Growth Over Time - Cleistocactus ritteri

[WayneByerly]

I found this completely unlabeled cactus at Lowes ... which for my non U.S. friends is a large chain hardware store that sells EVERYTHING but food and vehicles. When I first saw it, my very first thought was "WOW!!! This thing is at LEAST ... EIGHT inches tall!!! Unbelievable!!!!!"

It is now somthing on the order of 39" (almost 100cm) tall, and shows NO sign of stopping. I photograph my cacti, at least once a year, so that I can have a record of what they looked like when I bought them, and the growth that they have done on an annual basis. But it took me a couple of years to do this on a regular basis ... So i missed taking pictures of this cactus for the first couple of years of its growth. For which I am profoundly sorry that I missed doing. I've only got pictures of this cactus for 2016, 2017 and 2018, and I'm not including the ONE picture that I have of it for 2017 as it is SO close to the date of the 2018 pictures.

2016

2016-10-05 Cleistocactus ritteri DSCF6778.jpg (157.34 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

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2016-10-05 DSCF6779.jpg (95.12 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

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2016-10-05 DSCF6780.jpg (97.08 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

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2016-10-05 DSCF6782.jpg (98.63 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

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2018
The three main "divisions" where "arms" started growing

2018-02-08 DSCF3783.JPG (73.12 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

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You can see that the arm on the cactus shows some growth between THIS picture and the 10/05/2016 picture...

2018-02-08 DSCF3784.JPG (85.83 KiB) Viewed 1159 times

[WayneByerly]

Now WHY did the photograph handling part of this system turn the first four pictures sideways (which orientation they are NOT in on my desktop) but NOT the last two? I have NO control over this, and I find it frustrating beyond words. Sorry folks for the maltreatment.

[7george]

Have you seen some flowers? If it is a Cleistocactus ritteri it should start branching from the base. By description is up to 1 m high. In culture cacti look different from wild ones but your plant grows so rapidly...

[WayneByerly]

Have you seen some flowers? If it is a Cleistocactus ritteri it should start branching from the base. By description is up to 1 m high. In culture cacti look different from wild ones but your plant grows so rapidly...

No, this is one of my cacti that has never flowered. Why do you ask? Are you questioning the ID of the cactus? If so, give me some idea about where I might start looking for a more correct ID. Is the genus incorrect? Or is it only the species name that you question?

A little bit of detail here... While most of the spines are rather soft and lack sharp points there are periodic spines that are thicker, straighter and have extremely sharp points. The picture with "086.01" in the upper left has a go bit of detail regarding these aforementioned spines.

[7george]

Hi, Wayne,
I'm not an expert in columnar cacti but think that C. ritteri should have some longer and stiffer centrals in contrast of other spines around its stem. Looking at your plant I'm thinking about Haageocereus or Weberbauerocereus, but these are only suggestions. We have to see flowers or other features to say something certain about its ID. Till that time I just hope your doors and greenhouse will remain high enough to let you move it seasonally to the right spot.

[WayneByerly]

Have you seen some flowers? If it is a Cleistocactus ritteri it should start branching from the base. By description is up to 1 m high. In culture cacti look different from wild ones but your plant grows so rapidly...

No, this is one of my cacti that has never flowered. Why do you ask? Are you questioning the ID of the cactus? If so, give me some idea about where I might start looking for a more correct ID. Is the genus incorrect? Or is it only the species name that you question?

A little bit of detail here... While most of the spines are rather soft and lack sharp points there are periodic spines that are thicker, straighter and have extremely sharp points. The picture with "086.01" in the upper left has a good bit of detail regarding these aforementioned spines.