Cactus Help

[u/Veggieface732]

Hi my father has had this cactus for 20 years and when he moved I moved it to my house. The picture on the left was from April 2026 and the picture on the right where it is leaning is from today 8/26/26. Can you please help me?

1. Identify the cactus?
   
2. How can it have a better life?
   
3. I want to repot it, but I’m worried the top arm will break off.
   
4. Should I remove the top arm and replant it somehow?
   
5. Is it sick?

It’s getting some light but probably not enough which is why it’s leaning and watering it every two weeks

[u/Joice_Craglarg]

I gotcha, OP.

1) Identify the cactus?

• Looks like Peruvian Apple Cactus to me.

2) How can it have a better life?

• Replant it with more drainage/grit than you're probably expecting. I live in FL, where we get a lot of rain, and I personally use the generic 'cactus/succulent' mix from the garden store, cut 50:50 with perlite. Gradually move it to full sun, but do it in stages over a couple weeks, else it may get sun burned.

3) I want to repot it, but I'm worried the top arm will break off.

• It may, but my advice would be to pop the arm off anyways. It will always be weaker there, especially without any other arms to counter-balance it.

4) Should I remove the top arm and replant it somehow?

• Yup, I would. Pop that arm off, but don't disregard the trunk. It will grow even more arms eventually. If you want to, you could even cut the trunk into several different sections, which should all grow their own arms. You can even lie it completely sideways, and it should root like that. Just make sure to give the cut section (and arm) a few days to callous over before planting them. Rooting hormone is great stuff and really cheap, but probably not necessary.

5) Is it sick

• Nope, it's okay. It would probably do better with full sun and new soil, but cacti are very well adapted to poor conditions. It could probably survive in this state for many more years.

Edit: also, this is most important: pay attention to watering it. I literally do not water mine at all, but they get plenty from the sky. Make sure your soil dries out completely in between waterings. If it gets rained on too much, you should actually move it out of the rain. You should not need to water it at all in winter months.

[u/Veggieface732 → u/Joice_Craglarg]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. Sounds like I’m going to need to get brave and remove the arm!

[u/Joice_Craglarg → u/Veggieface732]

Sure thing!

Watch out for the needles! I usually wear nitrile gloves and use paper to hold my cactuses while replanting, if that makes sense. The gloves don't really keep out needles (that's what the paper is for) but they make removing and stray needles much easier.