Not many blooms rival the beauty of Echinocereus pentalophus. I didn't have many buds this year, but it's still outstanding! If I had 100 of these blooms, I swear I'd remove all the green stigmas and cook 'em up in a wok! They look scrumptious!
Bill in SC
Bill, those flowers are gorgeous. Luckily, the pentalophus stem that fell off (which I 'rescued')and impaled itself on the Euphorbia below it in the greenhouse has developed a couple of small roots. When it comes time to pot it up, what kind of soil have you found works well for it? The standard desert mix? Extra grit or charcoal? Extra organic matter or minerals? I'm looking forward for it growing into a blooming-size plant. Is it a fast, medium or slow grower? Thanks for any info you can send along.
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
I use heavy grit in all my cactus containers. That said, my Echinocereus pentalophus plants themselves don't look all that great, so I'm not sure the mix, or my conditions agrees with them. For some reason, Echinocereus in general grow here, but don't really flourish like I have seen them grow elsewhere. I dearly love the genus, and hope I can eventually get a grasp on their needs.
Bill in SC
I find pentalophus and cineracens very similar, but I think the flowers on pentalophus are more dramatic due to the white center. Hope you get some flowers on your white ones Bill!
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
ok, it is now sought after here! I am especially fond of purple flowers and this is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen. I'm curious what the white one looks like.
With apologies to the late Professor C. D. Darlington the following misquotation springs to
mind ‘cactus taxonomy is the pursuit of the impossible by the incompetent’ - Fearn & Pearcy, Rebutia (1981)