Charlpic's Topic

[charlpic]

Since I have some cacti "experiences" going on, I thought it would be a good moment to start up a topic.

Here are my plants:

First cactus, an Epiphyllum, wanting an ID on this plant is what brought me on this forum.

Epiphyllum sp.


Echinocactus grusonii


Crassula Ovata var 'Gollum'


Parodia leninghausii ?


Melocactus sp.


Parodia warasii ?


Mammillaria matudae


Parodia haselbergii ?


Mammillaria elongata


Echinocereus pentalophus ?


Pereskiopsis sp.

[daiv]

Glad you started a topic. Your plants are looking good!

[charlpic]

Thank you, they are all pretty young and, except for the Epi, has been acquired within the last 2-3 months.

I tried to gradually introduce them to a south facing window and then to my south oriented balcony. According to the new growth of the Epi, it likes it.

[Arjen]

great start of your collection, you even already have a pereskiopsis! I bet you'll have a lot more plants soon!

[charlpic]

Good deduction arjen, Pereskiopsis => more plants soon , on my first reading of "Grown from seed" and "Grafting" sections, I was impressed by seedling grafting. Since I didn't have any grafting stock, I tried to find some Pereskiopsis.

I couldn't find any canadian seller nor a US nursery that would ship to Canada. Those Pereskiopsis were gladly obtained from a canadian member of this forum.

I now have sowed around 50 seeds from a "cactus seeds surprise mix" and about the same amount of what some of you guys thought to be Mammillaria Haselbergii ? It had already flowered when I bought it and there was some fruits so I figured I had nothing to loose trying to sow them. I'm using the baggy method... that will probably worth another post when they sprout (If they ever do).

Many of you mentioned that being on this forum, seeing plants and experiments will only have you wanting more plants. And this is kind of true... I feel it, only after a few weeks. But there is this "thing" called girlfriend that will make sure they don't take over all the windowsills and balcony.

My next big challenge will be to give those fellas a proper dormancy this winter. That might not be easy in an apartment without a cold basement or a heated garage. Between outdoor peaks at -25c and indoor comfort, I still have to find some room I'll be able to drop around 10-12c.

[Arjen]

how about putting them in a refrigerator with temps between 7 and 10 celsius
(then again, even harder to convince your girlfriend)

[charlpic]

then again, even harder to convince your girlfriend

Right! I would have a space problem (understand buy a new refrigerator). I thought about this solution but I was kinda worried about the air flow and the complete obscurity...

I mean, is refrigerator for dormancy a proven technique ?

[Peterthecactusguy]

Good deduction arjen, Pereskiopsis => more plants soon , on my first reading of "Grown from seed" and "Grafting" sections, I was impressed by seedling grafting. Since I didn't have any grafting stock, I tried to find some Pereskiopsis.

I couldn't find any canadian seller nor a US nursery that would ship to Canada. Those Pereskiopsis were gladly obtained from a canadian member of this forum.

I now have sowed around 50 seeds from a "cactus seeds surprise mix" and about the same amount of what some of you guys thought to be Mammillaria Haselbergii ? It had already flowered when I bought it and there was some fruits so I figured I had nothing to loose trying to sow them. I'm using the baggy method... that will probably worth another post when they sprout (If they ever do).

Many of you mentioned that being on this forum, seeing plants and experiments will only have you wanting more plants. And this is kind of true... I feel it, only after a few weeks. But there is this "thing" called girlfriend that will make sure they don't take over all the windowsills and balcony.

My next big challenge will be to give those fellas a proper dormancy this winter. That might not be easy in an apartment without a cold basement or a heated garage. Between outdoor peaks at -25c and indoor comfort, I still have to find some room I'll be able to drop around 10-12c.

Wrong you next big challenge will be how to deal with "girlfriend" and make her want to have a bigillion cacti!

Good luck

Canada must be harder to get your plants to grow, not quite the land of cacti, like it is here in the desert!

[charlpic]

I had nothing to loose... these 3 little ones were the only left of the batch. The others fried So I tried this. Two scions on top and one lower where new branch popped.



UPDATE 1: The smaller one turned brown the day after the shot was taken. I removed it.
UPDATE 2: FAILED. lol

[Arjen]

they fried? what happened? did they dry out or rot?

[charlpic]

I moved my shelf and forgot it... in direct sun. All the others had lost their greenness, some we're turning into gelly. The temp probably went to high in the pot because the soil was still wet/humid. But it could be something else... It was my first attempt at seeds so I'm not taking this too personnaly.

I've sown three batches to compensate: Astrophytum asterias (freshly harvested by a friend), Parodia haselbergii and an Agave sp mix.

[daiv]

Sorry to hear about the losses.

[LazyD]

Did you ever get all of your cacti identified?

[charlpic]

Most of them were through the ID section of the forum. Since they are all very young and none of them flourished (except the 'thought to be' haselbergii), I didn't include ID's when I first posted.

I edited the first post. Feel free to validate/invalidate any. The Echinocereus seemed to be the most unsure.

[charlpic]

Good day to add some pictures of newly acquired plants.

Ferocactus hamatacanthus


Rebutia archibuiningiana