I’ve been casually growing cacti on my small patio balcony in Phoenix, Arizona for the past ~5 years. It all started when a friend gifted me a cactus before moving away, I had no idea what I was doing, so I just started propagating pieces when it got too big and seeing what happened… and now I guess I’ve accidentally fallen in love with the hobby and now have 10+😅
I’m still very much a beginner, more of a blind squirrel as I’ve done nothing but basics, but this one started growing differently.. and lead me to this Reddit
Would love any advice on what is going, best to preserve what this is and learn the ways of the cacti.
by Schmuckey
9 Comments
It is cresting
Ha! I love that that’s how you got into this hobby 😂
Like u/Big-Beat-1443 said, it’s cresting. This is not *rare* per se, but it is often considered a desirable and sought-after trait in the cactus crowing community.
Usually it’s caused by a combination of genetic predisposition, environment, and sometimes tip damage (usually by insects). Can absolutely be 100% spontaneous though.
Edit- misspelt “cresting” as “creating”
Oh no.. you broke it
Clearly some monstrose genetics in that one as both pups are showing the mutation where the other just hasn’t fully crested yet, very cool
That’s awesome
The crest is the best
That area will propagate and crest again
That’s an awesome way to fall down the trichocereus rabbit hole. Yours has a genetic mutation which we call growing “monstrose” and more specifically “cresting” or “cristata.” However, it is also evident from the photo that this plant would have preferred more sunlight over the previous years. If you have any sunnier spaces you could keep it, I would recommend what we call “hardening the plant off” into a more sunny location. Inching it slowly once every few days, without adjusting the sunlight conditions too drastically/abruptly (as this could burn the cactus if done too rapidly).
Cresting …its badass …its def happy