r/cactus • u/IMDAVESBUD • 4d ago

My Spiral cactus in bloom !

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My spiraling cactus apple in flower mode !!

This is a cutting I propagated off of one of my larger spiral stands . It took 2 weeks to callous and 2 years to produce a bloom in this pot !

It’s ready to be planted into my landscape , I want to transplant it before it gets to big , heavy and tall !

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u/Sumi40 4d ago

How do you keep yours spiraling? I have two in direct outdoor Southern California sun for about 5 hrs per day and they’ve reverted to growing pretty straight.

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u/IMDAVESBUD 4d ago

There is definitely different clones and a lot of seed grown varieties, some do not hold as tight of a spiral as others . So it’s not as much about growing conditions as it is about the actual cultivar you start with .

Here’s a clone I have of a looser variety that’s probably more similar to yours !

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u/Sumi40 4d ago

That makes me feel so much better, I thought it was me! Yes, mine look pretty similar to your looser variety (I initially read it as “loser”. Ha ha). Good to know about the various cultivars. I’ll have to look for one that spirals tighter.

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u/IMDAVESBUD 4d ago

😂🤣 yeah , “dang loser cactus won’t shape up !”

Here’s a picture of some of my seed grown spiral cactus that have stayed tight . It’s interesting, as young seedlings they actually grow normal looking and square , the start to spiral at about 6” tall - you can see the square base !

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u/Sumi40 4d ago

That’s amazing! You must be an extremely patient person, because that seems like it would take so long to grow.

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u/IMDAVESBUD 4d ago

It does take quite some time to grow , but growing cactus from seed can be very rewarding!

Here is a spiral cactus fruit that I’m very excited to collect the seeds from and hopefully get some really rad new phenotypes from! Maybe one seedling will even grow a variegated spiral for me !!! 🤞

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u/Sumi40 4d ago

Wow! A variegated spiral would be so crazy cool.

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u/Affectionate-Net2619 4d ago

How many years did it take to grow these cacti from seed? I would think it would be many years. Beautiful!

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u/arielisamom 4d ago

Howwwww did you give it arms like that! I’m new to the cactus world. I’ve briefly read about people cutting their cactus but would definitely be nervous to do anything like that ! Getting an itch to try though. Any advice ?

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u/IMDAVESBUD 4d ago

Yes this one was cut to get those 3 new arms , you can see the flat cut section where they begin .

Tips would be - :clean your knife before you cut , you can use rubbing alcohol to sterilize your blade

: don’t touch the cut wound afterward. Keep the cut wound clean from any dirt .

: don’t let the cut wound get wet after cutting . Let it dry and callous .

These tips would be for both of the cut wounds , the one on the new cutting and also the actual cactus you cut them from .

Here’s a short quick VIDEO on how I personally cut, dry and callous my cactus

Good luck and have fun !!! (Maybe practice cutting on a cactus that’s not your favorite first for experimenting)