Over the years, I’ve posted many photos of the silver torch cacti (Cleistocactus strausii) in the front yard. In the late afternoon and early evening, when they’re backlit by the sun, they positively glow:
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| July 2025 |
But any containerized plant eventually gets too big and will need to be put in the ground or moved to a larger pot. My
Cleistocactus strausii is no exception. Since things were in disarray already because of our
recent siding project, this was as good a time as any to get this done.
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| No room left in the pot |
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| New stems squished against the side of the pot |
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| Brand new Corten planter for my Cleistocactus strausii |
To make sure there’s enough room for years to come, I bought a Corten planter 25" long x 11" wide x 13" high. To fit the clump (round) into the planter (rectangular), I had to divide it. Read on to see what I did and how I did it.
But some background first:
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January 2011
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I bought these Cleistocactus straussii in January 2011 at UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. Back then, their Landscape Cacti & Succulents Nursery had a plant sale every Thursday. The selection was great and the prices were very reasonable. I miss those days.
Anyway, this was my haul in January 2011:
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| January 2011 |
The three cacti on the right eventually became the clump you saw above. This is what they looked like after I potted them up:
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| February 2011 |
A year later, now with 6+ stems:
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| January 2012 |
And five years after I planted them:
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| April 2016 |
The agave in the front (
Agave schidigera ‘Shira ito no Ohi’) did well for a number of years, but it eventually rotted in the center one winter. I still don’t know exactly why.
Fast-forward another nine years to the summer of 2025. As you can see, the pot is completely full. High time to give these poor cacti a new home!
Just like I had feared, I had to break the pot to get the cacti out:
The roots had filled the pot, but overall, the root system wasn’t as dense as I had expected.
I cut the root ball in half with my
Root Slayer. That gave me two chunks that fit perfectly in the Corten planter. I could have subdivided the halves even further, but I hate to disturb roots more than I have to.
Here is the final result:
The way these cacti catch the late afternoon sun is magical:
For those of you who prefer moving pictures over stills, here’s a 3-minute video of the project:
© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
Why not put several of them in the ground? They'd go great with some of your other plants, and you have more space in the planter box for them to grow.
ReplyDeletePutting them in the ground had been my first thought, but I couldn't find a good place for them so I decided to put them back in the same spot as before.
DeleteThat is a terrific planter for them! Great job! Do you think I can repot some tall cacti that I have now? The nights have cooled down, but it's still about 105º during the day.
ReplyDeleteI think it's OK to repot as long as you keep them out of the direct sun for a while.
DeleteThanks, will do!
Deletetoo bad about the pot. I have a long thin piece of metal that I can easily insert along the edge of a pot. It works like a charm to help loosen the soil ball from the pot. From your video it looked like you added potting soil higher than the original level from the first pot burying some of the stem. Is this correct? I would have thought the stems would rot. The final looks great. Kind of like a mini fence separating different areas.
ReplyDeleteA long thin piece of metal, that's something I need! The original pot was a bit of an odd shape so the root ball wouldn't slide out easily.
DeleteIf I planted the stems a little deeper than before, it wasn't a conscious decision. It should be OK.
Kudos, Gerhard! I can't even imagine tackling that task!
ReplyDeleteAnticipating it, or should I say dreading it, is always worse than doing it :-)
DeleteThose pots that curve slightly in at the top (or get thicker at the top) are so difficult to get plants out of! Your new planting looks fantastic, the video gave a since of scale that the pictures did not--showing just how large the plants are!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the scale came through in the video!
DeleteAs for pots, I only get pots with straight or tapered sides now.
Looks like a perfectly timed intervention. New container gives them more of a "landscape" orientation Instead of leaning inwards as in the old pot. I've had to break pots too -- and had a schidigera rot for no apparent reason, tho mine was in the ground and it was a rainier winter than usual.
ReplyDeleteLandscape orientation, yes, that's a great way of putting it. My hope is that I'll have a row of cacti in the near future.
DeleteThey look great! I've had some rot in the ground after a small amount of winter rain. I think the pot is a great solution. And it looks like you added gravel to your soil?
ReplyDeleteThe soil mix I used already had some red lava in it, but I added a generous amount of pumice for extra drainage.
DeleteThis looks fantastic, you made the repotting and dividing looks so easy... The container is already changing its color, going forward to rust, yes?
ReplyDeleteI spotted two terracotta pots on either side of the corten, in photo 14. What went into those centurions?
Chavli
Thanks!! It was actually easier than I had expected. And yes, the container is already beginning to rust. That was FAST!
DeleteThe terracotta pots were placeholders. I'll post an update soon on what's there now. A Yucca rostrata on one side, and a Dioon califanoi on the other.
Oh, I like their new home! That's fun to see them through the years, and how you recently divided them. Nifty. And I LOVE the backlit light effect!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of work. Although it's been 14 years, I am still shocked by how large they grew. That is one impressive container.
ReplyDeletecan you cut the columns ?
ReplyDeletemine are almost 9' tall and leggy.
Ues, definitely. Let them callus over after you cut them before you put them in soil.
Delete