Snowfella's cactus trials

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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

I wish I had that much space on my bench. I would get more cacti! :)

My bench is full. I need to get some new boards that arent warped and make another shelf!
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Not to much space left on it right now though, some new additions aswell as heavy repotting has eaten up the space I once had I'm afraid. Should ease up alittle come spring though with both the formerly planned bed in mind and the fact that I've talked the wife into getting rid of the flapjacks from the bed in the corner of the pool enclosure in favour of cactii :D

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The bench just a few minutes ago, mind you it's already getting dark outside so this is a 30 second exposure.

And the latest additions from today, as almost always in bad soil or in the case of the Fero with glued topdressing :|

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Just love the tag on the Stapelia/Huernia, "Starfish flowers" :lol: Least I know what to expect if it's a stinky one but I can imagine the shock an unsuspecting buyer would get.

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Closer shots. No real idea on the Fero or the columnar but I'm guessing Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii
on the last.
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Probably should of waited with this untill spring but as the weather has been ok, coldish during the night but warm days with no rain, and I had all the "victims" already I couldn't stop myself. Straight gamble to see how many that will survive the winter though.

First 2 oldish before shots, first taken quite a few months ago and the second taken just weeks ago.
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And after today's efforts.
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Cut out all the flapjacks and the cordyline at the back, moved the C peruvians to a new spot and added 7 cactii...some known and some unknown.

Closer looks at the new additions
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Unknown simply labeled Lobivia, has been living outdoors in that winebarrel mostly all summer already.

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N. leninghausii and tiny O. microdasys

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Unknown Echinopsis and Lobivia

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Mammillaria compressa

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Total unknown, simply labeled "spike". Guessing some kind of Echinopsis hybrid

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And the 2 "oldtimers" in that bed. M geometrizans and C peruvians. I had to lop an arm off that geo in January as it was starting to keel over from the weight of it, since then it's started 3 new arms :shock: The old arm is now sitting re-rooted in a pot on the growing bench. :)
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Lazz
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Post by Lazz »

Hi Snowfella You are getting to have a big collection for sure.
It all looks really good.
I bought a M geometrizans a couple of weeks ago.
Larry
CLOTU
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Arjen
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Post by Arjen »

you are going to have a lovely garden! nice new plants!
With apologies to the late Professor C. D. Darlington the following misquotation springs to
mind ‘cactus taxonomy is the pursuit of the impossible by the incompetent’ - Fearn & Pearcy, Rebutia (1981)
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

I hope so! Keeping my fingers crossed that these experiments will survive the winter outdoors and flourish come spring, that new bed gets full morning sun and next to no afternoon sun plus it's quick draining aswell so I'm hoping for the best.
Probably overcrowding it though as I put in 2 more smaller Lobivia's there today. :oops:
And even though it's still totally the wrong season I've sown more seeds, tickled the N. ottonis in my avatar when it flowered and both seedpods that formed cracked open today as they were full of seeds. So they are now in the incubator along with all the rest.

Plus I'm right now fighting an ongoing battle with one of the neighbourhood cats, don't really have anything against cat's but when one designates my outdoor cactus beds as his crapper then it's war! :evil:
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Just back from a quick anniversary trip down the coast with the wife, scored both some cactuses from a nursery aswell as some wild growing Agave cuttings. Plus ran into an Opuntia in a to me pretty unlikely place of growth.

Nursery purchases along with the 2 cuttings I snatched, snatches as in grabbed hold of a baby growing in the ground and gave it a yank...got the cuts to prove it :oops:
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Left to right if the labels are correct.
Mammillaria marksiana, Echinocactus platyacanthus, Echinopsis subdenudata, Mammillaria hahniana.
And what I think is 2 variants of Agave americana infront.

Got plain lucky at that nursery though as they just had got a new shippment of cactii in today. The older stuff they had on the shelf looked like this.
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:shock: That "thing" in the white pot is labeled as Melocactus, looks like a bargain to me as you also get some sort of Mesemb along with your purchase. :roll:

Here's the supprise Opuntia find along with some impressively spiny friends.
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Growing right at the edge of the ocean, most definately within reach of saltspray and salty inland wind and it's absolutely covered in ripe fruit.

