How do you know when a dragon fruit is ripe? After years of blooms with no fruit, one of my H. undatus plants actually has set a fruit. I'll try to post a picture in the next day or so. Any advice will be appreciated. Cheers!

Thank you everyone for the nice comments. Regarding the flicker, I think it resulted from the grass being very damp that night. My light cables were on the ground, and that probably affected the flash intensity. This is a work in progress, and I am learning as I go. Cheers!

WOW! That is one nice plant.

Stapelia plantii --- S. grandiflora has a flower that is much lighter in color.

So many interesting forms! The Saguaro is absolutely my favorite cactus.

John C wrote:Very nice! Much better than my attempt at a time lapse!

Thanks. I'm just fortunate enough to have access to some fancy photo equipment that allows me to set up and walk away. Good thing, 'cause I don't have the patience to do it the way you did.

I have been playing with time lapse for a few months now, with a goal of creating a compilation DVD at some (distant) point. This sequence was captured last Saturday night. Let me know what you think. Cheers!

http://appce.com/timeLapse/index2.html

Very nice! Mine blooms regularly, but because the temps here fall rapidly after the sun goes down I have never had one open fully. Good to see what it looks like.

A few weeks ago I found this plant at a pottery shop in San Diego. A lot of the spines were broken off, one side was sunburned, and the potting mix appeared to be peat moss. Still, I found it interesting, so I bought it ($1.89). I repotted it in better mix, and it has responded nicely. What the heck...

I had my time lapse camera all set up to capture my Astrophytum ornatum opening this morning, but the timer malfunctioned. At least I salvaged these shots. Cheers!
One of the time lapse frames from the camera that started AFTER it was already open.

I bought a few plants at a local show last year, and there was a tiny seedling in the corner of one of the pots. It grew into the plant shown here. The first bloom opened yesterday. Any ideas as to species? Cheers!

Thanks for all the replies! I thought it might be R. baccifera baccifera, but it never has lateral blooms.

Hi, Tony,

I'm thinking it is not R. cereuscula. In photos I have seen, that species has much showier flowers than mine has. You have to look closely at the plant to see these.

I don't think I have anything rare in my garden either. Most visitors comment that my Pereskia is the most un-cactus like thing they can imagine. This plant (not mine) provided the seed... unusual_1.jpg ...from which I grew this one (no flowers yet): unusual_2.jpg I think this is Pereskia aculeata ,...

This is the same plant about which I posted a question in the "General" forum: http://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26958 . This morning I finally got a picture of the flowers, which are tiny and ephemeral. The branches are about 3 mm wide; they start growing vertically, but...