Southeastern Europe, zone 7a is all im giving you SoCal strewart. We have winters, and the plants are indoors, and hate humidity. In addition, pumice is much harder to get a hold off, so i always write my assertions in assuming a way that climate and resources are not optimal. But then again, a lot of people live in the "temperate belt", away from any sea, or volcano.... I also make my assertions based on other growers' experiences within approximate growing conditions. EG, the plant in question, is also difficult even with much more experienced growers than me.

My monkeytails are planted in miracle grow potting mix with extra perlite. I do nothing special but water when it dries out. Its hot and humid here and all are in full sun..I havent rotted one yet. They really are thriving.

milevskistefan, I wasn’t going to come and try to visit you or anything, so no worries.

Kara, yes, please? ...and thank you!

Lydia, I’ve seen pictures of yours and they are AWESOME! I hope mine grow to be half as nice. Great growing.

Tyler

triffidmoss, HOPEFULLY, you can find something in all of that which is actually beneficial and of some use to you. Good luck with your MTs. Please post updates with their progress.

Tyler

milevskistefan, wow you're keeping them indoors? That must be a challenge.

Nothing like a good spirited conversation :D The good news is I actually have two little MTs so I can experiment just a little with care. But as it's coming into Winter right now I'm going to focus on just keeping them alive for now. Happy can come later :D

Nil13 usda:9a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.) As misunderstood that statement is, now , i dont own a lot of cleistocacti . . I own one, and ive kept it alive being bone dry. On the other hand, i own 260 plants, of which 20 euphorbias , 50 aloeae, 60 crassulaceae, 80 cactacea and other . came to my attention the slight gap in care difficulty between north and south american cacti. Therefore, i did research the why, the how and the mistakes one could make. The only universal conclusion i could make was

- mineral, really draining soil(less organic matter)

- a lot less water( and this worked very well)

- low humidity in winter

- medium light in summer(easy to sunburn)

- water ph issues (varies)

-and finally, tried raising most of them from seed, to increase durability to conditions here

So, my lil babies survived Winter, despite my help. I didn't water them much at all because I was scared of rotting them and it shows.. I also accidentally poured scalding hot water on them because I didn't check which tap was on.... (whoops!)

They have been living on two different Windowsills, one getting lots of sun, the other getting extreme sun. The one with more sun is fluffier :D So I know where they will live next Winter. Actually, considering they were fine up against the cold glass I think I'll leave them outdoors next Winter. (under cover)

Bit hard to see because of the crappy photo but the one on the left got the full strong sun all Winter. Now it's getting warmer I can feed them up a bit and start watering them a bit more.

Definitely start watering since it’s warming up. I bet this year you will get tons of growth:). You may want to keep on the lookout for a little hanging basket, something small for now. The pots they’re in you may risk the chance of one breaking once they start getting longer.

During the winter I keep mine dry. Sometimes they’ll get rain, but generally if it’s cold I don’t water. When the forecast says anything lower than 40F/4C I will bring inside my garage, but anything above I will cover with frost cloth at night. Llifle says they can handle short spurts of temps as low as -2C, but personally I wouldn’t let mine drop that low.

Congrats the worse part is over. Now you should be rewarded with some new growth;).

I just brought mine back in because of the rain and cooler temperatures. It grew 17 inches and sprouted 4 new arms, and all in the shade of an apple tree.

Now that you’re going into nicer weather,just watch it take off.

Got mine in May, '17

Potted it in a mix of pumice, lava, chicken grit, and a small amount of Turface.

Didn't grow a lot the first summer, but by late spring '18 it had developed a good root system, and started growing a 2nd arm. I then repotted it into a hanging pot that was actually a bit big for the plant. I was a bit concerned about the size of the pot, but it did really well over this summer and grew a lot. This summer was a hot one for us, and very, very wet. More like Florida weather than CT weather. It also got a lot of sun, a little shade in the late afternoon.

Here it is now...

