These cacti are like the beauty and the beast.

This is my fairy castle, this is how this cactus receives its name in its current form but its scientific name is Acanthocereus tetragonus cactus. This cactus has been quite a beauty.

I always have many cacti of the same species, but this cactus was the only one of its species I had with me, until I could get it to stay healthy and pest free and now I can finally reproduce it.

It belongs to the cactaceae family, its species is Acanthocereus and its genus Tetragonus.

Although it’s a cactus of very slow growth I have been able to remove some small lower branches and place them to germinate in another substrate and the reproduction has been fruitful.

I have put it to receive the radiant sun but its color dulls when I do it and I decided to place it in a little shade, where the sun's rays do not hit it strongly and that is how I managed to keep this beautiful specimen growing and giving branches to take its fairy castle shape.

I planted these four branches, taking care not to transplant them right away. I left them for five days separated from the mother plant and to dry their scar. Then after fifteen days I removed one of the stems with its well-formed roots in it and planted it in another recycled plastic pot.

 It’s important not to water it heavily for a few days after transplanting, so that the plant acclimatizes again and the humidity does not damage its roots and stems, and rot the plant.

This is the little branch that I planted. With happy results, now I have this new plant and I have not yet transplanted the other three missing branches, I’m waiting for this transplant to go well for me. In another post I will be showing the transplantation and growth of the other three branches.

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This other cactus is the monstrous one, which would be the beast. Its scientific name is the Cereus jamacaru monosus.

It’s a cactus native to Central and South America. Prefers direct sun exposure. While this is a small cactus it can be grown in a pot with the same characteristics of the cactus soil, with good drainage, but when it grows and cannot continue in the pot, it must be transplanted to the ground so that it develops its greatest height. It becomes a very tall tree with a highly branched stem that exceeds 8m in height.

The stems that are erect and rigid grow in a tortuous way, they are light green in color and with many thorns all over their surface. They also have spines arranged as areoles in the apical portion that are yellow or brown in color.

This cactus blooms and its flowers are green. Its fruits are edible and have an intense red color, and in some places it’s used as a fruit tree and for construction.

I have been able to reproduce it with ease, always keeping the same specifications of the previous cactus. So I have managed to obtain many cacti of this species with good results.

All photographs are my property.