WOW! That's one heck of a cactus! I wish someone down here would give me one that looks like that! Why cut it back? What will you be doing with the cutting? Wink wink LOL

~Erin~

That's definitely a big cactus. I use a dolly (hand truck) to hold plants too tall for the GH that I don't want to cut back. I just lean the dolly with the plant on it and secure it with cinder blocks. It's not the best solution but it's the only option I could come up with. Just make sure you turn the pot every couple weeks so the plant doesn't grow at an angle.

If you want to post multiple pics use an image hosting service. I use Photobucket and post clickable thumbnails.

I use Flicker to host my photos and I look for Share in Flicker, and it gives me choice of size and then I copy the HTML code rand paste that into the text directly.

It will be a shame to cut that cactus. Time for a greenhouse remodel.

Hi Erin, a small chunk of it broke off when we unloaded it.

I can try to send it, dont know if it will arrive ok.
Do you want a piece?
Here it is getting cooler at night, so you can contact me

thru my email poodle.palace at yahoo (will you reimburse postage when you receive?)

Karyn thank you, that is a good idea. . . dont know if I'll be able to do it, because I'm going to be at 'standing room only' pretty much . . . except for a small chair I'm leaving in the gh to sit in there during the winter when I'm in need of sun and greenery

gosh, Jim has talked about fixing the garage roof, but I didn't realize til I looked closely at this photo what he meant!!
(he is still working on thegarage door, that my dd drove thru over a year ago . .. . . I didn't want to pay for expensive repair)

Sherry,

Is that you with the cactus (I wasn't in naval intelligence for nothin')? What a great shot - you got to raise your hands for The Great Cactus!

Yes, I'd whack it - get a bunch of pieces off of it (whole segments root the best) in an effort to make Mother more manageable, while still keeping her intact. I'd take a few of the tallest first. You don't even need to pot up the cuttings for a month or so, although the sooner you do it the sooner they'll begin to root (greatly slowed unless you'll have some bottom heat on them this time of year, along with light).

thank you!
yes, that's me, Jeff. (I think your name is Jeff, anyway-I too was in MI, great minds run along the same current, dont they?)
Yes, wish I'd posted a shot that was more flattering to me and the garage, but I wanted you to see how big it is.
There are some cat toys that the cactus has grown around over the years==guess kitty didn't want to retrieve them. If you look from a certain angle you can see them......I wondered if they'd root now, since days are getting shorter. Yes, I have some heat mats.
Well, thanks I just was trying to talk Jim into helping me lean it in the gh when we take it in there. I'm just like the other ladies, I dont want to whack it, but it's too tall for a couple of the cross beams. To get it to stand up,when we got it off the truck, I used the techniques we used when I was in the army and helping to raise antennaes in the field. . . . it worked, sort of . . .
Yes, I have some heat mats, thanks for the tips!
also, the date is wrong on my camera, please disregard . ..

Sherry,

Me and my yagi, everyone knows....

There's plenty of flattering present in that picture - action cactus pictures are the best.

Yes, they'll root, with the aforementioned light and heat - I'd mist them only until spring / when growth is evident. Otherwise, your other option it to leave them be until spring, in a cool, dry place that's not completely plunged into darkness.

you sure that's Pachycereus? Looks like some other kind of Cereus to me. Pachycereus has much less pronounced 'fins' or ribs and tends to not sucker as much as that (often shooting up a single column until quite large). Here is a shot of a 'fence' made out of Pachycereus marginata

Here is a shot of some seedlings

here's what they look like when actively growing- notice the very robust, barely 'indented' shape of the cactus and the marked symmetry. New spines on all Pachycereus species are a deep red like this (as far as I'm aware of)

lzrddr

Are these seedlings grown by you? I think they are pretty...Rina

hi Lzddr,

no, CactusMcharris guessed at it. . . . no body else did, and I looked at photos of it on the web, and it looked as much like that type as any other type . . . .

I just got home, I'll go look at it again, when I shut the chickens up.
I wonder if those indentations have to do with the windows it was by when it was growing all of those years?
yes, I too love your seedlings.

The spines look the same on it, but I will examine it again (they all feel the same when you step on them---dont they?)