Top 10 Types of Cactus That Make Perfect Low-Maintenance Houseplants

Some types of cactus plants are easy to grow indoors, making them the ultimate low-maintenance houseplants. The following varieties of cacti can go a few weeks between waterings, aren't fazed by dry indoor air, and need less sun than most other cacti. These natives of sun-washed deserts still do need lots of light compared to other types of houseplants, so make sure to give them as much as possible near bright windows or with grow lights.

African Milk Tree

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Marty Baldwin

African milk tree (Euphorbia trigona) is not a tree but a cactus that grows multiple upright branches that reach eight feet tall in optimal conditions. It’s a good pick for a houseplant because it is slow-growing and can grow in indirect light, unlike many types of cactus. Grown indoors, most African milk trees stay under four feet and can live for decades.

Thanksgiving Cactus

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Native to Brazil, Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) is often called Christmas cactus because the two plants look very similar and bloom around the winter holidays. However, they are two distinct species and it's Thanksgiving cactus that it more commercially available. This cactus grows well indoors in filtered bright light. Its flowers can be red, pink, white, purple, peach, or yellow. Its trailing branches are flat, green and segmented without sharp spines. Thanksgiving cactus can grow to two feet wide and two feet tall and lives for up to 30 years.

Christmas Cactus

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petrovval / Getty Images

Also native to Brazil, true Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) is tricky to find in commercial cultivation, but cuttings or rooted plants may be available from plant exchanges. Similar to the Thanksgiving cactus, this plant doesn't have sharp spines and thrives in filtered light indoors. It can grow to 2 feet wide and a foot tall. Pink to red blooms appear on the ends of the flat, green, segmented stems in early to mid-winter.

Old Man Cactus

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Ed Gohlich

This slow-growing columnar cactus looks striking in a pot because it’s covered in white, wooly spines that look like unkempt hair. In the desert wilds of its native Mexico, old man cactus (Cephalocereus senilis) grows to 20 feet tall and lives up to 200 years. In your house, it’ll make a long-lived, low-maintenance plant that stays small for years. Old man cactus produces stunning, night-blooming white flowers in the spring.

There are hard, prickly spines lurking beneath the “hair,” so handle old man cactus with care.

Bishop’s Cap

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Marty Baldwin

Native to Mexico, bishop’s cap (Astrophytum ornatum) get its name from the shape of its stem, which looks like a geometric hat worn by a bishop. Its single, blue-gray, globular stem may produce a big white flower in early summer. Bishop’s cap is a good houseplant because it’s slow-growing and has minimal spines. In the wild, this cactus can get 4 feet tall and 10 inches wide, but a little bishop's cap in a 4-inch pot will stay politely small for many years to come.

Fairy Castle Cactus

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This slow-growing cactus has a cluster of branching columns that resemble the turrets of a tiny castle, hence its name. Native to Central and South American deserts, fairy castle cactus (Acanthocereus tetragonus ‘Monstrose’) is a night-blooming cereus that produces white flowers in the summer. Fairy castle’s shape makes it a striking choice for a pot and it can tolerate partial shade, thriving indoors by a sunny window.

Cowboy Prickly Pear Cactus

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The name alone makes this a fun pick for an indoor type of cactus. Cowboy prickly pear (Opuntia rubescens) is also known as roadkill cactus because it looks like a prickly pear cactus that’s been run over by a truck. It has a flat, wide body with flat paddles growing out of the sides of the main stem, and soft spines. Native to Puerto Rico and parts of the Leeward Islands, cowboy prickly pear can grow to 10 feet tall in the wild. In a pot in your house, it won’t get more than 3 or 4 feet tall. It needs 6 hours of bright sunlight a day, so put it by a sunny window.

Pencil Cactus

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Blaine Moats

Pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli) from Madagascar looks like sea coral with its thicket of branching stems. The tips of its green branches turn bright red when exposed to direct sun, hence its nickname, firestick cactus. It needs 6+ hours of bright light and grows fast, so you’ll have a majestic plant within a season or two. Indoors it stays under 4 feet so it won’t turn into an unmanageable behemoth. Put it by a sunny window and water sparingly.

Rat Tail Cactus

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Dean Schoeppner

Rat tail cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis) is a trailing succulent native to Mexico and Central America that takes its name from its long, slender stems that look a little like a rodent tail. The stems are bright green and covered in small spines that look like fuzz or hair. The spines are soft, not sharp, so this cactus won’t hurt you. Fast-growing rat trail cactus stems can grow up to 3 feet long, and it will grow multiple shoots, creating a full, rounded look. In the early summer, it produces pink blooms that resemble Christmas cactus flowers.

Pinecone Cactus

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Pinecone cactus (Tephrocactus articulatus var. strobiliformis) is an Argentinian native that grows knobby segments resembling a vertical stack of green pinecones. Pinecone cactus is a lovely container plant, a succulent with a sculptural form and tiny spines that stays under a foot tall. In full sun, it takes on pinkish hues and produces white flowers in early summer. Another variety, paper spine cactus (Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus) has dramatic spines that are a couple of inches long.