Can a cactus be encouraged to "branch out"?

Question

About 5 years ago I was given this cactus, in a minuscule pot and severely dehydrated. To my surprise it responded to watering and repotting really well. About 18 months ago I woke one morning to find it leaned over 90 degrees, bent at the base, the top having become too heavy for the base to support. I built a Zimmer frame for it ;) and left it to it. It's now getting a bit on the tall side for its location and I don't really have anywhere else to put it. Is there a way to encourage it to grow shoots/put some energy into sideways expansion or is it the sort that only grows upwards in a single stick?

Answer 1

Nice cactus, especially at the top! I think it is one of the San Pedro cacti (Trichocereus pachanoi or Trichocereus bridgesii).

First, what you could do (against the bending), is to cut off the top, try to get it rooted and use that as the new plant. It is called propagation by cuttings, you might want to search google first on how to do that. Maybe the top 30 cm, why? Because the plant has a good thickness from there.

Second, if you want to encourage branching, I read about an artificial way. You can use a synthetic phytohormone (plant hormone) BAP. You can mix a little of it with some lanolin and put it on one of the areoles. You can read more about the technique here.