Flowers to pollinate

[keith]

Going to try and get seed from these plants. So far they have been pretty easy to germinate. I like them they have all the good features in miniature cactus being small plants they don't take up much room and even less if they are planted together in a pot. They will rot if watered too much so that's a risk in a group planting where one plant can infect all the others . So I do it both ways. the white flowering ones flower a little later than these pink ones. I rate this species as moderately easy, not home depot cactus easy but easy compared to other miniature cactus.

[keith]

Mammillaria roseocentra which is the same as magallanii they say.

Maybe slightly harder to grow than Turbinicarpus valdezinaus and the flower is no big deal but it will have a nice red fruit if I can get the flowers to pollinate and set seed. Need two plants so I bought the little one from Mesa gardens a few years ago. The bigger one is from seed way back in 1993.
Cut the top off years ago that's why it looks like this with 5 stems.

Seeds germinate moderately easy. I have used these plant's seeds which germinated last year in a pot with E. bokeii so I must have used high heat, left them out in full sun with plastic on top of the pot for a few days before they went on the heat mat. Only way I get bokeii to germinate well. They get really hot doing this maybe even Phoenix AZ hot but only for a few hours. bokeii came up like grass in Phoenix. So did Ariocarpus fissuratus.

[keith]

Looks like the valdezianus are all about done for the year. Now they go back to being just about invisible. Don't blink or you'll miss it

[MagiCarpus]

When will mine look like yours? , probably gonna be a long wait for me

4 month old seedlings

[keith]

I started mine in 2010 and they grew at different rates so I put the small ones all in the same pot. 7 years wow time flies.

[keith]

More turbinicarpus flowering. I think these are T. klinkerianus var schawzii ? IDK the exact name. A old one and seedlings from this one crossed with another old one many years ago. If you look close you can see the older cactus split a few years ago. Too much water too fast and a split is formed this is a common problem with turbinicarpus plants I think. I got originals from miles2go ~2007.

[hegar]

Hello Keith,
I am trying to also get more involved growing dwarf cacti, especially those of the genus Turbinicarpus. I do have two T. valdezianus plants and I can say, that these are tiny, but tough cacti. Unfortunately, my plants both have the light colored blossom.
Yours do have a nice deep pink flower. Where did you purchase your plants?

Harald

[keith]

" Miles to go " is where I bought most of my small cactus.

Another cactus to pollinate M. candida

[keith]

Epithelantha gregii and a Echinocereus pectinitus . no seeds with the echinocereus its the only one I have of that kind.

[keith]

More flowers on the Turbinicarpus

[keith]

With luck I'll have seeds to trade in a few months.

[mdpillet]

Looking gorgeous, Keith!

[keith]

More flowers to pollinate , That's 2 plants in one pot about 10 years old from seed from Mesa "West of Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico"

It was labeled Echinocereus pectinatus weinbergii var. ctenoides. I don't know what all the after "pectinatus" means ? weinbergii probably a collectors name and ctenoides (ctenoides) is from the Greek kteis or ktenos meaning "comb" referring to the appearance of new growth with young leaves which I thought pectinatus means?

Anyway flowers are orange and last days.

[keith]

For many reasons I never get this plant to last very long.. luckily they are fairly common at cactus nurseries. I bought two of these at Arizona cactus sales last summer, I was the only customer at 110 F .

[keith]

Escobaria minima in full bloom. I transplanted it last year it must be happy