A strange occurence

[fanaticactus]

A few years ago I purchased an Echinocereus delaetii x fasciculatus. Since then I find that dalaetii belongs in an older taxonomy; today it is either freudenbergeri or longisetus. In either case, this particular cactus didn't grow for two or three seasons. It didn't do much of anything. Last summer it had a lot of mealies on it and it was turning brown despite watering and treatment for the mealies. I wanted to see the condition of the roots, so I unpotted it and was not surprised to see very few roots. And the ones that did exist were short and rather dried-up. So I left it perched sideways on a pot and exposed to the air inside the greenhouse all winter. I would have tossed it out except I noticed a couple of offsets that were a fresh green and didn't look bad at all. I thought maybe I could separate them and pot them in the spring. Today I was cleaning the greenhouse for the upcoming season and picked up the sad looking cactus and saw the offsets were still green. The most amazing thing was that I saw a bud--the first one ever and under the most unfavorable conditions. Now my question is do I repot it immediately and see if it will take hold and grow, or should I leave it alone and see if the bud develops fully into a flower. This is one of the strangest things to have ever happened in my collection. Based on the photos below, what should I do with it this season?

DSC06115.JPG (85.99 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

DSC06116.JPG (85.57 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

DSC06117.JPG (103.77 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

DSC06118.JPG (81.94 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

DSC06119.JPG (74.94 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

[7george]

There is still hope, but try to clean or treat the bugs. Leave it outside for the summer maybe.

[fanaticactus]

There is still hope, but try to clean or treat the bugs. Leave it outside for the summer maybe.

I will definitely try to remove the bugs. Should I sink the base into a gravel or pumice substrate even without roots, or should I just leave the whole cactus exposed to air the way it is?

[7george]

Should I sink the base into a gravel or pumice substrate even without roots...

This sounds better, but I would try first to inspect the bottom and see is there any infection (rot) going into the body. This cactus is maybe trying to produce some offspring prior to perish.

[fanaticactus]

Should I sink the base into a gravel or pumice substrate even without roots...

This sounds better, but I would try first to inspect the bottom and see is there any infection (rot) going into the body. This cactus is maybe trying to produce some offspring prior to perish.

This morning I just cut off two old brown (dried) offshoots that were harboring a few mealybugs. Obviously, that left some fresh tissue exposed. I will first let them callous over before putting them in any kind of substrate.

[Tiggy]

Did the Echinocereus make it ? I too have had a problem with the "dreaded mealey bugs" recently and this was on a couple of plants in the ground but under my new shelter. First time with plants permanently outside. Always a first time for everything I suppose. The strange thing is I wasn't even aware of them until the chickens decided to go and have a nice scratch around the plants. They covered loads of them in dirt and grit/sand which I had to clean off with a paintbrush and toothbrush and thus decided to have a good look at a couple that seemed to be losing their roots, only to find them infested with mealeys. One of these is the one that I butchered back in 2014.Here's the link of what happened - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32514&hilit=winter+ ... ng+to+plan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; After which it has always been known as my ciambella plant, or doughnut plant. It did survive and flowered better than ever before, but the centre remained empty apart from the roots and hundreds of bugs. I have cleaned up both plants and they are still in the house drying off before I try re-planting them. My ciambella though is one of the very first plants that I bought so I won't give up on her. If the worst happens though she also has some pups developing, so I'll just have to be content with them. Hope is the last thing to die..............

Susi

[fanaticactus]

Did the Echinocereus make it ?.... Susi

By the way, that's quite a saga about your Mammillaria. Too bad you went through all that angst but, as I say, better safe than sorry. Maybe some of your respondents are right and you'll end up with several good specimens.

As for the Echinocereus delaetii x fasciculatus, well...here it is

DSC06233.JPG (71.46 KiB) Viewed 2380 times

DSC06234.JPG (61.75 KiB) Viewed 2380 times

DSC06235.JPG (60.72 KiB) Viewed 2380 times

Now, though, it looks as if it's really gone--more mealies and browner. But so many of these Echinocereus are tough and seem to survive a lot. Maybe I can dare to take it out of the pot again and submerge it in an insecticidal bath to try to get rid of those awful creatures once and for all.

Thanks for asking. Cacti are amazing!

[Tiggy]

Only just managed to get round to replying on your photo as am up to my eyes doing videos etc. at the moment as the weather so bad this year my plants are really struggling due to lack of sunshine and constant clouds (on top of us that is, humidity in the 90's) they are all trying hard but without the sun
Well at least yours has put on a good show for you despite the mealeys. Are you going to try and extinguish them now? I blasted mine off with a strong jet of water and then used alcohol and tooth pick to remove any remaining bugs, rinsed with water after which I sprayed with diluted marsiglia, left them for a couple of hours then rinsed again to get rid of the soap then laid them on kitchen towel to dry out. They are then kept separate until I can be sure that they are well and truly clear.
That is such a nice flower though, be a shame if you lose the plant. Have to let us know how it goes.

Susi

[fanaticactus]

Hi, Susi...we just finished a week or so of very dry and very-warm-to-hot days (but low humidity), and now we have much cooler temperatures and showers--some heavy--then sun. That pattern is supposed to last for another couple of days. After those days of stifling heat I had to take the cacti out of the greenhouse so they could get a lot of fresh air. The GH is fairly well closed up except for two roof vents and a vented window on the front (south side) and a screen door on the back (north side). You may remember I had to install an exhaust fan a couple of summers ago; that's been a blessing. I also have a small oscillating fan inside the GH just to keep the air moving. When the rains came, I had to take all the cacti that like only sparse water back inside. It never ends.

The hot weather worked wonders for my winter hardy garden. Even some cacti that haven't even been in the ground a year yet have bloomed. The prickly pear were almost a solid mass of yellow a few days ago. It's always interesting to see what each new year brings in the way of challenges and rewards.