Pompoms arctic cacti

[Pompom]

Hi everyone! I decided to make a whole new thread since my small collection has grown to an average sized collection. Well it’s still small compared to many collections, but now it’s more like a collection, not a ”couple of plants on windowsill”.
I live in Finland which is a small country on Northern part of Europe. The city I live in is basically on arctic circle which makes growing cacti little tricky. We have short bright summers when sun doesn’t set at all and long dark winters when sun doesn’t rise at all. I’ve learnt that even with the sunniest and warmest weather it’s still too dark for echeveria and opuntia to grow. I had those and they ended up etiolated last summer when we had most warmest and sunniest summer ever measured. Think about that. It seems it’s really tricky or almost impossible to grow specific species this North without constant special care.

So… Where to begin? For those who don’t know yet, I started to grow and collect cacti a year and half ago. I was deeply bored and tried to figure out what to do. I had tried different activities but none of them felt good enough to continue. Then one day I stumbled upon a cute picture of a cactus and decided to give a cactus hobby a try. My first cactus was schlumbergera, cuttings of schlumbergera to be exact. After those my collection grew more or less rapidly and I ended up having 19-20 different species, 24 individuals and two pots of seedlings. I love this hobby. It has taught me so much and I’ve got new friends too!

Enough of the talk. Here’s my collection by far! I love to name my plants so some of them have a given name. The names mainly come from the plants charasteristics or behavior. The pictures are from the side since I wanted them to be comparison pictures in the future. My apologies, they aren’t as good as they could be. The colors can be little off and not there.

SCHLUMBERGERA
I’ll start with the schlumbergera since it’s my first plant ever. At first I had 5 cuttings which had only one segment. I got another schlubergera last winter and got cuttings from that plant too. Now I have a pot with 5 cuttings, 3 from the beginning and 2 from new plant. The pot looks little bald but one day it’ll look really nice bush! That’s what I hope though…

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[Pompom]

MAMMILLARIA
Mammillaria Karwinskiana, Darth Karw. When I got it, it was a ball-shaped cutie and now it’s an egg-shaped cactus sith lord. Then after 6 months I ended up blaming it to be boring and out of nowhere it put out fruits. It was winter and the plant was under a growing light and the light came angled to it. The plant grew the fruits only to the dark side of the stem and with rotating I got it to sprout all the fruits out. That’s how it got it’s name. It had fallen to the dark side because I was mad to it. From the fruits I grew seedlings which I adore really much. The seedlings are now 7 months old. Most of the times I have no idea what I’m doing so please don’t ask how to grow seedlings, I really don’t know. The seedlings do the job, I just give them water if I feel so…

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Mammillaria Hahniana, Abyss. When I got this one, it was disc shaped. The center was deep and sunken so I named the plant Abyss. For whole summer I was sure the plant didn’t grow at all but then I checked pictures from before. It had grown so much! Cacti do grow kinda fast but they do it slow enough so you can’t actually realize it before you check up the pictures.

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Mammillaria Hahniana, Einstein. I’ve had this plant for about 6 months. At first the hair it has resembled like Albert Einsteins hair so that’s how it got the name.

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Mammillaria Brauneana (or similar). This is one of the new additions I got. Usually I don’t like to buy cacti which look too ”perfect”. It’s hard to find any character in them. It’s also hard to keep a track of their growth since there’s not a ”spot” to look for. This one was just too perfect, I couldn’t leave it behind. This one turned out to be a rival of Einstein. I noticed they are now just same sized. It will be fun to follow them growing. Which one is bigger next year?

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Mammillaria Camptotricha. One of the new additions, doesn’t have a name. I almost left it in the store, but decided to buy it because it had a flower bud opening. I read this one flowers in the end of the summer or early fall. I hope it becomes a realiable flowerer since I can’t give a proper winter to my plants yet but I can give them a summer. When I repotted it I took three offsets off since the offsets had roots of their own. Now the plant grows new offsets already!

