Acanthocereus tetragonus ‘Fairy Fort’
Acanthocereus tetragonus ‘Fairy Fort’ is a cultivated dwarf number of A. tetragonus, a 20-plus foot columnar subtropical species native to the Caribbean, Central America, Florida, Mexico, northern South America, and Texas.
Suited to out of doors cultivation in Zones 9 to 11, the slow-growing dwarf cultivar achieves extra modest dimensions of as much as six ft tall with a variety of 1 to 2 ft.
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Also called A. tetragonus ‘Monstrose,’ it performs nicely in a container, as an off-the-cuff barrier hedge, or in-ground as a specimen planting in rockeries and moisture-efficient xeriscapes.
When cultivated indoors, ‘Fairy Fort’ typically tops out at about 12 inches tall and vast.
Learn on to learn to take pleasure in this whimsical cactus as a houseplant.
Right here’s what we’ll cowl:
Fairy fort cactus has a central stem surrounded by offsets forming a dense cluster of branching columns resembling fort turrets gone wild.
Every stem has raised, spiny ridges, creating deep indentations alongside the size of the stem for a triangulated type.
Stems are darkish inexperienced and sometimes two to a few inches in diameter, with gray areoles spaced about an inch aside, every armed with clusters of straight spines.
Fast Look
Widespread identify(s): Barbed wire, fairy fort, fairytale fort, triangular cactus
Plant kind: Cactus
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 9-12 (open air)
Native to: Caribbean, Central America, Florida, Mexico, northern South America, Texas
Bloom time / season: Summer season
Publicity: Shiny, oblique daylight indoors; full solar to half shade open air
Soil kind: Properly-draining cactus and succulent potting combine
Soil pH: 5.0 to six.5, barely acidic to impartial
Mature dimension: 1-6 ft tall by 1-2 ft vast (stays small indoors)
Greatest makes use of: Container, hedge, houseplant, rockery, specimen, xeriscape
Taxonomy
Order: Caryophyllales
Household: Cactaceae
Genus: Acanthocereus
Species: Tetragonus
Cultivar: ‘Fairy Fort’
Within the wild, the dad or mum species, generally often known as triangle or barbed wire cactus grows in dry, open terrain with intense solar, excessive warmth, and fast-draining soils that dry out rapidly between rains.
The species plant produces giant, aromatic white blossoms that open on summer time nights, pollinated by hummingbird moths.
These are adopted by small reddish fruits favored by wildlife. Cultivated vegetation grown indoors seldom bloom.
The fairy fort cactus is a monstrose type of the triangle cactus, which implies it arose from a genetic mutation that causes irregular, multi-stemmed development chargeable for its distinctive silhouette.
It’s generally listed as a Cereus species, a reputation that displays its earlier botanical classification.
