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  • Captioned "AZ Sunrise," a comically large flower on a cactus. It has floppy rounded hot pink petals with a line of yellow-orange tint up the center, and an outer layer of thin pointed petals. It has pale yellow anthers and stigma.
  • A planter filled with torch cacti, with one in the foreground blooming with four bright orange flowers with pink- rimmed petals. Behind it, another cactus is completely covered with ten large flowers, dark pink on the outer petals fading to light ink in the center.
  • A low view looking through a planter full of torch cacti, with stems of different diameters. Some are tall and skinny and others fatter. They have green body color and spines down each rib. Some have long spines, others more medium-length.
  • A birds-eye view of torch cacti, one on the left captioned "Glorious" with deep pink flowers. The one on the right is labeled "Propane" and has saturated orange flowers.
  • Several torch cacti in a planter, showing variations is cactus type. There are several stem of some more recumbent types. One has light brown spines, while the other cacti nearby have light yellow spines.
  • Captioned "First Light," a large white flower on a cactus. The rounded white petals have lovely deep pink lines down the center that fade to white and are bright yellow at the base. It has pale yellow anthers and stigma, with a light green center.
  • Captioned "Glorious," several large deep hot pink flowers on a cactus. The petals are compact and rounded, with some orange coloration at the center. It has pale yellow anthers and stigma.
  • Captioned "Hookypiensis," several large flowers with long elegant pointed petals on a cactus. The petals are more orange on the outside and more hot pink in the center of the flower. It has yellow stigma and anthers on dramatic long filaments.
  • Captioned "Hookypiensis day 2," the flowers look a more muted pink and orange tone, but are still quite vibrant.
  • Captioned "Hot Orchid," a cluster of large flowers with long pointed petals on a cactus. The flower is bright hot pink, with lighter color in the center and darker pink on the outside of the flower. It has an outer layer of long thin petals. It has light yellow stigma and anthers.
  • Captioned "Huascha Rubra," two large flowers with compact rounded petals on a cactus. The petals are a vibrant orange-red with light yellow anthers and stigma.
  • Captioned "Neon Dawn," several dozen large hot pink flowers on a cactus. The petals are large and pointed. The petals at the center are a light pink with a deeper pink up the center, and the outer petals are darker pink. It has pale yellow anthers and stigma with a yellow tone in the center of the flower.
  • Captioned "Neon Dawn 'Cheap Frills'," a bright pink flower with bunchy frilly petals in a cluster in the center. The outer ring of thin long petals sticks out, but is wavy.
  • Captioned "Oh Wow," a large deep hot pink flower on a cactus. The petals are compact and rounded, with a near-red saturated pink. It has dense pale yellow anthers and stigma.
  • Captioned "Peaches & Cream," several large peachy orange-pink flowers on the crown of a cactus. The petals are compact and rounded, with a layer of thin long ones on the outside. It has a light green color to the center, with pale yellow anthers and stigma.
  • Captioned "Peaches & Cream day 2," the flowers have fades to a more peachy-pink color.
  • Captioned "Propane," several large vibrant orange flowers on a cactus. The petals are compact and rounded, with deeper color at the center. It has a light green color to the center, with pale yellow anthers and stigma.
  • Captioned "Volcanic Sunset," several large peachy orange flowers on the crown of a cactus. The petals are compact and rounded, with more vibrant orange in the center and more desaturated red at the edges. It has pale yellow anthers and large stigma.
  • Captioned "Volcanic Sunset day 2," the flowers have faded to a light peachy tone.
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Trichocereus x "torch cactus"

Trichocereus x "torch cactus"

$6.00 USD
$6.00 USD
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Size
Variety

Family Cactaceae

Subfamily Cactoideae

Tribe Cereeae

Subtribe Trichocereinae

Genus Trichocereus x Echinopsis

Variety multiple cultivars (cv.) available 

Common name(s) Torch cactus

 

The common type of 'torch cactus' refers to a group of Trichocereus x Echinopsis intergeneric hybrids with large tall upright stems and massive colorful trumpet blooms. The cacti are fast growers, with robust green body color and long spines. Different varieties of torch cacti have slight variations in body size and color, spine length and color, and growth habit.

Once established they usually bloom at least once every year, producing anywhere from one to a dozen plus flowers at a time on a single stem. I've counted over forty at once on one of my plants! Flower colors can be so saturated they look blown out on camera. Fully opened, the flowers are on average about four inches across. The smallest stay compact at about three inches, while larger flowers like AZ Sunrise dwarf the plant at over six inches. Some flowers have more pointed fanning petals, and others more dense rounded rose-like shapes. Most flowers are fleeting and only last one day, though some varieties like Propane do well into the second day even in high heat.

Note that this genetic line of Neon Dawn will sometimes pop out with an alternative flower type I've deemed "Cheap Frills." The petals have trouble opening and stay bunched in the center, and can be slightly inverted as if trapped in a lifesaver. The petals are crinkled by this, and splay out in a frilly pouf. Some buds are able to fully open, but still have frilly petals.

These Trichocereus x Echinopsis hybrids are fairly hardy and can be treated a bit more like other garden plants: they are happy in potting soil as long as they have appropriate drainage and don't stay soggy, so I mix in perlite and pumice. The cacti crave sunlight, and likely will not thrive or flower as an indoor plant unless they have a super bright spot or are supplemented with grow lights (see: etiolation). In sunny regions the cactus can take full sun or minimal shading. These have been kept under 40% shade cloth in Arizona which is about equivalent to the surface of the sun in most other climates, so they should acclimate quickly to strong or full sun. Torch cacti may pale, sunburn, and shrivel in the harsh sun of late fall and winter, but the healthy green color recovers in the spring.

Options: a cutting, rooted cutting, or a rooted pup, shipped bare-root. Both the cuttings and pups come from a mature flowering plant. Pups tend to take a bit longer to grow large enough to flower, whereas I have started new cuttings in the fall and had some bloom by that spring. Some cuttings and pups will be lopsided from trying to grow out from the base of stems.

Varieties will become available as I thin my plants, so availability will be spotty over the dormant season (winter).

 

Growth habit Upright stems that can also creep and spread, multiplying from pups at the base. Some varieties are more branching or more recumbent.
Size Stems 2–6" in diameter and reaching several feet in height or length.
Light Full sun to filtered sun
Water Regular water in spring-summer growing season, allow to dry between waterings; leave dry over winter
Overwintering Hardy to 20°, tolerant of light freezes. No need to overwinter in greenhouse in warmer climates, and a warmer winter may discourage blooms.
Flowers Blooms sporadically, usually once or twice a year any time from early spring through the fall. Flowers on most types will only last one day.
Native to Cultivar (South America)
Conservation risk status n/a
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