It was one stem about 8" / 20cm tall in a standard 1 gallon / 4 liter black plastic nursery pot when it went in there. That is flowering size for this type of plant, and they only get better. That was about 15 years ago.

Taxonomisists have lumped Trichocereus into Echinopsis. Both have large, long-tubed flowers that open around 10 pm at night throughout the warm season. To a hobbyist, Echinopsis are clumping, low globular plants, and Trichocereus mostly clumping, columnar plants. Some sprawl on the ground, and a few species are very large, branching columnar cacti.

Lobivia also got lumped into Echinopsis. They are small globular cacti, often solitary, with large, short-tubed flowers that open with sunshine, and often have a shiny black ring in the throat.

All Echinopsis are very easy to grow and flower if they get enough light. Being night-bloomers, they are thought to be moth pollinated, and many have a great citrusy fragrance.

By the way, the Show and Sale of the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society is this weekend at Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas. There will be a lot of flowering cacti for sale.

Some really cool stuff at the Austin show today! I wish I'd known about the stunning flowers of this plant before I went. I would have picked one up! Either way, it was a great show!

I think a lot of vendors in Austin sell this kind of plant. They will label the globular ones Echinopsis and the columnar ones Trichocereus. You get lots of summer rain, so if planted in the ground, be sure it's on a mound. In a pot all the rain will be good.

The Huntington Gardens in Los Angeles sells many flowering sized, named Echinopsis hybrids made by Bob Schick. They sell plants between golf ball and softball size, and they only get better as they grow. They are very easy to grow.

Remember how Ulysses had himself lashed to the mast so he could hear the song of the sirens and not jump off the ship? Maybe you should do something like that before clicking on this link:

Ordering Information | ISI Schick Hybrids

Thanks for the link!