Plant in full to part sun. Low water is required though a good watering once or twice a month in summer is recommended to keep plants healthy. Winter watering for plants in the ground isn’t usually necessary. In containers, water should be once or twice a week, and maybe light watering once a month in winter. Plants are reputed to be tender, but mature plants can tolerate temperatures down to 25°F. Covering the new growing tips is still recommended, however. Younger plants may be much more frost tender.

Flowers are pollinated by bats and moths, though many other organisms may use the nectar and pollen.

Stenocerus comes from the Greek steno for narrow and the Latin cereus meaning a tapered candle. The specific epithet "griseus" derives from Latin, meaning 'gray,' in reference to the thorns of the species. There are 24 species of Stenocereus found on the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of Mexico, Arizona in the United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and the West Indies.

This species is found in Mexico in Oaxaca and Veracruz, coastal Venezuela, Guajira Peninsula of Colombia and the ABC islands of the Dutch Caribbean. It is found in scrub-lands. Observations of this species have also been reported in the dry scrub-lands at the base of the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. However botanical specimens have not been collected in this region.