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[Pompom]

GYMNOCALYCIUM
The biggest gymnocalycium I have is a g. Baldianum. This was the first gymno I got. At the end of the summer it got a flat mite invasion which I hope is in control now.

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Gymnocalycium Baldianum (or similar), smaller and darker. This one I had to buy because I loved the color of it. The last picture I took doesn’t have the true color in so I added older one which was taken in better light conditions.

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Almost etiolated Gymnocalycium Baldianum (perhaps). This one is so new it hadn’t got it first watering yet. I learned it might have a borderline etiolation going on. I love how disorted it looks. I decided to keep it in shaded light in order to keep the columnar shade of it. It’s so cool! A columnar gymno.

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Gymnocalycium anisitsii subs. damsii first. This one I bought since it had flower buds. Unfortunately it’s just too late for flowers. The more I read about the species, the more I ended up falling love with this one.

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Gymnocalycium anisitsii subs. damsii second. I loved the first one so much I decided to buy another one. These two look so different from each other. The first one has 7 ribs and the second has 8. This new one looks more softer and rounder too.

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[Pompom]

ECHINOPSIS
Echinopsis ssp, Roihu/Flare. I have no idea which echinopsis this one is, but it’s an offset from my grandmothers plant. It got it’s name in summer. One evening I was looking at my plants and noticed this one looked cool! The evening sun was shining angled from behind and it made the spines of it shine and the plant looked like it was in fire.

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Echinopsis Subdenudata, Onvei. Everyone needs this plant in my opinion. It’s beautiful and makes really attractive flowers. I don’t know why, but I keep up hitting this one. It’s like it’s always in the way! Like every time my hand is even close to this one I get my hand stuck to the negligible spines! I first tranlated ”in the way” wrongly as ”on the way” and that’s how it ended up being named as Onvei. It’s a miracle I haven’t killed it or ripped it off the roots already. That’s how many times I’ve accidentally hitted it…

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[Pompom]

NOTOCACTUS/PARODIA
Notocactus Roseuletus, (P)Earl. I don’t know why, but when I look at this one I immediately think about a pearl necklace. The spines look yellow in pictures and in real life but there’s also a subtle tint of pink in. I’ve tried countless of times to catch it in the pictures but failed.

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Parodia Mairanana. This is a new addition. I was told notocacti/parodia have crazy roots. This one had crazy roots too and this pot was just deep enough for it. Note to self: Think twice before buying another cactus with hooked spines.

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[Pompom]

ALOE
Aloe hybrid, Vida. This one was a souvenir gift from my friend. It’s from Spain and has a rough history with ants, root loss and suriving. It was basically dying but against the odds it lived. From two centimeters, it has risen to 11 centimeters! I named it Vida, the translator said it meand life in Spanish. It’s kinda suffering since I can’t give it enough light. I have to keep rotating it since it wants to lean to light. If I remember right, Wayne was always amazed how plump leaves this one has. The thickes parts of the leaves are 0.8mm thick. Including the bottom leaves.

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CRASSULA
Crassula Ovata Gollum/Hobbit. There’s two individuals in this pot. I think this one is the only plant which behaves just as I’ve read. ”It’s a slow growing species” describes perfectly this plant. It has grown but doesn’t look significantly different from the day I got it. It’s just chilling there. It seems it’s really hard to grow succulents here, this one doesn’t etiolate but I have to keep rotating it as the leaves keep leaning to the window. I’m going to repot it next spring and seperate the individuals.

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ECHINOCACTUS
Echinocactus Grusonii. This one I bought just because I want it to see it grow. One day it’ll be a large ball. I love the spines.

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FEROCACTUS
Ferocactus Hamatacanthus (sinuatus). I loved the purpleish spines it has. It doesn’t have proper roots right now but I hope it has enough power to pull through. I’d love to see it grow and develop!

