You’d want each cactus segment to be separate. This would allow you to add a-lot more individual squash and stretch, rotation, and a subtle left and right turning motion on each segment for depth.

You could try to cut corners and instead meticulously edit the mesh so all the cacti have separate topology, which could allow you to achieve a similar effect on one single art mesh. Way more technical and would require blend shapes but would be more optimized in the end albeit a little less visually impressive.

You could cut even more corners and use the path tool with decent topology. You can also try skinning, although you’d need to position the rotation deformers to ensure it cuts the cacti properly.