Species library › Stenocereus › Stenocereus eruca
Succulents Well documented

Stenocereus eruca

The creeping devil is a prostrate cactus from the sandy Magdalena Plain of Baja California Sur, whose stems crawl along the ground, rooting as they go while the old end dies back. It needs a lot of sun, heat, sandy soil and room to spread sideways.

Stenocereus eruca
Photo: Pamla J. Eisenberg from Anaheim, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows flat on sandy coastal plains and dunes with sparse desert scrub, often forming dense mats. Fog off the Pacific adds some moisture.

Lowland: recorded from 2 to about 190 m (median 13 m).

Baja California Sur (Magdalena Plain)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 2.0 licence, unmodified.