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MATUCANA
Matucana Polzii. I’m not a fan of clumping species and this one is my first truly clymping species (beside of the m. camptotricha which I think I’m going to keep more or less clean of the offsets). But there it was, calling my name, wanting to get a home.

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MELOCACTUS
Melocactus something. At first I was terrified when I heard I got a melocactus but this one seems to like it here. It grows nice and steady. I’ve learnt when to water it. I believe it remains unidentified till it matures. The areoles are 2.5cm apart, that fact shrinks the list of possible species a bit but not enough.

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[Pompom]

OREOCEREUS
Oreocereus Trollii. This was an impulse purchase. I’ve had it for only a couple days but I love it so much! I lovet he hair it has and love the color of the stem. The color is so fresh bright green. This one has so sharp spines I actually had to use gloves while repotting.

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STENOCEREUS
Stenocereus Griseus. ”Fast growing species”, that’s what I was told. My plant didn’t hear that though… I’ve had it for about 10 months and all it has grown is the light area just in the top. It has grown 6 new areoles in 10 months. At first I was mad to it but I recently read in one Finnish blog that cereus in general take their time to adapt to live in North. It takes few years for it to adapt and start growing seriously. Can’t wait to see that!!

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STETSONIA
Stetsonia Coryne. I fell in love with this species at the moment I saw it in picture here. I wanted it to myself of course. And I found it. It’s a new addition so it hadn’t started to grow yet or anything. It has rooted well though and sits firmly in the pot. Like the cereus, maybe this one takes it’s time to start growing too.

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That was my whole collection so far. I’m so grateful for all the people here! Not only the ones who have helped me and gave me advises, I mean all of you! I’ve seen so many different species, read so many different stories and met so many different persons here! I’ve got precious information and top of all had so muh fun! This forum is awesome and people here are awesome.
Whole cactus family bows:

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[hegar]

Hello Pompom,
it is nice to hear, that you not only have found a hobby, which does satisfy you, but also, that you do like this site and its bloggers.
Although I did live the first 20 years of my life in northern Germany, I never ventured out further north than to Odense, Denmark. Now, I do live in "cactus country" and have my plants all in the ground, except for some, which are not cold hardy enough or cannot stand "wet feet" during late fall and winter.
Despite of being grown in such an inhospitable location for cacti, you are succeeding in keeping those cacti in your collection in very good health, as evidenced by the images you posted. Well, that requires a lot of effort and time and I salute you for it.

Harald

P.S.: It is kind of funny, that you have even given a name to some of your plants. While I do have a cactus, which is commonly known as the "Old Man of the Andes", because of its look white "hair", my plants do not have any name, except a scientific one. Perhaps I am just lacking some imagination.

[ElieEstephane]

It was a very pleasurable post to read pompom! AND WHERE IS KURT?!

[Pompom]

Hello Pompom,
it is nice to hear, that you not only have found a hobby, which does satisfy you, but also, that you do like this site and its bloggers.
Although I did live the first 20 years of my life in northern Germany, I never ventured out further north than to Odense, Denmark. Now, I do live in "cactus country" and have my plants all in the ground, except for some, which are not cold hardy enough or cannot stand "wet feet" during late fall and winter.
Despite of being grown in such an inhospitable location for cacti, you are succeeding in keeping those cacti in your collection in very good health, as evidenced by the images you posted. Well, that requires a lot of effort and time and I salute you for it.

Harald

P.S.: It is kind of funny, that you have even given a name to some of your plants. While I do have a cactus, which is commonly known as the "Old Man of the Andes", because of its look white "hair", my plants do not have any name, except a scientific one. Perhaps I am just lacking some imagination.

Hello Harald! Thanks for your response. I think this latitude helps me to grow cacti since the air here is mostly dry. Also the inside humidity has to be low most of the year since in cold weather the high humidity would mold the houses. I think that's a really good perk with cacti. I could imagine growing cacti inside would be much trickier in more humid areas like Denmark. I just need to keep the plants warm and give them extra light, usually I don't have to think about the humidity. Well, it's hard to get the cacti flower since the winters are way too cold for them and I don't have greenhouse or porch (one day I'll have). I can't give my plant's a true winter rest, for now I just can keep them dry but not cold.

