New baby

If you have a cactus plant and need help identifying it, this is the place to post it.
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fanaticactus
Posts: 3194
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:44 pm
Location: Grand Isle Co., Vermont

New baby

Post by fanaticactus »

I got this small one to place in a dish garden I was making for a friend who loved the cacti in little dish gardens she saw for sale out in Nevada and Arizona. I told her I'd make her one when she got back home. I got this because of its relatively small size, blue-green color and dark spines; it was a good contrast with the others I chose for the project. But when I unpotted it, I spied a bit of root mealies at the soil line, so I treated it and kept it for myself and substituted a different one for my friend. Thing is, I'm not sure what this is. Instincts tell me it's a Melocactus, but I'm not sure. Perhaps its mature growth form hasn't yet established, so I can't tell whether it will be globular or more columnar. Does anyone recognize what this could be?
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Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
Astro
Posts: 153
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area, CA

Re: New baby

Post by Astro »

Melo azureus.

Not just root mealies I'm afraid, in your pictures I can see a few run-of-the-mill mealies also... Regular mealies will sometimes congregate between plant and soil (esp egg cocoons) and can be mistaken for root mealies. Regular mealies shouldn't really be on the roots themselves though.
fanaticactus
Posts: 3194
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:44 pm
Location: Grand Isle Co., Vermont

Re: New baby

Post by fanaticactus »

Thanks, Astro, for the ID and the mealies observation. The specks could be substrate particles, since I had just repotted it and not brushed off the debris. But I will certainly check it out again.
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
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