Cactus houseplant pruning

12 years ago

Hello!

I'm looking for some advice on trimming/pruning some cacti that I have in a pot indoors on my windowsill (see the pic). They're about 4 years old, and as you can see they've gotten very, very leggy with the limited light I get in my apartment. They came via a seed packet, so I'm not entirely sure what variety they are. The image includes a couple of other succulents as well, though they aren't really the issue (perhaps barrel cactus near the center, as well as another very leggy but not prickly succulent, whose name I've forgotten).

The cacti in question do have some branches/buds at points, but even removing those would still result in a fairly hard-to-contain potted plant, considering they're quite prickly.

Any ides on how to deal with these guys and make them a bit more manageable?

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (2)

kaktuskris
12 years ago
All the plants are suffering from etiolation, which means long leggy growth due to lack of sufficient lighting. If you cut back the cactus, (which you can easily do at any joint between the pads) and do not resolve the lighting issue, the plant will grow back the same as it is now. The plant on the right is an Aloe, by the way

Also your soil is too heavy and water retentive. You want a less organic, quick drying mix for cacti and succulents. Are the plants planted directly into that glazed pot? If so, does it have a drainage hole?

Christopher
fowlermj
Original Author
12 years ago
The lighting issue is one I'm not sure I can do much about, at least until I live somewhere sunnier or with room for me to set up a dedicated light to help out. I was fairly sure that was the issue, and was just hoping I could trim them somehow to keep them alive and less wild until the time comes when I can give them more light.

Thanks for the aloe identification, and for the point about drainage. I do have it in a pot liner, though you can't exactly see that in the picture, and it sits up from the bottom to allow for drainage.

As for the mix, I did originally plant them in a cactus-specific potting mix, but I've since top dressed it with a bit of regular potting mix. When I get the chance (and it's not 0 degrees out) I'll pull that top layer off and add more cactus mix to replace it.

Thanks for your help!
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