From Baby To Adult: Stenocereus Pruinosus

Does Size Matters? 
Stenocereus pruinosus

Have you ever wondered what your baby sized cactus would look like when they mature?

Are they going to be the same but a bit fat and tall?

Are they going to be agressively full of spikes?

Such question is normal, and to answer it you either need to spend the time to grow them which would be from few years up to more than 3 or human generation to find it out or...do a bit of study before buying and growing. Your call.

Today, I would like to share what Lemaireocereus or now known as Stenocereus pruinosus look like when mature. Luckily both stages are in my collection.

Mature Stenocereus pruinosus.

Sitting at 7 feet tall this, guy is very large and heavy. Was bought from a nearly  closed down cactus nursery a year ago, this guy has grown 2 feet additional length and resuming another growth session now.

Next to it is a Pachycereus marginatus or also known as Mexican fence post cactus. I need both palms to cover both P. marginatus circumference. The S. pruinosus is obviously on a different level of thickness!

Been eyeing this guy for more than 4 years whenever I visit the nursery, my luck maybe. I'm sure if was left over there, it would have rot and struggling with fungus or scales 

I love the sheer size, rib or cross sectional shape and the skin pattern. Simple but majestic, at least to me that way.

Look at the tip resuming growth. I find that it can grow for 2 to 3 round a year, but looking at the mid  stem growth stripes; it may be growing very slow under previous care.

Seedling size Stenocereus pruinosus.

They are 10 to 15 cm tall. In early growth stage, it tends to spiralise with very thin spikes. But retains growth pattern by leaving white marks at every end of seasonal growth. 

The ribs are also slimmer and not as fleshy, plus their areoles  are pointy outwards.

So, are there much differences?

Not all people recognizes young and older S. pruinosus. In my opinion,  they are different looking and behave differently just like other cactus when they are old, it just a matter of to what degree the differences are.

In addition, with bad labeling in my country; you may get mistaken between Stenocereus pruinosus and Stenocereus griseus.

Here what S. griseus looks like.

Stenocereus griseus have more ribs and darker green color. They share similar spikes color and similar size during both young and mature stage. Might be just a guess but S. griseus seems to be a faster grower and resist fungus attack in my country climate. S. pruinosus is a bit more susceptible to fungus attack especially from rainfall.

Bloopers

Hope that clears up the differences.

Thanks for reading guys.