The ubiquitous indoor plant known as the pencil cactus, Euphorbiatirucalli, is a quick-growing member of the Euphorbiaceae family. Mature plants frequently resemble pine trees and can reach heights of up to 25 feet. They can be easily pruned, and doing so shouldn’t damage the plant. Here are some trimming pointers.
Avoid coming in contact with the sap’s white, latex-like surface if you can. This sap can occasionally cause significant skin and eye irritation. When it dries, it will turn black and stain your clothing as well. Additionally, these plants are not suitable for composting due to their sap.
Remove any branches that are infected, damaged, or dead. This will make the plant look cleaner and encourage new development.
Establish the desired height and shape for your plant. Then, by removing the branches above a node, shape the plant as desired using pruners or heavy, sharp scissors. Cut each branch at the base, where it originated, while pruning. Do not allow the stem to have a protruding stub.
You can further thin the plant if you’d like by removing any vertical branches that are overly numerous, weak, or thin. Once more, remove these branches at the source. Additionally, increasing air circulation around and within the plant by thinning enhances its general health.
Throw away the plant bits you removed with care. Alternately, gift them to friends who might be interested in having one of their own. Just make sure they wait a few days for the wound to heal and form a callus before putting the bottom few inches of the cuttings in the ground.
The optimal time to prune is in the spring when the plant has begun its active growing season and light and temperature levels have increased. Avoid removing too many branches all at once to avoid shocking the plant. In general, pruning should only remove around a third of the plant at a time. Also keep in mind that once something is cut off, it cannot be reattached. So you might only do a light pruning before determining whether it fulfills your needs. If not, continue pruning until the desired outcome is achieved.
Can a pencil cactus be pruned?
- Trim three more bigger branches. The first was tethered to the little clothesline, the second was entirely bent over, and the third was the other top branch.
- Step back and take a look at it.
- To get some of the smaller branches off the wall, prune them toward the back.
- Success
- the plant is now self-supporting and appears better!
The Cuttings
I always let my Pencil Cactus cuttings heal off (dry over at the ends, like we do with a wound) for quite a period of time before planting.
Succulent cuttings may or may not develop roots; either way, planting the cuttings will cause the roots to grow. The Pencil Cactus exemplifies the latter.
I’ve been doing the pruning for more than a week now. My guest room’s floor is covered with the healing cuttings I picked from this plant. They don’t receive direct sunshine, only moderate light.
Although I could plant them right now, I’m going to wait until the first of March. By the way, I’ve discovered that when planted, larger stems perform just as well as smaller stems.
Keep an eye out for a post and video on how to grow and plant these Pencil Cactus cuttings.
What Happens Next?
It remains to be seen if the Pencil Cactus will continue to grow here. It provides a welcome splash of greenery just off the patio, so it’ll probably stay there.
For a little more shape, I might need to perform a tip pruning (tip pruning, in case you didn’t know, is the removal of the soft new growth by 1-6).
In conclusion, pencil cacti are forgiving of pruning and grow quickly. They can be pruned softly or very heavily, as I did. Just be mindful of the sticky sap and make sure you thoroughly clean your pruners before and after pruning. They are a pleasant plant to have in your collection and are simple to grow.
How should a leggy cactus be pruned?
Cutting back a cactus is explained as a horrible joke. The straightforward response is: carefully. The majority of cacti feature a spine or prickle, which can be uncomfortable to come into contact with. For the larger garden specimens, wear long sleeves and pants and thick gloves.
Depending on the size of the plant, a variety of tools may be used, but pruners are the most common. Only the biggest ones will need a saw. As with all pruning, ensure sure the implement is clean and sharp to prevent damage to the plant and the spread of disease.
At the branch point, cut off the limbs, being cautious not to cut into the main stem. You can either use pruners to cut the pads or leaves off by hand.
Use a saw to cut away the main trunk at the desired branching point or plant height when working on a large task, such as pruning a columnar specimen. Make an effort to cut the stem where it is growing.
Old leaves must be removed from plants like agave in order to maintain their aesthetic appeal. Use shears to remove them from the plant’s base.
How are fire sticks pruned?