It's now sitting on a stool in the greenhouse. Have to hang it back up :-)

I'm really hoping it takes off :D They, I should add. I technically bought two so I could experiment a bit with growing positions...

I have joined the club of monkey tail owners :-). In May I got a small plant consisting of a main stem with three arms. I left one of the arms with a friend in Holland, and continued with the rest. I found out that the stem was grafted on a buried piece of cereus. I cut off the stem and the two arms, here they are today:

I potted up the stock with the little nub of the stem that was left, and it sprouted:

While the first three cuttings were making roots, they also continued to grow, etiolated little tops. That was not very nice looking, so I beheaded them and stuck the tops in a little pot. They are just starting to root:

The growing season is winding down, though I hope to keep them outside till some time in October. The stock plant is in Lechuza Pon, a rather coarse gritty mix, the other two I have in half “cactus soil”, half coarse perlite. I hate perlite, but I only have fine pumice. Like many here, I find they love water. I actually have a C. winteri that I kept in the peat based mix I got it in, and it did very well in that mix and full sun from 7-4. Next year it will get fresh soil, probably 50/50 like the monkey tails.

I showed the monkeys the pictures of yours, Lydia. Gives them something to strive for ;-).

That's a great idea, I'll have to do the same! Maybe those photos will inspire mine as well :-)

Well, my huge monkey tail fell and broke while trying to repot it. So, now I have 70 cuttings rooting this moment. I do have 7 other large ones to display so all is good.

It has to be really tricky to repot yours because of their size. I was nervous just moving mine into the house.

I would have been sick if I dropped mine, I want more but not Lydia’s way :)

Eeep! I can imagine your heart just stopping as it crashed :(

Yes, I felt horrible! I had never taken 1 cutting from it since I bought it...all cuttings rooted and some are sprouting new tails already!

That’s awesome to hear,at least something good came out of it.

Well, it's about 18 months later and here are my two lil babies. I chopped the end off one and they both pupped.

They look Great! When they go into growing mode,they take right off.

Oh, and the one I chopped, I rooted the cutting and left it out doors (undercover) over winter. It got to about -3 or so and was fine so it was a good test.

Looking great! They've really grown a lot. Hardiness info is good to know; thanks for testing it :-)

Besides getting one flower, which was a nice surprise, mine didn’t seem to grow at all this year. Pupping & growth last Summer but this past Summer no discernible growth what so ever. Same treatment and location.

I’m curious why that would have happened. I know mine put on a lot of growth but no flowers.

Very nice triffidmoss! Unfortunately, I have killed two monkey tail plants :-(

Tyler, if I had just followed this post more closely, I would have seen the future written in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS, italicized and bolded!

Anyway, I might have posted this before, but can you believe technology gives us videos of the plant in question!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3opyfci-Yc

The plant, and the adaptations plant make, are just wonderfully presented here.

A few of my Monkey Tail Cactus (Cleistocactus winteri ssp. colademononis)

Anyone know about how long it takes for the fruit to mature (become ripe), after the flower has been pollinated?

I’ve never gotten fruit from mine, but I would think they aren’t any different from other cactus. I’d say they should be ready after three to four months. The flowers aren’t huge so I doubt the fruit is much bigger than a pea. The bigger the fruit is generally the longer it takes. I don’t pick them until they look ready. You’ll know because they get all dried out and split sometimes.

I have Pleiospilos simulans bear seeds for me and they took easily eight months before they were ready. But that’s not a cactus and I don’t know why I’m telling you this:).

I got 4 little pieces in late Feb 2019

A Few Weeks Ago..there is still one piece that is just sitting there, not growing. Its not dying either, so I'm just leaving it be lol. There rest looks good. I wonder if it needs more light? It right under the porch eaves and gets slanted sun part of the day. Bright indirect light the rest of the day.

What a awesome cool plant, L must try and grow some!

Look who flowered! It's nearly 2 years old now and has more buds coming.

Very nice, well done! And in winter! Mine are asleep, cold and dry.

