While corking on this old Turb should be expected, I wasn't sure if changes in the plant at the end of June were just a sign of corking or maybe something worse. Thankfully, de-potting it for a prudent emergency root inspection on 7/4 turned up zero problems below-ground. Here's the klinkerianus on the afternoon of its repot, followed by the state of affairs on 8/24:
The north-facing side doesn't look too bad, all things considered. The south-facing side took the brunt of it:
I thought the corking would be a more gradual process, so it's still something of a mystery as to why it went that far in short order. Was it simply because I disturbed the roots for my inspection? Maybe yes, maybe no, although I also wondered if repotting the klinkerianus in mid-growth might end any hope for the flowers I'd normally see over summer. Not summer, but I was so please to see this in the first weekend of fall:
Since the view includes 2 nice little pups that appeared last summer, here's a closeup of what they look like today:
Like their parent, the pups are slow growers, so it'll take a few years to see enough growth progress showing up in my "trademark" before-and-after photos. Even better would be if all the corking stimulates more pups, and I'll look forward to seeing what happens as this old Turb of mine soldiers on.
By the way -- the klinkerianus already had a lot of mileage on it when I found it at the California Cactus Center in 2011. In fact, I think it's the oldest cactus I have in the collection, and it originally came from Woody Minnich's famous Cactus Data Plants operation in the Antelope Valley before he pulled up stakes for New Mexico in 2007. Would anyone care to guess how old it is? I'm thinking at least 30 years, but perhaps Turb people with more experience could pin the age down a little better.
Cheers!