P.S: It's easier to name the cacti if they give you a reason for naming! It's also easier to remember the name if you have a reason behind the name. I think some of the cacti will always have their scientific names or part of that, like the crassula I call Hobbit and melocactus is Melo. We do have some nicknames for some cacti in Finnish, but to me the nicknames are kinda lame. For example in Finnish all echinopsis are "Old boy" or "ball cactus", e. grusonii is "mother in law's stool", all gymnos are "bolus cactus". I want to make a difference in between the individuals.

[Pompom]

It was a very pleasurable post to read pompom! AND WHERE IS KURT?!

I kept most of my plants in balcony in summer. The echeveria ended up etiolated, Kurt too. Then one day we had strong winds which was too much for the tall plants and the roots kinda loosened and broke in the soil and the plants ended up being wobbly. I decided to give up.
Kurt is now in better place

[ElieEstephane]

I think kurt was trying to jump

[Pompom]

Hello everyone! How is it going?
I haven't been able to set my plants to winter rest place yet and they've been on the windowsill. Which is not optional since the radiator under the windowsill has been set on and the plants get too much heat and some of them are happily growing. Fortunately it has been sunny so they get some direct sun. Especially the tall gymno has been enjoying it's life here, it has rooted well and is furiously growing new spines. The e. subdenudata is growing too. That's actually really nice thing to notice cause now I know it's doing good despite of all the times I've accidentally hit it...

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What else? It has begun. The m. karwinskiana seems to have started the dichotomous splitting. The growing point is not round anymore and the regular growing pattern seems to be disturbed near the center. I'm so exited!

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Finally the melo got it's name. I'll call it Cola because of the color it showed today!

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I'm also really happy I finally got the color of the n. roseuletus in the picture! I had to use paint color copy tool to point the color I've been talking about. This slight hue of pink is always there but I haven't been able to get it in picture before. I absolutely love it.

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Talking about pink... God I want this ferocactus to survive! It's fabulous under the sun! I'm not sure if the small spine I circled is new growth or not but that's something I'm going to learn sooner or later.

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Most of my plants look so pretty and fresh under the sun which makes this parodia so special. Not because it too looks cool under the sun, it's because the sun doesn't affect the looks at all. I loved how shady and gloomy it looked with the dark spines in the center and that's why I bought it. I'm happy to notice it looks just like that under the sun too.

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Finally... I think I just give up with winter rest of this one... It seems nothing can stop g. damsii first from flowering. I've tried my best to stop it and it's trying it's best to continue. Today I noticed another new bud coming out (the pink in the center) and that's why I decided to try to support it as much as I can. I know it's not optional thing to do, but I'm going to do it anyways. I'm going to treat it like it was summer, give it warmth, regular watering and fertilize it. Of course when I get my overwintering place ready, I'm going to give this one the brightest place I can. I have the second plant so let's say it's a backup plan(t) if something bad happened to this one.

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[saboten]

I love this topic, Pompom! I enjoy reading people's little 'biographies' of their plants because they can often be as interesting as those of humans. I feel kind of inspired to start my own personal topic now, despite also having a (relatively) small collection...

[Pompom]

I love this topic, Pompom! I enjoy reading people's little 'biographies' of their plants because they can often be as interesting as those of humans. I feel kind of inspired to start my own personal topic now, despite also having a (relatively) small collection...

I'm glad to hear this topic interests you. If you're able to do your own topic, please do it! I'd be more than happy to read it. It's always inspiring to see other people plants and read how they are doing in general. It doesn't matter how big or small your collection is, everyone needs to start from somewhere. In my opinion, it might be actually easier to 'characterize' your plants and focus more to the individuals if you have less plants.