There is a new development going up across the street and before they bulldozed the desert, they dug up all the saguaros and ocotillos and moved them to the edge of the property. It is illegal to bulldoze them, so they hastily replanted them in one spot and many fell over and died. Anyway, a few of the more mature ones are blossoming and fruiting. I might try to make syrup from the fruits this year. The Native Americans here (Tohono O'odham) have a whole festival for this.
No. I even called the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society about it. They sometimes coordinate with developers and then sell the "rescued" cacti to support their club. Saguaros especially are sensitive about being transplanted. They need to be in the exact same orientation toward the sun.
I've seen several tree transplant videos. I'd love to see someone post a cactus transplant video sometime.
There was a study done a few years ago about transplanted saguaros that found only about 40% of those over 16 foot high survived transplanting. They can flower and fruit for several years due to their nutrient reserves. I harvested some fruits the other day and tried making syrup, but really didn't know what I was doing. I had my first taste of the dried fruit and syrup at a local festival just a few days ago and it tasted great to me. Some visitors from back east didn't like it, though. But then they pronounced "saguaro" with a hard 'g'. I did that when I first moved here in '91. It's pronounced "s'wah-roh".
Several days ago, I saw this poor fella by the side of the road. It appears someone had tried to steal it, but it rolled off the truck. I can't figure out any other way this would have happened. Well, I got so upset, I finally found out who to call. I spoke to a man from the Department of Agriculture. He said that the saguaro had a disease, maybe so I wouldn't feel so bad. Something about the black stuff. But I suspect that all the saguaros had been healthy until they were transplanted about a year ago. I'm really surprised that none of them fell over in that big monsoon storm we had a couple nights ago. A lot of regular trees were uprooted in that storm.
Must admit, I thought it was "sa 'hwaroe". I think I'd find the wah-roh bit very hard to do! Can bits like this be rooted as cuttings the way many other cacti can?
I doubt it. This one's been pretty traumatized. Does anybody know what that black stuff disease is? However you pronounce it, just don't make the 'g' a hard 'g'. At least not in Arizona. You might get laughed at, like I did when I first moved here. I broke up with the jerk, so there!
looks like the basic rot than can happen from overwatering. you could try cutting a few feet from the top and if there's no black there, let it dry and callous over for a couple of weeks/a month and then plant into appropriate soil - whether that's in the ground or in a container. if you do a container just make sure it has plenty of good drainage holes.
If there is black there, then cut progressively closer to the top to find clean wood . . . but make sure the blade is sterilised between each cut, so as not to just infect the next cut above the rot!
I have a 17 year old saguaro cactus that I've grown from a seed. It is about 10" tall. Nothing cuter than little cacti sprouts. Well, almost nothing.
