I was very upset to get the cactus home to find out the flowers are FAKE. Can someone tell me if this plant will flower or was it all for show.
Stores will glue on fake, or straw flowers just to sell these cactus plant. Cereus tetragonus "fairy castle" do grow "real" flowers, I believe they are yellow. I'm not sure if you can remove the fake ones without damage. Maybe someone here has experience with taking them off safely.
A touch of acetone (nail polish remover) will take care of the glue on the fake flowers. Use a q-tip.
Probably not, you can just wash the area with water afterward. The acetone shouldn't be in contact long enough to be absorbed.
I bought a fairy castle cactus about a year ago. It has done fairly well and the bloom stayed. Mine is not fake and it is a bright green color. Recently though the blooms have started yellowing and the cactus is turning slightly brown. I've re-potted it and hoping that helps.
If the flowers feel like straw, they are fake. I'm thinking they might not be a bright green color either.
No, the flowers should be white and relatively large. Cereus flowers last for one night only. It is amazing how many people who believe that the fake flowers are real. First I did not care much, but now I really think selling them without informing the potential buyer about it should be banned. I have a friend who was totally convinced that his cactus flower was real, he did not believe me until I pulled it off and showed him the pin that attached it to the cactus. After that I always come to think about Monthy Python's parrot sketch ("... the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been nailed there.") when I see them. (Yes, I know, hot glue is a common method too)
