This is the story of an Ugly Duckling cactus. At face value it had little appeal, but as it turned out, it had some really nice properties which made it very worthwhile in the end.
I purchased it on an online auction and I was the only bidder. It was listed as Trichocereus Tarijensis. From the photos it was obviously mislabeled but for some reason I was curious. It actually looked intermeadiate between Trichocereus Huascha and Spachianus (which I already had in droves). However I decided to take a risk and purchased it anyway.
Next up, when it arrived in the mail!!!
It just had a few spindly little roots. Therefore I decided to just treat it like a cutting. It got potted into some rooting medium and then got left in the shade and forgotten about. For some time!!!
In fact it wasn’t until the spring of 2022, that it actually got some attention and was potted into a larger pot and placed in a sunny position. I had a deep clay pot which was narrow. The idea was to plant it well below the top of the pot, as the photo of the mother plant showed it growing horizontally. So I hoped the sides of the pot would encourage it to grow more vertically.
Therefore about 9 months after it initially got potted up the tally was a total of 11 pups, 2 flowers and the main stem had grown about 25cm. It was starting to show some potential.
Plus in June of 2023, the 5 pups which were removed had some very small roots starting to appear.
So now I think I will continue to try and discover the full potential of this cactus.
Firstly, it may make a good root stock for grafting. It grows reasonably quickly and is easy to root during the colder months. So it could be a good way to accumulate a quantity of rootstock in a short time. The only reservation is it may pup too easily. I’ve already discovered Trichocereus Schickendantzii is a prolific pupper. It also tends to pup just below the graft at the expense of the scion. Hopefully this won’t be the case with this one!
Secondly it may make a good cross with some flowering hybrids. Especially one’s that grow a bit slower or are slow to pup.
Thirdly, it may make a good, quick growing landscaping plant. I’m guessing it may have a tendency to grow prostrate though. So if this doesn’t bother you and you have the space, then it could be a good option.
To be continued . . . .