Bare root versus fresh cut
You do not need these pre-rooted for you because this is the easiest plant in the world to grow. As my pictures show you can throw them in the weeds and they will use the plant energy inside the section to sprout vertically and root themselves without your help. The only thing bad you can do is waterlog them (no drainage—planting them in mud).

If you get freezing temperatures the tips will turn black and die. No
big deal—old Trichocereus will simply grow around the dead tip by budding 2 or 3 new tips! I know this because one year we had a rare freezing for 3 days when it went to 26 degrees at night. All my plants survived. But a few had frozen tips that turned black, then they budded branches in the Spring and kept growing.

With good soil, fertilizer and water these will double in size yearly. I am not exaggerating. I have seen a 24" plant grow 12" and sprout a 12" side branch in one year. The stand (group of plants) you see are controlled—I have had to thin them. The point is that year by year you will see these form small forests of plants. They are a really prolific family type species.

From a pot of five 18" tips in 1989 to this thicket that I have had to thin several times—now over 11 feet tall. Notice the prolific flower tufts. The base of the limbs are as thick as a man's leg. I should re-photograph this with a person in the picture. For now let the step ladder and 6' fence give you an idea of size.

As you may see from the pictures I have been growing this species for many years. My family of plants have all been propagated from huge sections that were broken off the mother plants near Watsonville, CA during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The grower, a friend who knew my special love for this herbal plant, gave me about 100 linear feet of limbs snapped off when the ground shook so hard that 10-12 foot high tips were snapped.

I planted 5 San Pedro tips in a 1/2 whiskey barrel. Latter this was transferred into the ground--now that group is nearly 12 feet tall and flowers in prolific waves several times a year. Some of my other plants are from the same mother group but were propagated before the quake. That dates my cuttings back at least 14 years from a San Pedro mother stand planted in the early 1970's.

One of the amazing facts about these Trichocereus is that they have a group spirit--like a family. When one plant stand is flowering so are the relative plants even hundreds of feet away--as if they were one plant but in different physical locations. Very cool! The flowers are a special treat--I pick tubs of them, pack several together in a 1-2 quart plastic storage thing and half fill with water. They only last about a day, sometimes two, but during that short time the fragrance is intensely flowery-sweet like gardenias. They are placed in the house and especially in the bedroom for night dreams.