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My wife and I have had these cacti for a little over a year now. Since change happens slowly I assume we never really noticed, but now it seems like it has gotten a lot more..fluffy.. for lack of a better word. 'Very dense spikes' perhaps?

Either way, we know very little about cacti (which we should change) but I was wondering if these look 'healthy'. Yesterday we noticed that it seems we have a baby cactus. I'm also curious as to this one is healthy.

It seems like the baby one is trapped between larger cacti (growing close to the mother I assume). Should we repot this?

It's kind of two questions, but my main one would be wether or not they look healthy.

visible baby cactus First generation cacti Top view of cacti

Stevoisiak
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Dylan Meeus
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2 Answers2

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These cacti seem very happy to me, they even started to get a baby! Wow! I am not sure how much light they get there on the dinner table, but many cacti are fine in the shade.

Cacti in general are easy plants, the only tricky part is giving it too much water. Mostly, a cactus needs water every month or two weeks. Never leave them in "wet feet". Furthermore, cold is also a problem for these plants.

benn
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  • Thank you! I was worried that it might be too 'fluffy' as I read some white fluffy parts on some cacti indicate infection. They are usually on a counter nearer to a window - but taking a picture there at night was too hard :-) – Dylan Meeus Aug 25 '17 at 09:34
  • I never heard before that fluffy could indicate infection. I have seen this cactus type before, and they are always fluffy. You can even find more fluffy [pictures](https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/old-man-cactus/old-man-cactus-care.htm) on the web. Be careful, hugging them tough... – benn Aug 25 '17 at 12:56
  • I just read it here: http://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=28665 But it is a different cactus type. It does look different though! ;-) – Dylan Meeus Aug 25 '17 at 13:11
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This looks more like a Cleistocactus to me, a South American species. They look well grown; stems are fairly even width, no etiolation and fibers/spines getting longer. Vigorous spine/fiber growth usually indicates plenty of sun (cactus sun screen). In low light conditions, spines/fibers are stunted as the plant tries to get as much light as possible.

More sun is usually better, but they don't look deprived to me.

If it is a Cleistocactus they can get over 4' tall and form large clumps.

In my book, anytime a plant makes offsets things are going well.

Nice job!

Tim Nevins
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