Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

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anttisepp
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Location: Suomi - Finland

Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by anttisepp »

You'll be amazed to see the difference between indoor and outdoor growing.
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Snowcat
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Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:01 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

*Cacti stories*

Hello everyone! I thought is would be fun not only show you some pictures but also to share the stories of some of my cacti.

Part 1. "The mother of all my cacti"

The first cactus I've bought from a shop was this little (back then) Mammillaria mazatlanensis. Here how it looked like:

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Here it is waiting for a change of soil after a wash :)

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7 years have passed. It never gave me a flower unfortunately (warm winter conditions?), but now it occupies the biggest pot of all my cacti!

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Looks quite awesome, and I am happy that I managed to keep my first cacti plan alive through all these years of trials and errors with soil, lighting, e.t.c.
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Snowcat
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Location: Moscow, Russia
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

*Cacti stories*

Time for another story!

This time our hero will be a small Melocactus Matanzanus. I've bought in a shop (Auchan, OBI or maybe even Ikea) and it already had a cephalium. Smaller, then you can see on a picture, but still it already had it.

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When I brought it home, I've found a terrible spot of black rot on it. It could not be seen in the shop because it faced downwards and was under the ground. I washed away the peat from cactus roots and decided to operate the cactus. I removed all the rot from it with a spoon and cut some of the healthy looking flesh around that hole to ensure it will not return. Then I've placed the poor patient on a shelf for a week. I've made a cavity in it that was like a walnut in size! I wanted it to become completely dry so I put some medical activated coal inside. After a week of drying, I've planted it in a soil mix with no organics. It is sitting in that mix now and, as you can see, it gives my tens of flowers, some of which are now converting into berries. It's cephalium grew wider and higher.

P.S. And it's berries are tasty, I've consumed couple pf them :)
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