Hi all,

We have a lovely mature cactus in our front garden and whilst I love it, my husband does not. Someone from a few houses down has told us they want to buy it (!) and I was just wondering if anyone here can id it first (we've only owned the house a few years and the garden was established when we moved in)? And if you have any idea, what on earth would one charge for it, if anything???

My pics aren't the best.....our cactus is about 2m tall (probably a bit under actually) and probably stretches out 2m as well. Lots of nice pale yellow flowers come out each morning. Really quite nice to look at

Your cactus looks like Cereus Peruvianus var Monstrose. A common plant, but this one is quite nice due to its size.

I wouldn't sell the entire plant just take a cutting, they grow readily from cuttings. Search this forum or google for a guide on propagating from a cutting.

tell your husband to put on his anti cactus goggles

Don't want to scare you, and it's okay at present, but you probably want to make the most of it, as it's not far from being declared a noxious weed. It's currently on the "watch" list. Not illegal or anything yet, but knowing the way the mad bureaucrats work, it probably won't be long.....

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa.nsf/LinkView/70B90D609F4CCF06CA2574260018DAEF2B72296A5108C4FFCA25734F0009F96F/$file/VAW%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Hedge%20Cactus.pdf

Thanks all

Lol at anti cactus goggles....interesting re. the possible noxious weed comment...your link didn't work for me so just wondering the reasoning behind the 'watch list'??

ETA: Just tried your link again and it worked. Thanks for the info, my husband will be happy to read it, lol!

That's a really impressive specimen of C. peruvianus monstrose... all the more impressive since it's also flowering, which is a bit uncommon in most monstrose cacti. I can certainly see how someone would want to buy it - it is an excellent specimen.

Do you have any idea how old it is?

Not sure how old it is....the house is about 30 years old so perhaps it's that old??? Though I thought they could grow up to 6 metres so perhaps it's not that old as it's only two'ish or it would be taller?

Regular C. peruvianus grows pretty fast - for a cactus anyway - however monstrose forms tend to be significantly slower. At any rate, you've got a fine specimen on your hands.

Cereus peruvianus monstrosa along with couple of other cereus are the 3 main cacti seen in Greece....

Due to this very fact, I see this cactus more than any other, and there are pretty big specimens around my whole town. I would sell it with no second thoughts.

Must try and get photos of some of those specimens I am talking about