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And it's spreading too, these growing from dropped pads...just feet away from the edge of the beach.

Some randoms of that Opuntia and Agave's, that's one heck of a tall flower spike.
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Lastly, my christmas cactuses are starting to get there. Only one newbought one labeled Schlumbergera x reginae is without new buds, that one was unfortunately all bloomed out when I got my hands on it.
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The white cultivar is about to go "boom" in the coming days.
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

To many flowers for it's own good, branches are sagging badly now. :D

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All the other zygo's are a week or 2 behind, buds are starting to grow bigger on them now.
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Everything is really starting to slow down here for winter, only things still kicking up buds and flowers apart from the zygo's are a few Mamms.
One gave me a supprise today though when I checked the bench over, didn't see any flowers on it since I bought it but there must of been some on it before I brought it home.

Mammillaria sphacelata ssp viperina
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:D

And although I've tried to slow down my new additions some still manage to follow me home, got 2 new ones today from a stall outside a local fruitmarket. Not bad purchases for $5 a pop, be paying 3 or 4 times than in a nurcery around these parts.

Echinopsis subdenudata and a Stapeliad I think, 12cm pots.
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Be repotting these pretty ASAP as they seem planted in straight up potting mix. Not sure what I'll do with the pups on the Echinopsis though

These 2 tagged along home the other week, Parodia ottonis with pups galore growing under the topdressing and an unknown Echinopsis cluster.
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

:oops:
Had a weak moment today, cravings for a smoke hit me hard enough that I had to go for a drive or I'd of grabbed a smoke. So I substituted one addiction for another and ended up with new friends instead of ruin 8 weeks of being smoke free. Kept a lid on it though and only came home with 7 new ones :lol:

Left to right:
Echinopsis comarapana and Thelocactus nidulans
Thelocactus sp, Copiapoa hypogea, Mammillaria mazatlanensis
Notocactus/parodia magnificus cv minor, Mammillaria kraehenbuehlii

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Copiapoa hypogea cluster
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Thelocactus nidulans
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Mammillaria kraehenbuehlii with flowers
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Notocactus/Parodia magnificus cv minor starting to clump
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iann
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Post by iann »

Seven pretty nice ones. If I had to have only one Thelocactus, I think it would be this one. Do you think the Copiapoa is grafted? This is a fairly slow growing species and that would be a pretty old plant.
--ian
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Cheers, ventured into the back section of the nursery this time around where there's alot of older plants. The T. nidulans and E. comarapana came from that side while the rest was from the regular seedling side, the Echinopsis even had a tag on it saying it was grown from an offset taken in 2001. lol
Somehow suspect the other Thelo I got might be a nidulans aswel, body looks pretty similar in shape and spination...very different from the only other Thelo I have, a smallish T. macdowelii

As for the Copiapoa, it could of been grafted I guess although I can't really see any evidence of a grafting stock when looking at it. Does have some visible roots just at the surface though and is raised quite a bit in the pot. Did seem to be something of a rarity in that nursery though as it was the only one I could see out of hundreds of seedlings in 5 and 8cm pots. Only ever seen 2 while there and both now reside on my bench :)
No real clue what the other one is though, just that it definately isn't a C. hypogaea

Bottom left in this photo.
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iann
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Post by iann »

All Copiapoas are C. humilis until proven otherwise :) Very common, big fleshy roots, soft bodies. Perhaps the best thing about them is that they flower young and often. Yours certainly should be big enough.
--ian
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SnowFella
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Post by SnowFella »

Think it acctually is near flowering right now, plenty of fuzz at the top with something solid starting to poke through it. Doubt anything will come of it though as it's starting to get coldish down here now, foewcast call's for 3 degree mornings untill Friday and no more than 15 degrees during the day....good thing I'll be spending most of next month back in Europe again :lol:
Almost so I'm thinking about moving the Copiapoas indoors alongside my Melo's since evertything I'm reading says they are cold sensitive.
iann
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Post by iann »

Copiapoa humilis is OK down to about -3C for short periods, maybe even a little less, but it doesn't really like it and there is no benefit. If you can keep it warm and sunny all year round, it will grow all year round.
--ian
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