Types of tall cactus plants come in various options, and choosing the best one for your home’s aesthetics can be challenging. These plants add spice and a sense of the desert to the house.
They are also easy to maintain, and some bear beautiful flowers. This article will mention the different types of tall cactus plants, their growth conditions, benefits, and their characteristics.
Contents
- Different Types of Tall Cactus Plants
- 1. Saguaro Cactus
- 2. Organic Pipe Cactus
- 3. Senita Cactus
- 4. Candelabra Cactus
- 5. Cardon Cactus
- 6. Silver Torch Cactus
- 7. Mexican Fence Post Cactus
- 8. Blue Myrtle Cactus
- 9. San Pedro Cactus
- 10. Fairy Castle Cactus
- 11. Peruvian Apple Cactus
- 12. Eve’s Needle Cactus
- 13. Golden Barrel Cactus
- 14. Blue Columnar Cactus
- Conclusion
Different Types of Tall Cactus Plants
1. Saguaro Cactus
One of the best ways to add drama and bring a bit of desert in your indoors is by growing the Saguaro cactus.
– Unique Properties
The Carnegiea Gigantean is common in the American Southwest and grows mainly in areas with desert conditions. However, these plants don’t do well in extremely hot or cold climates.
The Saguaro cactus can grow as tall as 40 feet and bears white, pink, or red flowers. The plant is an essential part of the environment because it produces food and shelter for bees and other animals. The beauty a cactus plant brings to your home is not enough reason to choose it.
– Benefits
One of the reasons why this plant is loved because it produces healthy fruits. The fruits contain vitamin B12 and vitamin C and also offer anti-ageing properties. Overall, it is rich in dietary fiber and prevents cardiovascular diseases.
– Growth Needs
In order to properly grow it, the saguaro cactus babies need shelter from harsh sun rays. It requires low water levels and annual fertilization. Chemically control pests like scale and mealybugs annually.
2. Organic Pipe Cactus
Another tall cactus plant to choose for indoors is the Organic pipe cactus. It is common in Mexico and Southern Arizona and is characterized by multiple green-skinned vertical tubular limbs that look like a pipe, hence its name. In addition, it is even called Stenocereus Thurberi.
– Features
The organ Pipe cactus has thin spines. It can grow up to sixteen feet, although it has a slow growth rate.
The beauty of this cactus’s white flowers at the tip of the limbs is a significant reason homeowners buy it.
– Characteristics
The Organ Pipe cactus grows up to 16 feet, and this is one of the key criteria about it. It grows columnar arms from the base, and the stem can be either green or gray. The plant produces white flowers that develop into delicious fruits, and it has brown spines that can injure children, which is why it should be placed in a safe place.
– Uses
The Pipe cactus fruits offer protein and essential oil compounds to reduce stress and treat fungal infections. Its pureed flesh makes sauces and jellies used in shaved ice, and overall, the flesh can also be used to make desserts.
3. Senita Cactus
If you like the aesthetics the Organic Pipe cactus creates in your living room, you will most likely fall in love with the Senita cactus. This plant has multiple branches growing from the bottom of the parent plant and contains spines.
– Placing in the House
You can grow a Senita Cactus, which is also called Lophocereus Schotti, in a beautiful pot in the living room.
Place it near a window or the entryway for aesthetics and to ensure it gets some sunlight. You can also grow it in your backyard for a dramatic effect.
– Mode of Growth
The Senita cactus is available in other growth forms like totem pole cactus and curiosity cacti. It has a slow to the moderate growth rate, and it can grow to over 15 inches tall.
– Characteristics
Sometime it is also known as the old man cactus, the Senita cactus grows on dry plains. However, it has widely spaced ribs with tall stems covered with long hair-like gray spines. The young branches have short but stiff clusters of spines.
4. Candelabra Cactus
If you fancy the look tall cactus plants bring to your backyard, the Candelabra cactus will be a perfect choice.
– Features
It can grow up to 50 feet tall. The Euphorbia Ingens cactus is a succulent plant that thrives well in bright, dry conditions.
Since it can hold water in its succulent stems, you don’t need to water it frequently. However, ensure you water it once every two weeks during winter. It is also called Myrtillocactus cochal.
– Care and Maintenance
You may want to grow it in loose and well-draining fertile soil in order to see it thrive. Remember that the plant stores water in the succulent stems, requiring less watering. However, you should expose it to full sun to partial shade.
