Wow! - What is going on here?

[John823]

On July 31, 2018 I received a Opuntia mamillata (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mamillata) that I had purchased. I repotted it in 60% potting soil 40% perlite with a gravel top dressing. It began to rot at the base almost immediately. So I cut the two stems back and repotted each separately. I placed them under florescent lights and sprayed the soil regularly. In November I decided to follow suggestions posted on the Forum and repot my plants in a 15% organic and 85% inorganic soil mix without any top dressing.

Here is the interesting part.

I noticed at the base of one of the cuttings what appeared to be two cacti seedlings. I did not repot this cutting because I did not want to damage the roots of the two little seedlings. Yesterday I noticed more seedling growth. I removed the gravel top dressing and what I found is shown below.

The soil that I had originally potted the cuttings in was never used before for any other plant and the cuttings had never flowered. Does anyone have a possible explanation, theory or guess as to what is going on? Thanks in advance.

[A_G_R]

Interesting! Any cactus nearby that had fruit? It will be fun to watch those babies develop and learn what they are, definitely not Opuntias!

[Aiko]

Looks like it is not all cactus, but I reckon some African succulents are in there too.

I only get some seedlings in a pot when I have reused the soil of pot with seeds that have not germinated after a few years. Somehow the seeds still germinate after all. But I take it this was not the case here.

[saboten]

What a fun surprise! Where did you get your soil? From a friend, nursery? Perhaps a fruit had fallen into their soil mix, if that's the case.

[Zonengorg]

Those in le rigth looks like Conophytum, I guess that's the spelling! Nice find!

[John823]

Hi All,

I potted the cuttings in soil that was never used before. Since the cuttings had no roots, there was no place for possible seeds to hide. I did, however, plant Rebutia glacilifolia and Mammillaria prolifera seeds in a closed plastic container in another room in late August. I moved these covered containers near the cuttings. I can't imagine that the seeds could have "jumped" out of the container into the nearby pot after I uncovered them.

A couple of the mystery seedlings have shriveled since I removed the gravel from above them. I will try to keep the remaining seedlings alive, and, if successful, I will post more photos in the future. Thanks for all your input.

John.