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Looks like the bench work is coming together.

vitt13 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 2:45 pm

Traveller wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 1:30 pmI cleaned this Astro asterias as best I could. It's looking pretty bad. Do you think it's even possible to save, or it is even worth trying?

It looks almost dead for me. Is it just over drying or some infection? You can try to graft a living piece with areole but be careful to avoid infection against rootstock.

It looks pretty bad, but all the actual rot is off. There's nothing left soft. It's severely dehydrated and hard, but not actually soft or brown. It may be salvagable, I just don't know if I should try. I guess in a worst possible case, it lives but is very ugly, it still could be a seed maker.

mikethecactusguy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:59 pm Looks like the bench work is coming together.

Lol, as fast as the benches and greenhouse come together, my back seems to come apart just as quickly. It's been raining all night pretty heavily and since I don't have the plastic on the sides yet, of course it looks like someone's been throwing buckets of water on my plants from the side.
Only the very middle is dry.

Alex

Some of my plants were in flower today, a real surprise because it's been cold, overcast and raining all day.
The Conophytum ectypum not as much of a surprise as the Ariocarpus fissuratus v lloydii.

the Ariocarpus fissuratus v lloydii.

Are you sure the Ariocarpus on the photo is A. fissuratus lloydii?

Hanazono wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:12 pm

the Ariocarpus fissuratus v lloydii.

Are you sure the Ariocarpus on the photo is A. fissuratus lloydii?

Not 100% certain, the tag is now illegible. What would you think it is?

G'day Alex,

Not 100% certain, the tag is now illegible. What would you think it is?

A. fissuratus v lloydii has a smoother skin.
I think the Ariocarpus on photo is a standard A. fissuratus.

Frank

Hanazono wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:59 am G'day Alex,

Not 100% certain, the tag is now illegible. What would you think it is?

A. fissuratus v lloydii has a smoother skin.
I think the Ariocarpus on photo is a standard A. fissuratus.

Frank

Thank you Frank, I'll write that on the new tag. I have a number of unusual Arios and none of them have readable tags anymore. Unfortunately I can't really guess to many of them.

Today was Abby's birthday. She's one of my mini schnauzers. Every day, she comes into the new greenhouse to inspect work done, new plants and any new smells!
Abby has just turned 7. Sadly she's got a nasty cancer and is getting chemotherapy currently. But right now, most days are still good and a daily inspection of the greenhouse is now a necessity.


To celebrate her birthday I did my first seedling grafts in 5 years.

Well, as it has been Winter, not a huge amount of activity has been happening in my greenhouse, so not much to update until now.
I have set up hundreds of grafting stocks to prepare for Spring's seed that I will set.
A few weeks ago, on one of my Obregonia denegrii, I collected 5 seeds from the bottom of a fruit that was open.
Ants may have gotten the rest of the seeds, but I planted those 5.
Within a number of days, 4 of the 5 seeds germinated. Today I grafted all 4 of them onto Pereskiopsis. Just to be thorough, I grafted the bottoms of each seedling onto the Peres as well.

Nice and warm in the greenhouse today. Started some repotting and also chopping up more Selenicereus in anticipation of grafting soon.

A Mammillaria is about to flower.
I have lost the label, anyone know what it might be?

Traveller wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:56 am Today was Abby's birthday. She's one of my mini schnauzers. Every day, she comes into the new greenhouse to inspect work done, new plants and any new smells!
Abby has just turned 7. Sadly she's got a nasty cancer and is getting chemotherapy currently. But right now, most days are still good and a daily inspection of the greenhouse is now a necessity.


To celebrate her birthday I did my first seedling grafts in 5 years.

I have no idea why it never occurred to me to graft seedlings onto a peres offshoot. Silly me.

Peres works like magic the first 2 years that you use it. It's only after it's 2nd winter when the leaves fall off that it slows down.
See, plants have two main growth hormones/factors. One type comes from the stem and one type comes from the leaves.
When a plant has both is when it grows the fastest. When you have plants like Lithops (Leaves without a stem), or most cacti (Stems without leaves) you get slower growth.
Pereskiopsis puts leaves back into the formula.

Traveller wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:57 am A Mammillaria is about to flower.
I have lost the label, anyone know what it might be?

I think that is a Turbinicarpus valdezianus, quite the specimen for sure!!! Similar to Mammillaria pectinifera

New growth on most of the epiphyte cacti is encouraging. In between lockdowns we actually had a plant fair, and I bought a dozen cuttings. I believe they have all set roots now and all but one shows new growth.
Titanopsis were in flower today. They have such interesting patterns.