Description
About natural cholla wood
Natural cholla wood is the hollow woody skeleton of the cholla cactus. When the plant dies and the flesh weathers away, a light, lacy tube remains. It is full of open holes and organic texture.
We sell 3-inch pieces, about 2 to 3 inches wide, as singles and in a 32-pack. We also sell 6-inch pieces. No two pieces look alike, because the hole pattern and the curve of the tube differ on every one.
Cholla is very light, dry and clean. Terrarium and reptile keepers use it widely for the same reasons it suits air plants. It looks natural, and it does not rot quickly.
The 32-pack is the volume option. It brings a 3-inch piece down to a few cents above the single price. As a result, a shop gets enough for a whole run of finished pieces.
For display, cholla is the desert mount. For example, a silver plant standing in the open top of a cholla tube looks like a scene from the Sonoran foothills. Likewise, a small plant tucked into a side hole reads as a piece of desert brought indoors.
Using natural cholla wood with air plants
Stand a 3-inch tube on end and set a slim plant in the top. For example, use funckiana, juncifolia, a small ionantha or a young stricta. You can also push small plants gently into the larger side holes, where the lacy wood holds them without glue. For a permanent piece, a dab of E-6000 Tillandsia Glue fixes the base. Because cholla is hollow and open, it dries fast. So you can mist or dip the whole piece and then leave it to drip dry, and nothing pools inside. Alternatively, lay a 6-inch piece on its side for a horizontal display with two or three plants along it.
- Fits: Slim and small plants, for example funckiana, juncifolia, ionantha, scaposa and small bulbosa.
- Mounting: Set in the top or a side hole, then glue for permanence.
- Watering: Dip or mist the whole piece and drip dry, because it drains itself.
- Feeding: Feed monthly with diluted TillyBoost Fertilizer in the dip.
- Placement: Bright light. A sunny window also works.
- Care of the wood: Keep it out of standing water, and it lasts for years.
Browse more Air Plant Displays, pick plants from our Air Plants, or read the air plant care guide.
