peterb's 2012

[tumamoc]

Nice! I hope the Echinomastus pull through. I'm pretty stoked 'cause my young-looking E. erectocentrus v. acunensis has got flower buds for the first time. How long do you think it takes it go from seedling to flowering age?

[peterb]

They flower very young in habitat, so I'd guess about 5 years? I have never been able to grow one from seed to flower. I have a couple that are getting up there.
I think Bruno has gotten them to flowering size from seed. Maybe he knows how long it takes in italy.

peterb

[peterb]

Some photos of a few things. Spring is very, very slowly springing here. Very mild winter this year, but rather dry here in Tempe this past 6 weeks.

[iann]

Lots going on there. Little going on here. Pediocactus are fat, hard to see any movement on anything else. I'll be test watering some E. polycephalus soon. I tried Mammillaria tetrancistra but no big response.

[billdee]

Everything looks great peter!
One of my future goals is to raise a cactus from seed to flower. That would be cool.

[peterb]

Raising from seed to flower is wonderful. There are some species that can go from sowing to flower in about 18-36 months. I tend not to grow those and aim for some of the slower stuff that's more like 4-8 years to flower. The key thing for me of course is to not wait for flowers. haha. I like looking at seedlings, so I'm enjoy the plants from the day they sprout, not holding my breath. It is really cool when the slow ones start to put on adult characteristics.

peterb

[peterb]

A few more pics.

[billdee]

Raising from seed to flower is wonderful. There are some species that can go from sowing to flower in about 18-36 months. I tend not to grow those and aim for some of the slower stuff that's more like 4-8 years to flower. The key thing for me of course is to not wait for flowers. haha. I like looking at seedlings, so I'm enjoy the plants from the day they sprout, not holding my breath. It is really cool when the slow ones start to put on adult characteristics.

peterb

You need to grow some Aztekium ritteri then. I read that they only grow 1 mm or 2 per year, or something like that if I remember correctly. I personally don't like grafting too speed up growth, but that's my personal preference though, and I agree with you that is enjoyable to watch slow growers to go through their changes before reaching maturity.
Nice new pics by the way.

[peterb]

A friend of mine got me a tripod and I was experimenting with it yesterday a little bit. I haven't ever used one. I look forward to learning more about how it can improve photos. The macros do seem sharper to me. The first three photos are not with the tripod.

peterb

[mughal113]

Definitely much sharper... you were not doing bad without that tripod either

[hob]

another tip is to use the self timer .........lets the camera settle after pressing the shutter.

[peterb]

Thanks for that tip, Hob. It's easy to use the timer on the Sony Cybershot. Here's a couple pics of Mammillaria estebanensis using tripod and timer.

peterb

[Lazz]

Nice plants. The Mammillaria shots look great.
A handy tip about the timer as well. I will definitely give that a go.

[mughal113]

Nice plants and amazing photos

[RichR]

Beautiful shots of the M. estebanensis!