Vermont Cacti 2012--this time with a GH!

[fanaticactus]

A few things from the past couple of days. First, these two buds on a Tacinga inamoena just crept up on me--never saw them developing.

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My Mamm. zeilmanniana has several flowers, but not a complete ring.

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Most perplexing to me is whatever is happening to this Eriocyce; they don't look like flower buds, but something's gonna grow. And I don't think Erios sprout more stems from the crown. Can anyone tell me what's going on??

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[gemhunter178]

Nice looking plants! I think your Eriocyce just decided to grow more than one head! Was the growth point damaged?

[fanaticactus]

Nice looking plants! I think your Eriocyce just decided to grow more than one head! Was the growth point damaged?

Not that I'm aware of. Once I got the GH set up so it had a warm & protected place to grow, it first got light green on the crown & then this business developed. But Erios don't clump or grow additional heads, do they?

[CactusFanDan]

Nice looking plants! I think your Eriocyce just decided to grow more than one head! Was the growth point damaged?

Not that I'm aware of. Once I got the GH set up so it had a warm & protected place to grow, it first got light green on the crown & then this business developed. But Erios don't clump or grow additional heads, do they?

The growing point must've gotten damaged. Maybe you moved it into a brighter area and it got scorched. They don't just do that without any reason, but still a nice plant.

[fanaticactus]

Nice looking plants! I think your Eriocyce just decided to grow more than one head! Was the growth point damaged?

Not that I'm aware of. Once I got the GH set up so it had a warm & protected place to grow, it first got light green on the crown & then this business developed. But Erios don't clump or grow additional heads, do they?

The growing point must've gotten damaged. Maybe you moved it into a brighter area and it got scorched. They don't just do that without any reason, but still a nice plant.

This just goes to show us that not all damage is visibly obvious. I can't wait to see what form it will take on.

[fanaticactus]

Here's that crazy beautiful Chamaelobivia hybrid going nuts with more flowers! However, the body seems to be getting a bit soft. Would the excess of flowers and buds sap some strength from the body to cause this condition? i.e., too much energy going into flower production at the expense of healthy flesh? Could it be caused by the two days in the high 90s and high humidity we just had?

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Then there's the first flower on my Thelocactus setispinus, although it's an Altman plant labeled "Hamatocactus hamatacantha". I think the final word on a recent thread on that question in the Forum "General" section was a red throat makes it the T. setispinus.

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And the M. zeilmanniana now has a more complete crown of flowers.

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[Arjen]

great looking flowers!

the softening of the chamaelobivia body can be caused by either of those or a combination, treat it as you normally would and it will probably be fine

[fanaticactus]

All of these bloomed yesterday; they are obviously enjoying the heat and bright sun. I've had this Sulco pulchra since June 2010; this is its first time blooming.

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I've had this forst time bloomer Coryphanta for a year, but it remains a NOID. I've searched several times & several sources and can't find a match, especially for the spines, many of which are black with a white tip--as if dipped in paint. Is it some ssp of the common cornifera?

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What are we calling this now? Gymno. stenopleurum? I've had it a number of years, but it's never bloomed this early nor had as many buds. It seems the conditions that make it bloom also cause sunburn--at least that's what I'm assuming. It has been every color from medium green to deep purple. I'll call it my chameleon!

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[gemhunter178]

Nice looking plant and flowers! Whatever species your Cory is, it looks great!

[fanaticactus]

Since the last post, there are a couple of possible ID's and more flowers. First, the NOID Cory. After more looking around, I think it may be a Cory salinensis, although it does not match photos here CactiGuide. It answers the description in Anderson, in body form, spines and flowers; the picture on the website "Coryphantas en cultivo" is very close to mine. Can anyone verify this?

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My Mamm. sphaerica had a nice trio of blooms--first time.

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The T. setispinus, E. hesteri and E. leucanthus went for encores.

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Thanks to Arjen and my followup searches, I am now confident in labeling this one as S. torotorensis v HS213. It had an almost 100% ring of flowers. I guess the first few flowers were just to see if they liked the environment!

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The first day these opened on the E. cinnabarina (former Lobivia draxleriana) they only got this far. They seem to open wider and wider each day; I'll post more photos if they do.

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And I remembered that this hybrid Echinopsis/Lobivia is sold as v "Rose Quartz". I was worried earlier about its overall weakened condition

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...but it appears much more robust now.

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[fanaticactus]

We have been blessed with about two full weeks of hot (upper 70's to upper 80's), dry weather and the cacti are going nuts loving it! Here are some photos from the last week or so. There are some repeated cacti but with even more blooms; I think I owe the great proliferation to the GH this year. First time on the Forum this year is my strangely growing C. hypogaea. It had some etoliated growth two winters ago and, even though the pups still look like castle turrets, it had a great flush of flowers (7 at once, all struggling to show off).

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The Chamaelobivia "Rose Quartz" continues its dazzling production.

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The Sulco pulchra has pushed out a second batch.

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This E. leucanthus flower closes at night but reopens day after day; I've lost actual count, but I think today is Day 5 or 6.

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The E. cinnabarina/Lobivia draxleriana showed its stuff.

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A single head G. mesopotamicum fully opened its gorgeous white flower today. I keep forgetting how large the flower is compared to the plant itself.

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This G. baldianum came up with a straggler!

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Finally, this P. scopa v muriellii had its first go of it for the season.

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[sundanz]

Awesome! I'm blown away by the gorgeous flowers!! I have some of your plants but the only one blooming right now is the Thelocactus Setispinus and the one before that was the Parodia Magnifica.Now after seeing your pictures I have alot to look forward to!!
Karin

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[fanaticactus]

Thank you, Karin. Frankly, I'm sorta blown away too after some not-so-good seasons. Each one gets better, though. You are fortunate to have those two cacti bloom for you--both are excellent ones and showy in themselves. How large is your collection? Are there any more on their way to flowering? Do a lot of reading and a lot of photo surfing and note which cacti folks talk about here on the Forum that are easy to care for and have nice blooms. That way, you'll build a sizable, colorful and reliable group of favorites. Let us know as soon as others flower for you!

[sundanz]

Thank you, fanaticactus! Actually I'm new to C&S, only since May. My collection has grown to only 50 since then, but I'm already addicted and try to add new ones almost daily! I have learned a great deal since joining this forum, and I read everything about cacti I can get my hands on. Of course I made mistakes with soil in the beginning but have since rectified that by repotting everything at least 3 times! The only worrisome plant is my Faucaria Tuberculosa, no matter what I do she gets damp feet and gets all mushy on me. I have discarded half of it and replanted the dry half in dry soil and put her in a corner, like time-out. No more water! The rest of the plants look great, and I'm looking forward to more blooms!

[fanaticactus]

Funny thing about those Faucaria--I lost one too. I managed to get some great snapshost of it, though, before it died. [I was going to attach 3 photos of it here, but I can't; I got a message I've never seen before here: "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached"]. I don't know if you've seen my threads here on the Forum about soils and additives, but I'm in the midst of repotting mine yet again. I've lost count on how many times that would be for my older ones. My new ones are much luckier, since they go right into the lightest, most porous soil I've ever mixed--and they've really come to life, even many of the older ones that had looked so drab for a couple of years. I thought my soil was good then, but when I removed many of the cacti from their pots, it was easy to see that the roots were basically being smothered. I've come to the conclusion that the less actual soil of any kind there is in the mix, the better it is for the cacti.