, or cut free with a sharp, clean blade, once it is a usable size. Before cutting, wipe off any sap and dirt, then wipe the blade with 70% isopropyl alcohol so it stays wet for at least 30 seconds. Let it air dry. 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 dry gritty mix in bright, indirect light and give it no water until it has rooted. The cutting is living on water it stored before it was cut, which is ample for growing roots, and water it cannot take up only sits against the cut end and invites rot. How much margin you have depends on your conditions: a very coarse mix in hot, dry air dries again within hours, while cool or humid air, or a mix holding much organic matter, keeps the cut damp for days. When in doubt, stay dry. In warm weather rooting usually takes about 4 to 8 weeks, and cooler weather or less than ideal conditions can take considerably longer. Both routes give clones of the mother, so flower color comes true.

Torch Cactus Cutting

Description

Tending to your Torch Cactus Cutting

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