This South African succulent, often known as a pencil tree or a firestick, was first an offshoot (sport) of the bigger, solid-green Euphorbia tirucalli. Both are simple to grow in Southern California’s and Mexico’s coastal regions when the temperature stays above 32 degrees. Plants inevitably grow large—up to 15 feet tall.
Be careful pruning it
“Sticks on Fire” possesses a white, milky sap like all euphorbias do. The liquid is very irritating and hazardous for the eyes, and it can irritate skin. Sr. Arias describes in the video about going to the hospital as a result of not understanding this. Naturally, you shouldn’t plant it or any other euphorbia in areas where kids and animals like to play.
Wash your hands correctly
USE THE HAND CLEANER FOR MECHANICS. Sr. Arias suggests washing with soap and water in the video. A nursery owner acquaintance said that the hand cleaners mechanics use are much better. You run the danger of spreading euphorbia sap if you dilute it because it is not water soluble. However, the solvent in mechanics’ hand cream dissolves the sap. Before washing your garments, you can also apply it to globs that attach to them. One is called GoJo (affiliate link).
How much should you cut?
Any amount of pruning is handled by it. For years, I’ve raised a number in planter boxes. The identical examples planted in the ground now would probably grow enormous, but I keep mine clipped to a height of under 2 feet. They can be seen in the background of my video on the Top 7 No-Fail Succulents:
What do do with cuttings
With the raw ends pointing away from you, transport them to the green waste container alongside the dried branches. Or plant them to begin new ones: Simply plant upright in a well-draining, coarse, friable soil.
Prune in summer or fall
Euphorbias should be pruned at their best during the dry season. The plants may become overflowing with sap after winter and spring rains, which may squirt when limbs are chopped.
Plan for drips
Cuttings in my film fall on a dirt bank, thus any sap that drips doesn’t matter. When I prune mine, I lay the cuttings out on newspaper to collect any milky puddles. When I transport the cuttings, I wrap them in the newspaper. Although the latex sap is sticky and doesn’t harm hardscape, I don’t want to track it inside my home.
Essential items
Note that Sr. Arias wears gloves, long sleeves, and pants (so sap won’t get on his skin) while pruning Euphorbia tirucalli. He also wears sunglasses. He employs “bypass loppers” with a long handle in place of short pruners.
Euphorbia branches can be precisely pruned using long-handled pruners (bypass loppers) while avoiding dripping cuts. They are helpful for a variety of other trimming jobs as well.
Why grow ‘Sticks on Fire’?
Both colorful and useful. Its primary drawback, in my opinion, is that it is frost-tender. It doesn’t require any maintenance other than occasional trimming (every three to four years). Here are seven illustrations.
Sticks on Fire is a useful firebreak thanks to its flowing sap (seen here in Dr. Camille Newton’s garden).
Sticks on Fire contrasts wonderfully with giant agaves in both color and texture and requires no more water or care than they do.
It provides design contrasts and repetitions that other dry-garden plants cannot.
Conclusion: If you follow Jos’s straightforward advice for trimming and managing Euphorbia tirucalli (arbol de los dedos), your landscape will benefit from it for many years to come.
What size can a pencil cactus grow to?
When in doubt, let it drought, experts advise! The best course of action is to wait and reevaluate in a few days if the soil seems just a little bit moist and you are unclear whether or not to water.
Due to its thick, white sap, the pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli), which is native to semi-arid tropical parts of Africa and India, is also known as the milk bush. The Pencil Cactus can reach heights of up to 30 feet in the wild and well over 6 feet indoors. Because it is not a real cactus, this stem succulent photosynthesizes in its stems rather than through the tiny leaves that emerge at the end of its new growth (which have no bearing on the health of the plant).
Keep your Pencil Cactus in a bright area for best growth because these plants evolved in dry settings with lots of sunlight. Low light levels will not be tolerated by this plant. For this plant to thrive, either direct sun or a lot of bright ambient light from a western, eastern, or southern facing window is preferable.
We offer a guide for how to measure light in your space if you’re unclear whether the light in your house or place of business is bright enough to support a Pencil Cactus.
Although many cultures have employed the thick, white sap that the pencil cactus emits when cut or snapped in traditional medicine to treat cancer, excrescence, tumors, and warts.
