I just received a penis plant in the mail today. I would have no problem transplanting it however there is a catch. The "plant" itself is more like 2 cacti attached to each other and I don't whether to break it into two or try to let it grow itself out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91...303934739/in/photostream

(sorry, dont know how to post images in HTML)

I assume that it would probably absorb more water and nutrients in its bisected form, allowing it to grow faster? However, I would enjoy the look of this Siamese cacti.

What do you guys suggest? As I am a novice when it comes to growing and maintaining plants.

Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks guys, see you in hyperspace!

keep it together and pot it in proper soil it is called a pup and will grow taller. no need to break it from its mother till it has a good root ball.

Much appreciated!

i personally would split them.

just make sure to let the cutting sit longer than feels necessary (i was impatient and killed one of my three cuttings).

don't worry about the cactus dying as a cutting. i like to let them sit about a week after they callous. they seem to take the the soil much better (also keep the soil near bone-dry until you see them start to root. keep the soil dryish until the roots develop)

but it will still grow well as one cactus, so if you want to err on the side of caution: don't cut it.

Penis transplant? Why?

I came across these cactus a while back and they certainly do resemeble the phallus. lol.

Are these cacti active? How active in comparison to bridgesii or san pedro?

I bet people have gotten creative with grafting these goofy looking things on to larger cacti.
If not, perhaps i'll be the first to breed the definitive MAN CACTUS. lol. Why does my mind automatically go there?

I have a couple of SP's in the window i got late this summer. They are only about 10" tall now(grown a few inches since i got them) but i assume they will take off next spring/summer. I plan on putting them in larger pots and adding some nutrient enriched soil for cactus. I'm going to get them into direct sunlight as soon as it is done frosting. I love watching these guys grow!

I have to admit though, i'd be a little weirded out by a garden full of cactus that looked like dick/balls. lol.

Thanks guys, you have really taken much guessing out of this process and I am very thankful. However I have a couple more questions.

I just planted the sucker a couple hours ago in one piece. I used some cactus soil and saturated it with water. was this a bad idea? The bottom was chalked up and calloused.

Also, will the two plants merge? or will they separate in due time?

By the way, It was labeled Bridgessii var. monstrose. At least I think it was. I've heard there are a couple variations of the penis plant.

this may help
watering w/o roots

From the info above^ "Moisten the media with a very small amount of water--you just don't want "bone dry" soil or the soil bacteria will die.

Such a unique plant! Have fun!

The Penis bridgesii comes in at least 2 major variations. One resembles a regular column cactus, just without spikes or only a few. Pups are often regular bridgesii. What you have is a fragment of the "cluster" variety. Consider yourself lucky, because it is said to be much more potent. It grows only by forming clusters of new small spines. You could try to seperate both, but i found it hard to do without causing a lot of damage, so do at your own risk! In all cases, you need to establish a good root system, before you can expect any growth at all. This can take quite a lot of time, especially because the penis cactus is said to be a slow grower.

that's about exactly what i did with my first graft, and it got rot.

i would take it out of the soil until it dries out (maybe pat it down with a dry paper towel).

you don't want to lose half your cactus, i would remove it asap.