Help with identifying a couple of cacti

[Jules77]

Hi all,

I appear to have developed a bit of a cacti addiction (is this normal??) and am slowly building up a little collection.

Could anybody help me with identifying these two:

20141218_120933.jpg (28.79 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

20141218_121941.jpg (30.14 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

I am new to the forum (as of today), it's great to be among fellow cacti enthusiasts

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Onzuka]

Welcome o the Forum, Jules.

Your first pic is Opuntia monacantha as far as I can tell. If I'm wrong, someone will correct me. The 2nd is also an Opuntia but it's not one that I grow so I can't be more specific.

Steve

[Jules77]

Thanks Steve, that's fantastic! I just did a quick Google images search on Opuntia monacantha and got this:

http://www.lapshin.org/cultivar/N37/Ede ... iegata.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spot on! I like to spend a bit of time trying to identify them for myself, but I didn't know how to start going about it with these two - they're not as easy to describe! So I gave up after a while and did it the easy way, i.e. posting a picture on the forum.

Thanks again,

Juliet

[Jules77]

After MUCH searching, I think I may have identified the second one - Opuntia tuna "maverick":

http://www.cactaceae.be/fotos/Opuntia_tuna_maverick.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Opuntia tuna maverick.jpg (24.43 KiB) Viewed 2426 times

Persistence pays off (correct me if I'm wrong though).

Juliet

[KittieKAT]

If they are potted in same potting mix that they were in when bought i would repot them in a 50:50 mix of sifted cacti and succulent mix and perlite. Sift out as much of the heavy materials from the cacti and succulent mix as possible, and mix it with equal parts of Perlite.
Make sure u watch out for the glocids on the opuntia they easily stick in yr skin where touched.
If you do get a few in your hands and I'm sure YOU will lol use a new sharp razor blade for shaving yr face/body and run the blade over the spikes in your hands they will be pulled out. And make sure the old potting soil is removed from the root ball as much as possible. And don't water the plant for a week or two so the roots can heal.

[Jules77]

Thanks for the potting advice KittieKAT, much appreciated. They are currently in the same potting mix as when I bought them. They're only in a 6cm pot at the moment, which fits snugly inside the cute little novelty pots you can see in the pictures. So I'm kinda reluctant to repot them just yet as, obviously, I'll have to go up a pot size. Or can they be repotted in the same pot?

I'm relatively new to all this, have never really had an interest in plants in general, but for some reason I've really taken to cacti and succulents. This is what I've collected so far:

20141219_100518.jpg (42.05 KiB) Viewed 2401 times

Not included in that picture is my Christmas cactus (pictured here last month):

20141109_112955.jpg (96.42 KiB) Viewed 2401 times

So, not a huge collection, but I'm working on it

[cactidan]

hi Jules, if you getting into the c&s world I thoroughly recommend looking at joining the bcss, access to the best cacti and succulent society in the world.
bcss.org.uk

[Jules77]

Thanks for the suggestion cactidan, I'll take a look.

[Onzuka]

I've just typed loads about three of your cacti in the group pic and lost it and I'm not typing it again. My fault for not copying it before I hit "submit" So here are 3 names for you.

Front row, 2nd from left is Notocactus (now Parodia) magnificus, and it looks like it will make a nice one.

2nd row back on left hand side is Echinocactus grusonii or golden barrel. Yours may just be the rarer silver spined variety. Very common in cultivation, but, AFAIK, no longer found in habitat, and I don't mean the shop!

At the back in the orange pot is Opuntia subulata. Very common in cultivation and fast and easy to grow and propagate

If you need more info, just shout up.

Steve

[KittieKAT]

If the cute novelty pots have drainage holes you can repot them directly into those pots but if not t id suggest repotting them a size up if u can enough for the root ball to comfortably fit with enough growing room on the bottom and on the side's, i usually leave about a 2inch sometimes 3inch space on the bottom of the pot to fill with the soil i mentioned before putting the plant into the new pot and filling the rest of the pot in with soil around the plant's roots and body, soo it can grow nice and big for a while before a new repot.
Some other people may chime in if they have any other input on the subject of repotting. Goodluck hun and enjoy your growing collection

[Jules77]

Thanks Steve.

It's a shame you lost what you'd typed, as it sounds like you had some interesting facts about them. I already knew two of the three you mentioned (didn't know Notocactus magnificus).

Could you help me out with this one, I can't decide if it's Pachycereus pringlei or Saguaro (or it could be neither):

20141220_091243.jpg (26 KiB) Viewed 2366 times

Juliet

[Jules77]

No drainage holes unfortunately KittieKAT. I'll maybe repot them in the new year. Thanks again for your advice.

[KittieKAT]

Repot in the spring when it's still a little cooler weather But not too cool

[Onzuka]

Thanks Steve.

It's a shame you lost what you'd typed, as it sounds like you had some interesting facts about them. I already knew two of the three you mentioned (didn't know Notocactus magnificus).

Could you help me out with this one, I can't decide if it's Pachycereus pringlei or Saguaro (or it could be neither):

20141220_091243.jpg

Juliet

It would be most unusual to find a Saguero (Carnegiea gigantea) in a supermarket type cacti choice. To say that they are arguably the biggest cactus in the world, they are incredibly slow growing and there would be no profit for the producer. I can say with reasonable confidence that your plant is not a Saguero, the spines are much too pale, but I don't know what it is, I don't have any interest in columnars. Can anyone else help?

Steve

[greenknight]

Some Pilocereus?