– Pros
The Candelabra cactus plant is easy to grow and maintain in addition, it is a decorative indoor and outdoor plant.
– Cons
You must be cautious because the milky sap is poisonous, and may intoxicate humans and animals.
5. Cardon Cactus
One notable fact about the Cardon cactus is that it is the tallest cactus in the world. It has few maintenance requirements, and you can manage its size. Therefore, many homeowners grow it as an indoor plant as it has a slow growth rate and flowers after growing to three inches tall.
– Names of the Plant
Other names to refer to the Giant Cardon cactus are the Mexican Giant Cardon cactus or the Elephant cactus.
It is also called Pachycereus Pringlei scientifically, or even the Mexican Giant.
– Growth Requirements
Remember that this cactus needs plenty of bright light in order to grow happy, it also requires a well-draining soil as you must water it little to moderating because it stores its water.
– Uses
It is perfect for landscaping because it elevates the design of the place with several aspects, but the key one being its height.
6. Silver Torch Cactus
The Silver Torch Cactus is characterized by its woolly white or gray spines that cover the entire plant. It is also called the Cleistocactus Strausii.
– Features
It is a perennial cactus plant that grows up to 10 feet high. The plant produces red flowers, contrasting with the gray spines to create a beautiful space.
The Silver Torch is a non-toxic cactus that requires well-drained soil and full sun to thrive. Its foliage is evergreen, and it blooms best in summer. This plant is common among many homeowners because it is easy to care for and has few growth requirements.
– Torch Cactus Care
Remember that you must only water this plant when the soil feels completely dry, because it grows in cool temperature, and you must pour low-nitrogen fertilizer twice every month.
– Growth Requirements
Keep the temperatures between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit, and don’t forget to expose it to full and partial shade.
7. Mexican Fence Post Cactus
The Mexican Fence Post Cactus is known for its unbranched dark green stems. Each stem of the Pachycereus Marginatus has about seven ribs with clusters of spines and can grow up to 50 feet. Homeowners like the Mexican Fence cactus because of its nocturnal pink to greenish flowers in spring.
– Specific Use
Growing and caring for the Fence Post cactus is easy because they are desert plants.
Ensure it receives enough sun and heat, and maintain little moisture in the soil. You can also grow Fence Post cacti in containers inside the house.
– Specific Needs
This beautiful cactus grows well in fertile, well-drained soils. You must remember to water regularly, but only when the soil dries in summer. Grow in temperature above 24 degrees Fahrenheit. It is key to know that this cactus would grow well in spring time.
8. Blue Myrtle Cactus
You cannot go wrong with the beautiful Blue Myrtle Cactus. It is a shrub cactus with a distinctive-looking shrub, and its green hue adds aesthetics to spaces. Also called the blue candle, or the Myrtillocactus Geometrizanas, this cactus plant is easy to care for, making it a good choice for new cacti enthusiasts.
– Growth Environment
Blue Myrtle produces small greenish-white flowers that blossom in spring that attracts bees.
The flowers later grow into blueish-purple berries that are edible. If you live in a hot climate, growing the Myrtle Cactus indoors is advisable.
– Characteristics
This cactus would happily grow into a shrub which is a unique feature it has, and it will always stay green. In addition, it will produce greenish-white flowers, followed by fruits, which are edible.
– Cons
Overwatering would lead it to root rot, which is what would cause a problem to its health.
9. San Pedro Cactus
The Pedro Cactus plant is one of the large outdoor cactus plants with many branches. It is also called the Echinopsis Pachanoi, and it has blue-green columnar stems that turn dark green as the plant ages. San Pedro produces white flowers in summer, which would close during night and open up again during the day.
– Growth Requirements
This cactus plant is easy to grow. It requires well-drained soils that have less watering requirements and exposure to the sun.
You should fertilize the plant monthly during the growing season and avoid watering during winter.
– Disease Resistance
It is rarely attacked by pests and diseases, which is a key aspect why people love to keep it around, however, when you over water it, it would develop different fungal diseases.
– Best Places to Grow
It is best if you grow it in desert gardens, where the theme is cactus, this one would be the most prominent feature. You can even grow it in a succulent garden or even on rocky places.
10. Fairy Castle Cactus
The fairy castle cactus, also called the Triangle cactus, or barbed-wire cactus is a columnar cactus plant whose primary origin is South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. It is a low-maintenance, slow-growing indoor plant suitable for cacti gardener beginners.
