Stenocereus griseus 'Phil McCracken'

[hiawog]

Hi all,

I just ordered this bad boy from Miles2Go, but I know hardly anything about it. I've tried the search but I can't seem to find much information.

1. HISTORY: What's the story behind this cultivar? Is it named after the sculptor or someone else? Was it perhaps a single naturally-occurring monstrose form that has been cloned over and over?

2. GRAFTING/ROOTING: He's got them grafted, and that's what I see in most pictures I can find. Can they survive on their own roots? Has anyone ever degrafted one or rooted a cutting/offset?

3. CULTIVATION: I'd love to hear anyone's experience or advice on growing them.

Thank you all so much!
Joseph

PS - The temperature inside my house here in Texas dropped to 28f/-2c when I lost power for two days. A glass of water on my bedstand froze solid, not just ice on top. I had transported my cacti inside to try to protect them, so they experienced a real freeze. Shockingly, most seem surprisingly fine. I can't believe it and I am so grateful. Only about 20% of my plants have died, and most of those were tropicals. I do expect there is more damage than is fully apparent yet and I seem to have lost some of my favorite seedlings (including the fattest L. fricii ooibo), but I cannot believe how well most species fared. Some are even budding.

[DaveW]

Evidently just a monstrose form that has been given a cultivar name:-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/flora_cri ... 9598182814

Looks like originally a sport on a normal plant?

https://www.reddit.com/r/cactus/comment ... rose_phil/

I would not think it would need any different care to the normal plant. Grafting is often used to propagate these things quickly rather than they are difficult on their own roots. However there are some plants that survive better on a graft than if you try and root them.

Maybe it was named because it looked like one of his sculptures? I doubt he would have raised it?

[hiawog]

Thanks Dave. I found those same meager links. No one has any personal experience?

[A_G_R]

Aks Miles, he problably knows the story, he has named a few of those weirdos himself

[hiawog]

Aks Miles, he problably knows the story, he has named a few of those weirdos himself

That's a good idea. I was going to bother him about it but I hesitated because know he's super busy right now with spring orders, and I figured other members might also be curious. When I follow up with him I'll post what I find out in this thread.

[hiawog]

Aks Miles, he problably knows the story, he has named a few of those weirdos himself

You hit the nail on the head. With Miles' permission, this is what he told me:

Phil can be grown on its own roots but it is slow to root and grows even slower.

Stenocereus Phil McCracken popped out of the side of one of our grafting stocks. I was getting ready to offer it when a fellow hobbyist, Phil, suggested I name it "anal warts". I thought better and named it after the Scottish psychiatrist played by Sir Patrick Stewart on an SNL skit.

Now I'm going to have to go back and find that episode!

[A_G_R]

Aks Miles, he problably knows the story, he has named a few of those weirdos himself

You hit the nail on the head. With Miles' permission, this is what he told me:

Phil can be grown on its own roots but it is slow to root and grows even slower.

Stenocereus Phil McCracken popped out of the side of one of our grafting stocks. I was getting ready to offer it when a fellow hobbyist, Phil, suggested I name it "anal warts". I thought better and named it after the Scottish psychiatrist played by Sir Patrick Stewart on an SNL skit.

Now I'm going to have to go back and find that episode!

Great story!! And the name is so much better that 'anal warts'!!!