How to prune spiny club cactus

Late spring to early summer. Make a single clean horizontal cut through the column with a sterile serrated knife. Dust the wound with powdered sulfur or activated charcoal to discourage rot; allow the parent stump to form a callous before watering resumes. The severed top can be dried and replanted.

Rarely — only if height control is needed or damage is present. Cereus hildmannianus is a columnar cactus that grows tall rather than bushy, so pruning is seldom needed indoors. If a column grows too tall for the space, the top can be cut cleanly in late spring with a serrated knife — the cut section will callous and can be rooted as a cutting. Otherwise just remove damaged tissue.

Make a single clean horizontal cut through the column with a sterile serrated knife. Dust the wound with powdered sulfur or activated charcoal to discourage rot; allow the parent stump to form a callous before watering resumes. The severed top can be dried and replanted.