– Unique Features
Ensure you place your Castle cactus plant near the window to receive lots of sunlight.
Although it can survive in partial light, lack of enough light can lead to fading. The plant has large, beautiful white or yellow flowers.
– Growing Requirements
Keep in mind that you must fertilize during the warm months to encourage growth. In addition, it grows perfectly in a well-draining soil, and it thrives when it is planted in hot weather.
– Propagating Requirements
Propagating a fairy castle cactus is easy. Use a sterile knife to cut the branch at the base. Remember to plant the cutting after the severed end dries out.
11. Peruvian Apple Cactus
Peruvian Apple Cactus is also known as the Cereus Peruvianus, and it is a perfect choice of indoor types of cactus plants. It produces white flowers during summer, so you can be sure of a stunning living room area. The funnel-shaped flowers are unique because they open at night and close during the day.
– Features
Peruvian Apple has a thick stem that remains green all the time. The brown spines at the edge of the stem ribs make your cactus more visible.
Apple cactus is easy to care for and this is one of its favored characteristics.
– Growing Conditions
You must grow it in good, draining soil, and place it near a window to get plenty of bright light. In addition, remember to prune the plant to avoid growing very tall.
As it grows in its required climate and receives its requirements, it will grow beautiful flowers which will turn to fruit. The fruits are edible and tasty.
12. Eve’s Needle Cactus
The Eve’s needle is among the cactus varieties homeowners grow indoors. The plant can also thrive well outside under the right conditions. Eve’s Pin Prickly Pear leaves are awl-like with a green-yellow hue. You can plant it in a pot, place it in your house, or leave it outside. Scientifically, it is called the Austrocylindropuntia Subulata.
– Requirements
The Needle Cactus requires minimal care and maintenance to thrive. Ensure you water it when the soil dries up and keep it in direct sunlight.
Also, avoid over-fertilizing the needle cactus or repotting it. Some homeowners grow this cactus plant because of its pros.
– Pros
Its leaves are sold as vegetables, and it has few maintenance requirements. In addition, it is easy to propagate.
– Cons
Bacterial infections easily attack the plant.
13. Golden Barrel Cactus
The Golden barrel cactus is a pale-green plant that grows into a barrel-shaped stem plant surrounded by long, dangerous spines.
The needle-like spines are stiff and yellow and can injure children and pets, but the spikes are the unique feature of the Echinocactus Grusonii. Therefore, you should choose the perfect location to grow this ball cactus.
– Location
One of the ideal places to grow this ball cactus is near low windows to act as security. When the spines puncture human skin, they cause bacterial infection.
If you don’t want the plant to crowd in one place, you can transplant them in other locations. Some amazing things to know about the golden barrel cactus are.
– Care and Maintenance
You must remember to plant in well-draining soil, and it is key to know that you must let it dry before watering. Don’t forget to wear gloves when handling the plant.
– Downsides
The plant rots if over-watered. In addition, it is not recommended if you have kids and pets.
14. Blue Columnar Cactus
The list of tall cactus types of plants could not be complete without the blue columnar plant.
– Care Requirements
Also known as the blue torch cactus, this plant has a glamorous look that will leave visitors staring.
It is drought tolerant and has few growth requirements, including well-draining soil, sunlight, and warm temperatures.
– Placement
These cacti grow in rock and desert gardens and are also suitable for patios. Some homeowners grow it with Zebra plants and Old Lady Cactus for more aesthetics. The Pilosocereus Pachycladus is an amazing option to have in your garden.
– Pros
It is used in traditional medicine and food, which is why it is popular, in addition, it would successfully treat urinary infections and prostate inflammation.
– Cons
The downside for this cactus is that the plant has many spines that can puncture your skin, simply because the spines easily stick to the skin and are painful.
Conclusion
Homeowners grow cacti plants indoors and outdoors because of their beauty and low maintenance. Besides, if you don’t like a particular cactus type, you can choose another one out of the many.
Ensure you consider these points before settling for a cactus plant.
- If you want a flowering cactus plant, you can grow Saguaro, Organic Pipe, Silver Torch, or Blue Myrtle cacti plants. Their beautiful flowers will add charm to the space.
- Cacti plants are easy to care for and maintain. They also have fewer growth requirements, unlike other plants.
- When choosing a tall cactus plant for sale, be careful not to buy a non-cacti plant. There are succulent species that resemble cacti.
With all these different types of cacti plants, which one would you choose for your indoor or patio aesthetics?
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