my collection so far....

[adetheproducer]

Bit of an update, haven't posted many pictures recently so here is some of the more notable growth.

[adetheproducer]

More pictures

[adetheproducer]

New arrival lucky buy on ebay. Eriosyce taltalensis subsp. paucicostata or neochilenia paucicostata which ever you prefer but its nice and purple.

[bluetexasbonnie]

Very nice. Love the color. Will it always stay that purple-y color? ... or does it require certain light levels to maintain the color, or does it outgrow the color?

[CactusFanDan]

My money's on an offset on that Matucana. Nice Eriosyce. That must be a selected form or a cultivar, since I don't think any of my taltalensis's are quite that bright!

[adetheproducer]

bluetexasbonnie - I assume it will stay this colour although light might also make a difference.

CactusFanDan - yeah I think you are right its grown a bit more since taking this picture and now has much more spines poking out so yeah probably is an offset. I couldn't resist the eriosyce very unusual deffinatelly like chilean cacti almost as much as the mexican ones.

[promethean_spark]

I have Neoporteria jussieui that can be that purple at times. It seems too much light bleaches it out (including the black spines), but too little makes them green. They look best when they are about 5 years old and just grew from a lot that season because most of the plant is new growth. Older plants grow slower and have much denser spines.
Here's one of mine about 7 years ago, I'll take a new picture (it has buds now I believe) to show what an old plants looks like.

I bought that plant about a year before the photo, but I got Neoporteria jussieui seed from mesagarden which came out the same.
It could well be that your neochilenia paucicostata and my neochilenia jussieui are descended from collections from the same purple population and got different names because the taxonomy changed.

[adetheproducer]

Yeah they get quite tall and spines are long and point up. They look much better when older.

[adetheproducer]

Another delivery from ebay, another lophophora williamsii caespitosa very nice plant pictue doesn't realy do it justice. It was a little root bound and dreaded peat/disintetgrated perlite but cleaned up nicely and has got good strong tuber and fine roots should feel a bit more free in a larger pot. I moved my other caespitosa into the pot with it, I'm a firm believer that lophophora like company. Also There is a lot of work done exploring communication between plants with symbiotic fungi as intermediates, that makes me think lots of plants need same species company. Lophophora grow in patches in many natural settings or like moss in cracks squeezed in tight together so, why not in captivity? Anyway I ramble, was just meant to post a picture.

[bluetexasbonnie]

Hmmm, a purple cactus might be the first cactus that I pursue for itself. Normally I just wait for one to cross my path and then allow whim to decide if it goes or stays.

[adetheproducer]

Also the l.williamsii in the picture above with the fruit has proved its self as my most proliferous has pushed out another large fruit, the first is almost dry. And to top that its got a larger than normal flower bud popping out too. Yey lophophora
Also more flowers on my micromeris thats 6 or 7 so far and one small fruit on my one in work. Its great got 2 l.williamsii and an e.micromeris in a pot on my desk they get good sunlight on the windowsill then when the sun shifts I move them back to my desk under my S.A.D lamp. The 3 look a little pampered but the colours are stunning lovely grey greens and velvety smooth epidermis on the lophs and nice tight spines on the micromeris. I would have uploaded a picture but due to the nature of my job I cannot take a camera into the office. So more seed soon then, if you have seen Euto_Int's thread in seedlings section I will be sending on to any one in the uk free of charge along with the excess seeds sent to me curtsy of eutow_intermediate and hendry terok.

[CactusFanDan]

I'll have to check my E. taltalensis seedlings tomorrow to see if I have any really purple forms like those. I suspect it's a selectively bred mongrel, rather than any representative of a particular population. Actually, Ade's looks like it might have a bit of E. heinrichiana in it's parentage and Promethean Spark's looks like it's got some E. occulta genes. Mainly due to the deep-set aeroles.

[adetheproducer]

Here is the posting on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301166963172? ... 1497.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Man being dyslexic sucks 2 times I had to correct this.

[CactusFanDan]

Ah yes, Solentguy (David Quail? I think) always has a nice selection of well grown plants. The lineage is questionable for some things he sells, but that's usually the case with anything without a field number to go with it. Nice plants nonetheless. Having a browse through his plants for sale, he has Haemanthus deformis and an Ocotillo species which I might have to indulge in.

[adetheproducer]

Linerage is questionable in any circumstance, who knows what pollen does what to what plants in nature, that is little concern to me they are just a cool to grow and look very different to most things out there. He did have some nice plants.