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Plants / Cactaceae / Fishbone cactus / Leggy growth

Fishbone cactus: leggy growth

Why has it gone leggy and bare?

On fishbone cactus, the likeliest cause is not enough light. Long bare stretches of stem between leaves, new leaves smaller than old ones, and the whole plant leaning toward the window.

Causes, likeliest first for this species 3 checked
  1. 1
    Not enough light

    Ranked here because stretching is the plant reaching for light, and it is nearly always the answer to this symptom.

    How to tell. Long bare stretches of stem between leaves, new leaves smaller than old ones, and the whole plant leaning toward the window.

    What to do. More light, and closer to the glass than feels necessary. An east window, or three feet back from a south one. Another epiphytic cactus: bright shade, not desert sun.

  2. 2
    Never pinched back

    Ranked here because trailing plants go bald at the base unless they are cut back periodically.

    How to tell. A few very long stems rather than many short ones, with no branching at all.

    What to do. Cut the long stems back to a node. It branches from below the cut, and the cuttings root, so you lose nothing.

  3. 3
    Never turned

    How to tell. Growth heavily one-sided toward the window while the far side stays bare.

    What to do. Turn the pot a quarter turn whenever you water.

Why that order, for this plant

The ranking above is not a generic list. It is computed from this species' own record — a watering interval of 7–14 days, a canopy epiphyte origin, a humidity floor of 45%, and a light range from medium to bright-indirect. Change those figures and the order changes with them.

That is the whole point of a per-species page. Leggy growth on a plant watered every three days and leggy growth on one watered every three weeks almost never have the same cause, and a list that ranks them identically is worth nothing to either owner. You can check the reasoning against the care fields on the species entry, which is where these numbers come from.

No percentages appear on this page. We have not run a grower survey, and a confident-sounding figure with no dataset behind it is worse than none. Order and distinguishing tests are what we can honestly give.

Other problems recorded for this species

Also for this species

Full care entry with light, watering and soil. How to propagate it. Toxicity to cats and to dogs.

Sources

  1. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — Selenicereus anthonyanus Accepted name and family. Checked 2026-09-12.
  2. ASPCA Animal Poison Control — Selenicereus anthonyanus Relevant if a damaged plant is being chewed rather than merely ailing.
  3. This database's own care record for Selenicereus anthonyanus — the watering, humidity and light figures the ranking is derived from.

Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-12
Cause ordering is derived from this species' recorded care requirements, and the derivation is stated above so you can disagree with it. It is not a diagnosis, and a plant can have two problems at once. How this is sourced.