How to Grow and Care for Fishbone (Zig Zag) Cactus

How to Grow

Although fishbone cacti are succulents, they aren’t grown in the same way as desert or arid-land succulents such as echeverias and donkey’s tail.

Here’s what you need to be successful:

Light

Hailing from tropical forests, D. anguliger plants need a part shade location when grown outdoors, as full sun is too intense.

Indoors, fishbone cactus houseplants will thrive when situated near a sheer curtain in filtered south or west facing windows, or when receiving direct morning sun in eastern windows.

Soil

As epiphytes, these plants grow best in a potting medium that is coarse and airy with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0.

Chunky coconut coir is a good ingredient to incorporate into a DIY succulent mix if you make your own, or you could pick up a bag of De La Tank’s Soil Mix, which has the right combination of drainage and moisture retention.

De La Tank’s Soil Mix

You can find eight-quart bags available from Tank’s Green Stuff via Amazon.

Avoid cactus and succulent soils which won’t retain enough moisture for these plants.

Growing mixes specifically formulated for orchid cacti provide the right combination of moisture retention and drainage that this species needs.

Water

If you have desert succulents as houseplants, such as lithops or titanopsis, it’s important to note that zig zag cacti need more moisture, and will therefore need to be watered more often.

Keep the growing medium moist, watering when the surface of the medium is dry to the touch.

When you water, give the foliage a shower to clean the stems off and help hydrate them.

You can also use the bottom watering method, where you allow the pot to soak in a basin of water for a half an hour or so, is a good way to help hydrate the growing medium.

And to encourage flowering, reduce watering slightly during the winter.

Learn more about the best water for succulents here.

Temperature and Humidity

Adapted to the mild temperatures of tropical forests, fishbone cacti should be kept indoors when outdoor temperatures fall to 50°F or lower.

Also, they need cool temperatures in winter to help support flowering, just be sure to keep them above 50°F.

These epiphytes also prefer medium to high humidity levels, so consider using a humidifier if you live in a dry climate or experience dry air during the winter.

Fertilizer

Feed your fishbone plant every two to four weeks during the growing season, with a fertilizer formulated for succulents, such as Dr. Earth’s Succulence.

Dr. Earth Succulence

You can purchase Dr. Earth’s Succulence in a 16-ounce pump bottle via Arbico Organics.

Where to Buy

These plants aren’t frequently stocked at plant nurseries, apart from those with extensive succulent sections. You can sometimes find them available via an online source.

For instance, you can purchase a fishbone cactus in a four-inch pot from California Tropicals via Amazon.

Maintenance

These are fairly low maintenance plants. If you keep your fishbone plant in ideal conditions, you should only need to trim off spent blooms – with a pair of sterilized scissors or snips – and repot.

Fishbone cactus is one of the houseplants that are happy to be rootbound, so repotting isn’t a task that needs to be undertaken very frequently.

When the growing medium starts to dry out every few days, consider repotting as directed in the transplanting section below.

Propagation

This epiphyte can be propagated via stem cuttings and seeds:

From Seed

D. anguliger seeds are difficult to source, so you may have to try growing your own supply. Propagate the seeds in late winter or early spring.

1. Surface sow ric rac seeds on a moist seed starting medium.
2. Keep the pot or tray covered with a humidity dome, and place on a heat mat in indirect, bright light.
3. Maintain moist conditions under the humidity dome until the seeds germinate and seedlings are about an inch tall.
4. Gradually start to reduce moisture for the seedlings by allowing the growing medium to dry out somewhat between waterings but keep the humidity dome in place.

When the seedlings crowd their pot or tray, transition them to lower humidity by removing the humidity dome, then transplant them into individual pots.

From Stem Cuttings

Growing from cuttings is a similar process to propagating epiphyllums from cuttings. Take stem cuttings in spring for best results.

1. Take six- to nine-inch cuttings using sterilized scissors, and cut off the top third of an inch from the cuttings.
2. Apply rooting hormone to the bottom cut and the bottom two to three inches of the stem.
3. Place the cuttings in a cool, dark location and let the cut ends form a callus – this should take around 10 days.
4. Fill a four-inch nursery pot with growing medium and insert a cutting in the center of the pot.
5. Set the pot in indirect bright light for two weeks before watering, and expect rooting in another two weeks.

When you start watering, keep the growing medium evenly moist.

Transplanting

Plan to repot the fishbone cactus during the warm season, when the plant is in a period of active growth.

Choose a new pot that is just one size larger than the old pot, and make sure you have the appropriate growing medium on hand.

Pour a small layer of potting medium into the bottom of the new pot, then remove the plant from its old pot.

Center the root ball in the new container and adjust the depth by adding more or less medium below the roots.