The Unc-tanical Gardens

[MildeStoner]

Hey man,
Loving the garden and collection, am only on page 7 and have identified 3 of mine who's names I'd forgotten
Can I pull up a chair in the spectators section?

 

[unclefishstick]

just make sure there isnt a cactus on it first!
one of these days just for giggles i should take an inventory and see how many i have...i have far too many that remain unidentified though plus some youngsters that are probably too small for me to figure out what they are until they mature a bit,and i know i have a few doubles and even triples of certain kinds....summer is young yet....and my wish list is long...

 

[MildeStoner]

Duly noted!
Yeah cacti are oddly addictive I find, I actively try and avoid accumulating too many until I own a property of my own and yet, despite that I have over 150 (at the last reckoning), also a couple of doubles and triples in that number I think, I am quite partial to trichocereus and haworthias...

Am in the process of identifying my gaggle of spiny plants properly at the moment, it was the first page of your thead that indpired me actually, using the internet of all the ones that I can easily describe/find, and have a few people who studied things that required them to learn extensive plant species and how to identify them who I can rope in to name those I can't.

Must say I'm jealous of the climate you have (not for you, for the plants!)
My current location is pretty much cactus hell, but they seem to be thriving anyway...

Here's the latest addition to the herd, an aloe succotrina, endemic to the Southern tip of Africa. Looks quite unremarkable at first but it one unusual characteristic; when the leaves dry after suffering some sort of damage damage or ageing, they turn a deep maroon-purple hue. This pigment stains and has been used by the locals here as a dye for centuries:

Cheers

 

[unclefishstick]

oh man,if i was just one usda zone warmer! lol considering how many old cactus spines are still buried in my hands and legs from years of tramping around in the desert i have a hard time not grabbing one when i see something i dont have or a well cultivated specimen...in spite of having arrived at a stage where some additional structure to overwinter them is going to be a must,i just cant seem to stop myself....the local native plant nursery people love me though!
and of course i have been learning lots about the native plants and the many uses the regional native tribes used them for,im ending up with quite a few medicinal plants and succulents.

im getting a nice little selection of mammilaria and opuntias,and the regional native echinocereus,starting to buy some specimen grade plants here and there...

 

[Jericho Mile]

oh man,if i was just one usda zone warmer! lol considering how many old cactus spines are still buried in my hands and legs from years of tramping around in the desert i have a hard time not grabbing one when i see something i dont have or a well cultivated specimen...in spite of having arrived at a stage where some additional structure to overwinter them is going to be a must,i just cant seem to stop myself....the local native plant nursery people love me though!
and of course i have been learning lots about the native plants and the many uses the regional native tribes used them for,im ending up with quite a few medicinal plants and succulents.

im getting a nice little selection of mammilaria and opuntias,and the regional native echinocereus,starting to buy some specimen grade plants here and there...

Right on. Native plants are the shit.

 

[captain planet]

Lol considering how many old cactus spines are still buried in my hands and legs..... Lol I've this stinkin firethorn that is now a part of me... I guess for life. feels kinda like a marble under the skin . Oh well

 

[Big D]

how do I root this orchid cactus unc? The guy that gave it to me said to let it heal and plant it and it will take like 6 months to get roots. I don't think hes wrong, I just wonder if it would root in water?

 

[unclefishstick]

hes right about letting it heal,it will take a week or so to dry out and form a callus,then you just stick it in some medium away from strong light sources.may take a month or so to root,dont be in any hurry to water it...

 

[Big D]

cool... thanks!

 

[unclefishstick]

for just about any plant you can name theres a website for it.if you ever want that to bloom again it needs a month of 12/12 in a room no warmer than 50 degrees with little or no water,just barely enough,sometimes you can coax them back into blooming after they get a bit older,but by then they normally look like ass but they propagate super easy...

 

[unclefishstick]

had to pull a plant from the large dish garden,was getting the crap sunburned out of it and theres no way im trying to drag that heavy ass thing anywhere else so i yanked the plant and replaced it with an aeonium thats been at the local wally world out in the sun for months so its probably not going to die on me...

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[Yesca73]

nice thread UFS . I just recently moved into a house and the old owner left behind many cactus so my love for them is growing .
when I was about 8 years old I lived on a ranch in a small town in California . My grandfather had I plant that looked similar to agave or big aloe . It shot this flower high into the air . I was told it only blooms once ever 100 years the local newspaper even came out and did u story on it.

 

[unclefishstick]

lol,those are called century plants oddly enough! pretty incredible to see them in action,the flowering spikes just shoot up out of nowhere and in a very short time start to bloom,pretty cool to see.

 

[Biosynthesis]

They must be worth a fortune.

 

[MildeStoner]

I like the new large dish, companion plating of succulents is the way forward if you ask me..
Wanted to ask you, any idea what this crested cactus is?
I'm thinking haageocereus pseudomelanostele v cristata possibly, what say you?

 

[unclefishstick]

They must be worth a fortune.

century plants? naw,i got mine for like 30 bux,its a youngster of course...by the time they flower they tend to be giant....

I like the new large dish, companion plating of succulents is the way forward if you ask me..
Wanted to ask you, any idea what this crested cactus is?
I'm thinking haageocereus pseudomelanostele v cristata possibly, what say you?
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can you get a shot that shows the whole thing from base up? plus as close a shot of the spines as possible? i think i had one something like that but i killed it,let me see if i can find the label and a pic...

 

[MildeStoner]

Cool, it's night time here, am heading out to gather wild fungus tomorrow before sunrise, maybe in the eve if I return in time otherwise will do next morning.
It looks like a brain, no visible stalk now, but comes from a single central stem that is now hidden under the folds, it's gradually filling a medium sized pot, spines haver a light yellow tint to them, especially evident on the new growth, soft and stroke-able when new, harden off and become sharp as they age. Had it for about 2 years, it was just a straight little disc when I first acquired it, has just grown and twisted in and out of itsef in a strange manner since..

 

[unclefishstick]

im pretty sure i have a picture of one just like it in one of my cactus books,the question is which one of course...
does it look like its a grafted stem? sometimes these cristate forms are very slow growing so the graft them onto another type of cactus root stock and stem...im actually about to try and un-graft the elkhorn euphorbia crest i have and try and get them to grow on their own roots...

 

[MildeStoner]

Can't get under there to look anymore, don't think it it's a graft hey, have had it since it was tiny, never had that frankenstein-esque look many grafts do...

 

[unclefishstick]

finally got my totem pole cactus transplanted,came out with a bit of a lean but it was a clean transfer so hopefully it will,you know,not freakin die on me!

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Tephrocactus artculatus

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intergenetic hybrid lobivia/echinocereus crest

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rebutia flowers

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