Help me learn about my cactus baby?

[Sycamore]

Hey everyone! I'm new here. I purchased my cactus at a farmer's market roughly two months ago, and it's been flowering and flourishing under my care. I'd love to know more about which breed I have so I can continue to give it the care it needs. Any help? Thank you in advance!

[iann]

Two for the price of one! The purple bit on top is a Gymnocalycium friedrichii (not a valid name, but usually what its called anyway) and the green "stalk" is a Hylocereus, which would normally grow into a massive climbing monster. The Gymnocalycium is grafted onto the Hylocereus to use its chlorophyll and roots, because it can be a little slow on its own. This form can be grown on its own roots, so you might like to try one of the pups in a small pot. The really bright coloured ones that have no chlorophyll can't survive at all except on a graft.

These are fairly easy when given constant warmth, but touchy when it gets cooler. Make sure the pot has holes in the bottom because it won't like standing in saturated soil. Growth is ultimately limited because the bottom won't grow (it might send up an arm, but that would just starve the purple bit) and so it has a fixed amount of greenery. Best to consider these as temporary ornaments that will die after a few years. One more reason to root a pup. Or you could chop it off completely and wait for the Hylocereus to grow like a weed

[teo]

Actually there are two of them since it is a graft: the green bottom (the stock) is (probably) a Hylocereus , the reddish top part (scion) is a Gymnocalycium mihanovicii. The reason for grafting is (usually) because the scion lacks chlorophyll and cannot survive on its own. In this case however I think it has enough chlorophyll to make it on it's own roots. I have a mihanovicii of the exact same color and it's doing fine without grafting.

[greenknight]

To clarify - friedrichii is now considered a subspecies of Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, so they're both correct. The regular Gymnocalycium mihanovichii has green to yellow flowers.