Expert: Maureen - 1/18/2010

Question
I have a 42" tall Saguaro in a 17" tall pot.  It's on a second story deck in my sunroom.  I'm moving and hate to leave it behind.  Can you give me some advice on how to move it?  I think we need to build a crate, but what should we wrap or pack the cactus in to stabilize it in the crate?  (It doesn't have "arms") I'm worried it will snap at the base.  How heavy it is may be another problem...

Answer
Courage! I would think that even without a crate you could stabilize it by staking and/or wrap the whole thing in chicken wire or fill the box with the Styrofoam peanuts used for packing.  Even if you put it in a crate I'd stake it. The other option is to take it out of the pot, roll it up in something sturdy, carry it that way and repot it when it gets to its new home. That might actually be the best option. It's dormant now and cacti roots can survive quite awhile  unpotted.

Can you pick it up now?  If so, two people should be able to move it. If worse comes to worse and it does snap, cut the top about a third of the way down,let it callous and start a new one.

Rule of thumb for columnar cacti is the pot be 1/3 the length of the cactus.

Good luck! Let me know how you make out.

Glad you made the move successfully.  However I'm not quite sure why you rated my knowledgeability at at a 6 because you chose another route.  I research my responses very carefully and seek out other experts for problems like yours. My options were quite viable.  Anyway, if you haven't repotted your cactus in more than 1-2 years you probably should think about doing that despite it's weight.