If I touch a pencil cactus, what happens?
The pencil cactus produces a viscous sap of toxic latex that is poisonous to both people and animals. The milky sap can irritate skin and result in redness, rashes, burning, and other side effects. Avoid getting sap in your eyes, since it can irritate them and even result in blindness. The pencil cactus will make you throw up and have diarrhea if you eat it. The sap can trigger anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction, in some people. If the sap comes into contact with your eyes or skin, you should seek medical attention. Keep kids and animals away from the pencil cactus.
When do I cut back my cactus?
Knowing some of the reasons why cactus trimming is necessary, you now need to know when to carry it out. The top five indications that it’s time to prune your plant are covered in this section.
The plant has become too large
There are a few exceptions to the rule that most cacti species grow slowly and seldom reach destructive heights. When the correct conditions are present, members of the family of jungle cacti can grow too quickly.
As a result, if you want your plant to be asymmetrical but it is getting too big or one side is growing significantly quicker than the other, you may want to prune it back.
Normally, if you are pruning a plant to make it smaller, you should think about trimming the plant back by at least a third every year. A plant with regular trimming will eventually become slightly bushier and have more areas for blossoms to grow.
It’s a little simpler to maintain smaller plants because you may put them anyplace in your home. They can fit on your window sills without taking up too much of the small interior area.
Pest infestation
Some pests can still get to your plant even if the majority of cacti species have sharp spines that keep them away. Cactus bugs, mealy bugs, spider mites, cactus longhorn beetles, scale insects, and other common pests may attack your cactus.
Some of these insects reproduce quickly, and the results can be disastrous if you don’t move quickly to stop them. While the majority of them target the stems, some may also target the roots.
You must take the necessary steps to stop pest infestations as soon as you see them on your cactus. You may easily eliminate huge bugs by hand if they are an issue. You might have to hire a professional pest exterminator if they are little, like spider mites.
The bad news is that some bugs that affect cactus are so resilient and chemically resistant that not even the most seasoned pest exterminator can eradicate them. Pruning the damaged area is the sole option if you have tried hiring an exterminator but have not seen any effects.
Determine the area of the stem that was bugged, then carefully prune it back. To prevent re-infestation, be sure to prune the entire stem that is afflicted.
Top-bottom rotting
You must act quickly to address the frequent cactus problem of rotting if you want to keep your plant. Rotting may begin at the base (roots) and progress to the stem. It may also begin at the top and descend.
You may be dealing with tip rot, often referred to as cactus stem rot, if the tip of your cactus begins to turn brown and squishy. If you don’t move quickly to save the plant, your cactus will eventually die since once it begins to rot from the top, it won’t stop.
A fungus and pest infestation, as well as water infiltrating through an open wound on the plant, are the main causes of stem rot. Your cactus may be prone to stem rot if it has sustained any kind of harm.
The most crucial action you must take to save the remainder of the plant is to prune or cut down all compromised stem parts as soon as you see stem rot symptoms on your plant. If the rot isn’t removed by pruning, it will eventually kill your plant if you don’t.
Remember that rot spreads quickly, so there might not be much time left to preserve the cactus. To prune the stem’s impacted areas, use pruning shears or a sharp knife.
The appearance of dead stalks after blooming season
Another indication that you need to prune your cactus is the presence of dead flower stalks soon after the flowering season. This is especially true of the profusely flowering Christmas cacti.
To prevent losing the priceless blooms, don’t prune before the flowering season. But when the flowering season is done, you might see that the flower stems that are still there look unsightly. To give your cactus a fresh look, take your time and carefully prune them back.
In addition to getting rid of the dead stalks, pruning your cactus after the flowering period will also make it bushier, which will inevitably result in the formation of additional blooms the following year. Make sure to remove all of the diseased branches and dead stalks.
Cactus is getting too tall for its pot
When you notice that your cactus plant is growing too tall for its pot, you should also take pruning into consideration. Every two to three years is the ideal time to repot your cactus, although this is not always the case.
As a result, if you see that your plant is growing too tall for its container, you should think about cutting it to prevent it from falling over. Plants cultivated in light plastic containers typically develop into taller, more slender plants. The plant can grow thicker and healthier if its height is appropriately reduced.