That’s awesome!

Hi there ! Just wondering how do you make the monkey tails hair long and fluffy ? Is it the amount of sun you give it ? Direct sun or not ? I’m in San Francisco. Any help is much appreciated ! Judy

I just got some monkey tails but I’m not sure if they’re the long and fluffy hair ones that I really like .

Can you post a pic of your Monkey Tail cactus?

When the ”tails” are young they usually don’t have long furry spines.

They look more like this, pic from Google.

As time goes on they get that furry look. Side note they may look soft, but the spines feel more like bristles.

Hi Kara !

I’m so glad to hear from You.

I’m posting a picture right now

I figured since You’re from San Francisco maybe You can help Me and give Me tips on how to care for My Monkey Tail. Like can I keep it outdoors Permanently ? Will it help grow long furry hair when It’s left out in the sun ? I just got him yesterday . Right now he’s outside and gets full sun from around 10am- 4pm give or take .

Without a shadow of a doubt you have a Monkey Tail/Cleistocactus winteri subs. colademononis🙂.

Surprisingly I have found that this cactus can be a little sensitive to too much sun.

A quote from Llifle:

”Sun Exposure: Require filtered bright light, partial sun or light shade, but not in full sun that will sunscald it. ”

Last spring/summer I kept my Monkey Tail cactus outside in all day sun in a south facing yard, and some areas did get sun scald.

Half day sun would work.

I do think some Monkey Tail cactus are furrier than others, but imo age and stress plays a part in how furry they will get.

From the looks I’d say it’s time to repot your pot full of Monkey Tails😁. Be sure to use a fast draining mix because these guys are pretty thirsty during the growing season, but just because they’re thirsty during the growing season ( Spring/Summer) doesn’t mean they want their feet constantly wet and soggy. Water when the mix becomes dry. A mix of 60% perlite and or pumice with 40% cactus mix will do just fine. Since you live in the Bay Area you should be able to find pumice. Pumice is superior, but perlite works.

My hardiness zone is 9b so it gets a little too cold in the months of Dec-Feb. As you know our rainy season is in the winter. So I bring my Monkey Tail into the garage during those months. Cold and wet is not good for this cactus and most other cactus. The coolest my garage gets is somewhere near the low 40’s. I also keep my Monkey Tail cactus dry from the end of Oct thru early March.

During the growing season I water mine once or twice a week. Sometimes more if it’s really hot and the mix is drying out quickly.

What is your hardiness zone? You may be able to keep yours outside during the winter, but it will need to be protected from winter rains.

Anymore questions feel free to ask🌵.

Hi Kara !

I’m in zone 10b

You have just made Me so Happy !

I was just thinking about repotting him after reading the thread . I haven’t watered him at all and like You said, it drinks more water compared to other cactus .

I have this succulent cactus gritty mix from bonsai jack ready but I haven‘t decided what pot to put him in . I don’t know what’s the best pot to use ?

Thank You so much for helping Me out!

I’m so glad to know that I can ask more questions cuz I know I’m gonna need all the help I can get. I really appreciate it !

Any chance you know which Cleistocactus this is?

Looks like monkey tail!!!

I think it’s Cleistocactus Colademononsis ( Monkey 🐒 Tail )

Is there a chart or something that shows conversions of hardness zones? All this zone a or b is so confusing to Myself in Aus :D

Here's a link to the U.S. hardiness zone map:

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/hardinesszones.shtml

hello! just purchased my first monkey tail cactus! has anyone ever tried growing them under LED grow lights during the winter months? i’m in zone 7a and have my monkey tail in a large south facing window with great direct AM light. i was thinking of supplementing with grow lights and not allowing them to go dormant, what do ppl think?

That’s a good question. I had some cuttings under led lights and they still didn’t do anything until spring, I assumed it was because of the cooler temperatures.

I have never even thought about them going dormant,

i also have a space heater going to keep the room warm so i’m thinking with the natural light, supplemental LED grow light, and warm room temp they should grow?