Saguaros

gardneto76
gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

Anyone know much about saguaros & how to tell if they are healthy? There is one in my front yard. I know it is at least 50+ years old because it has an arm on it. When I first bought the house it was straight and had no arms. This fall it seems to be splitting at the base and leaning, unfortunately toward the house, which happens to be the side that has the arm. There was a large tree that we think it was growing around, until we took the tree out due to disease. How do I find out if the cactus is healthy or if I need to have it removed so it doesn’t fall on the house?

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Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Could you give us a photo of the plant? Saguaro grow about an inch a year, so I know your plant is old.

    At the very least, you could amputate the arm to take the weight off the one side. I know that devalues the look of the plant, but might help it straighten up if it has the ability to heal itself. If you let the cut end of the arm dry in the shade for a few days, you could plant the cut end for a new plant. I do those types of cuts all the time.

    I had a blue yucca at my other house. When I was forced to remove my palo verde tree, the yucca grew differently, almost bending over sideways to grow towards sun that was now more plentiful. The yucca survived but looked very strange.

    I just did a web search that resulted in the possibility that the cactus soaked up too much water, resulting in tissue swelling and splitting at its base.

  • gardneto76
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl itnis possible that it got to much water as we had a really wet spring and summer. Record breaking rains for the desert this year.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wish we had gotten more rain. Interestingly, the last rain produced grass growing all overt the desert (and my xeriscaped yard with no cover rocks and looks mostly like lawn grass.)

    Back to subject though -- if the plant continues to lean, I would recommend removing the arm to reduce the weight on the one side.