What I think is r. Fulviseta has green bulges high on stem

[MadridPeter]

Hi folks I never had this plant and so am not sure what these bulges high on the stem are ..I mean they are green and look like offsets but so high on the stem? And there are 6 of them ..anybody know something? They appeared almost the same time and fast...my other rebutias simply push out flowers and you can see a brown or wine coloured bud and their offsets don't form so high

[DaveW]

Look like offsets at the moment. Sometimes flower buds will change into offsets. Whilst you may think they are high up the plant they are still some way down from the crown. Sometimes if the plant gets a growth check what would be buds can change into offsets.

Notice the long stem of the Rebutia muscula in the picture on the right hand side of this link producing offsets above the flowers.

http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/REBUTI ... uscula.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When offsets appear in unusual places they are called adventitious offsets.

"Adventitious, (botany) describes roots or shoots or other parts that grow in an uncharacteristic place on a plant (such as roots growing from leaves)."

[Steve Johnson]

When offsets appear in unusual places they are called adventitious offsets.

"Adventitious, (botany) describes roots or shoots or other parts that grow in an uncharacteristic place on a plant (such as roots growing from leaves)."

I'd say that's what MadridPeter's plant is doing. I have 2 Epithelanthas and a Coryphantha retusa that are producing offsets in rather odd places, and it's fun to watch them grow over time.

[MadridPeter]

Yes but I am not a big fan of offsets and I only just stripped an echinopsis hybrid...leaving a few but it had 30 ranging from tiny to medium..but for this rebutia I imagine a knife would be needed ..the plant would get top heavy with 5 offsets high on one side

[DaveW]

I would not think it would get top heavy as the base of many cacti compress with age so the offsets would be near ground level. I can't see the point in growing plants unnaturally by continually removing offsets? If a plant normally clumps or offsets that's it's natural growth. To artificially grow it as a single stem is unnatural to me. Surely natural clumps, as in the following link, are what we should be aiming for?

http://northants.bcss.org.uk/nat/nat25.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MadridPeter]

In the case of the echinopsis hybrid 30 offsets all crushed under the mother plant was too much and they all presumably grow to mothers size which is quite big and seeing as I have limited space I decided to leave her 6 offsets of largest size and repot another..of course I see your point about natural plant growth...I think I need to some day buy a house with a large terrace or garden ..not easy in Madrid

[DaveW]

Better still with a place for a greenhouse. A friend of mine in Malta has built a plastic covered greenhouse on the flat roof of his house. Here is the picture he sent me:-

Discocactus_cephaliaciculos.jpg (114.84 KiB) Viewed 1374 times

What do you think, would one of these do you?

http://www.nexuscorp.com/roof.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MadridPeter]

One of those greenhouses would be fantastic! I'd say nexus charge a pretty penny with all that top end engineering talk on their site ..across the road from me there are a few top floor large terraces and 1 or 2 have greenhouses..i try not to look to avoid being sick with envy!! By the way how on earth does your friend in Malta take care of so many cacti?? You'd need to take on staff to mind all that I think I'd get carried away too

[DaveW]

That's only part of his collection, Rene' Zahra is one of the officials in the Maltese Cactus Society and has grown many of the big plants outside such as Espostoa's from seed and now they flower regularly. As you can see he has another lean to greenhouse at ground level:-

My_garden_1.jpg (62.86 KiB) Viewed 1346 times

See the video here:-

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi ... wed.390663" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rene' and I started about the same time in the hobby and first contacted each other in the early 1960's. However he has a more ideal climate for growing cacti than I do, plus it does not get as cold in winter so has a far longer growing season.

[MadridPeter]

Amazing collection and Rene seems like a very friendly man even if I didn't understand that Maltese language..sounded a bit like Catalan and Italian and he inserted an English word or 2 ...so you've both had this hobby for about 60 years? It said somewhere René got a succulent from his father aged 8 ..I wonder if he has anyone to inherit all those wonderful plants seeing as they live so long!

[DaveW]

He speaks perfect English by the way, but that was an interview for Maltese TV. Yes I started in about 1958 and joined Nottingham Branch of the British Society in 1961. If you can find a cactus society in your country it does help to keep your interest up.

I have never been to Madrid, but did go to the Malaga region of the Costa del Sol three times. I was surprised I did not find more cacti growing out of doors there though, apart from the usual Opuntia. I only saw one decent display at Paloma Park a mile or so inland from Benalmadena.

Cactus1.jpg (91.99 KiB) Viewed 1318 times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8yDQeZlfE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a good collection further inland at Casarabonella, but unfortunately I never got to visit it:-

http://www.cactuscasarabonela.uma.es/index.php?lang=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.cactuscasarabonela.es/#!inicio-ingles/cg0v" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[7george]

Yes but I am not a big fan of offsets and I only just stripped an echinopsis hybrid...leaving a few but it had 30 ranging from tiny to medium..but for this rebutia I imagine a knife would be needed ..the plant would get top heavy with 5 offsets high on one side

My rebutias produce offsets at the middle of the stem and this natural I think. Imagine one day they all will be blooming from all possible areoles. If a plant needs to stay small with age it widens forming a clump. And sometimes warm winter and wet spring can turn buds into offsets. Give it some more sun and less water.

Rebutia fiebrigii - the second wave of flowers

SAM_6850-2.JPG (91.45 KiB) Viewed 1305 times

[MadridPeter]

Yes Dave there are opuntia all over southern Spain and in Valencia and other variety almost non existent which I don't understand because when you have such a great climate many things are possible ..I think there are very few people like me here who gather together a variety ...I really must go to those specialists in the south although for now I probably should buy less as my wife is getting nervous I think I will see how I can join a cactus society here! If I were to ever move back to Ireland I'd have to drop this past time ..low light cold humidity would not be good for my brood

Thanks George ! I think after what Dave and yourself said that I will leave the offsets in peace and simply repot the plant as its getting considerably bigger since I fed it with fertiliser!! I think these buds came out as offsets possibly due to poor care in the garden centre where it had almost no light and too much water for months ...it has plenty of light in my house and I water it carefully..the high Madrid summer heat hasn't set in yet

[DaveW]

Imagine what sort of plant you would finish up with if you kept removing offsets from this, some plants clump normally:-

gracilis.jpg (98.21 KiB) Viewed 1295 times

You will find the supposed Spanish cactus clubs here, plus most of the worlds cactus societies and clubs:-

http://www.cactus-mall.com/clubs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Most of the Spanish links seem dead though. For such a large country Spain seems to be poorly catered for by cactus societies. I tried to contact the Andalucían one when I went for information but got no reply. Strange when you think even Kazakhstan has a cactus society and a web site that works!

Searching the web it's hard to find if some of the Spanish clubs still exist. I can only find:-

http://foro.infojardin.com/threads/expo ... tas.26677/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... rev=search" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MadridPeter]

Yes I would imagine like anything in Spain you'd only be able to talk to a society member or staff during specific hours and Andalusia has a reputation for taking a rather relaxed approach to work..you'd probably need to contact a member somehow to be introduced in Spanish they call that an "enchufe" ...I went to the only cactus specialist in Madrid city and they always have some great young rebutia and echinopsis ..very tempting