I was looking up my new cactus and found out it's older than my house

I bought a saguaro cactus for my front yard in Phoenix about a month ago. I was curious about its growth rate, so I checked a book from the library called 'Desert Giants'. It said a saguaro only grows its first arm after 75 years! Mine has two arms, which means this plant is easily over 100 years old. It's wild to think this thing was growing in the desert before my neighborhood even existed. Has anyone else had a plant that made them feel like a temporary guest in its long life?

3 comments

3 Comments

clark.iris3mo ago

That's so cool. Makes my houseplants seem like impatient toddlers by comparison.

riverg753mo ago

Actually, the arm thing is a common mix-up. The book is right about the first arm starting around 75 years, but having two arms doesn't automatically mean it's over 100. The second arm can start growing not long after the first one. It's still super old, probably 80-90 years minimum, which is still way older than your house. It's amazing how long those giants just sit there growing.

baker.ben2mo ago

Hold up though, I've seen a few of those two-arm saguaros in old photos from the 1920s that are still standing today. If the second arm can pop up that much later, wouldn't that mean some of them are pushing 120 or more by now? Seems like the math gets fuzzy when you're talking about decades of slow growth in different weather conditions.