Hi, I like your cactus, they are great, really look healthy...I really like cactus....
how do you move them in and out?
they must be very heavy?
good luck...with the tall one...
linda

You could cut it now and store the cutting in a cool spot until spring. I have done that with cactus cuttings just a few cm tall/wide, a big one like yours should be easy.

Well, I move them in and out with a 2 wheeler, and the help of my son!
Atjicken, can you cut the top off a large cereus this late in the year, and have him still survive by bringing it inside the house? I thought it would need a few weeks to "callous" over, before coming in.
Its getting really cool already in chicagoland, and I dont think I have more than a week or 2 until these guys all have to come in!

thanks!

It does not need to be outside when callousing. Cut off the top, bring it in and place it in a shaded, ventilated, cool spot and it will have plenty of time to form a callous before potting in spring. There is a good chance that it will grow some roots too while healing, especially if the wound is kept out of light.

To further add what TJ has informed you of, there's nothing wrong with sticking the cutting in a pot with a thin layer of soil and rocks to support it. Mist it in about a month while keeping it in an indirectly sunny/partially sunny location if you have one. Otherwise, do as he(?) suggests. My method might promote faster rooting in a soil medium but you have to be very careful about watering (in a few words - don't water, as it has no roots - mist very infrequently only).

Either method should inflict no harm (other than the botanically decapitated look that's so in fashion in Moose Jaw, SK) on the parent plant - in fact, it should branch slightly below the cut.

(this should have been part of the post above)

And if you elect to use me own instead of the first suggestion, when it's fully Spring 2010 you can repot it into a more suitable pot for growing (possibly a 6-8" terra-cotta pot with a low center of gravity (i.e. a mound of rocks in the bottom)) - in practically no time at all you'll have another 8' to wrestle with, which as we all know, without threat of contumely being heaped on it or us, is the correct compound of columnar collection constituting cactus consciousness.

i know this sounds rude...(and i have no problem with you screaming no in my face) but if yo decide to cut it, would you want to keep the cutting? or maybe give it/trade it!

sure I would consider a trade...what kind of "stuff" would you consider trading for it? I am always interested in unusual specimens...
I will probably cut about a 2 foot piece off, so keep that in mind when you think about what you want to trade..
And, BTW, believe it or not, the cactus is about to bloom a giant flower!!
This guy flowered like crazy last year, but with the ice cold summer we have had in Chicago, there was nothing until about 2 weeks ago, and, now, there is about a 5 inch long bud about to open here! I just hope it stays warm enough that I can keep it outside for another 10 days or so, so I can see the flower open before I "decapitate" it, since that would surely kill the flower.
And, as you Cereus lovers know, the flower that this guy gives off is beautiful...

here is one of the many flowers this guy had last June..

Here is a link that might be useful: nice cereus flower

well im going to be getting a cows tongue opuntia soon i could give you a few cuttings off that its species should be Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis so you can look that up and see if thats what you want!

I have that Oputia aready; its a nice plant and grows like crazy!
do you have any exotic succulents you would be willing to trade?

well, gee i dunno i have some succulents there pretty small.....ill have to list them when i can but none are to rare...i dont think... anyway ill post them later...but thats pretty much all i have!

... its alright my succulents are to small, and ive bonded to well, (call me sappy) and all i have is a normal spineless opuntia. so i dont really have nothing to special. you can keep it!

i have columnar cactus and it's about 6 feet tall.
at the very top it has 2 cactuses growing from the tip and they are about 8 inches tall (like Y).
i have to bring it in and was wondering to cut it too. but i didn't know cactus flowers, so now when the day light comes tomorrow morning i am going to look for buds but i never so cactus bud and where it's suppose to be if it ever grows. should i cut (pul down) those 2 Y branches and replant them or cut few feet from the maint trunk or what should i do. if i leave it as it is what will those 2 branches do? wil they grow tall and eventually break down, will meybe flowers come from them.

thank you all in advance.
i leave in Ontario outside Toronto about 45 KM away.

Radovan,

You can cut it and root the tip if you want.

Generally, if you have a different question from that of the poster, you might wish to post it separately.

I would suggest the same advice as given previously.

cactusmcharris, thank you very much for the advice and suggestion.