Shot...

[GermanStar]

...and a goal! I think I scored.

[Tony]

Cool! But the one on the right ( S. eruca?) looks funny in that position.

[GermanStar]

Yeah, they had 'em staked -- apparently for a good reason. I wonder how long it will take to go horizontal -- a season?

[gemhunter178]

Nice new additions!

[peterb]

Beauties! I don't think the eruca will go horizontal now. New stems probably will.

If you get eruca flowers, I am very interested to see them. I have tried to see them in habitat a few times with no luck.

peterb

[GermanStar]

I hope you're right, that would suit me fine.

[iann]

Beauties! I don't think the eruca will go horizontal now. New stems probably will.

If you get eruca flowers, I am very interested to see them. I have tried to see them in habitat a few times with no luck.

peterb

They do seem to have an amazing capacity for changing direction. The growth habit of flat on the ground with the tip turned up maintains itself over time, which means that the tip is constantly bending back down as new growth appears. I can't imagine that stem is going to stay upright forever, and I can't imagine it will stop growing. It would be nice if it would bend over at the base but I'd be scared of that happening too suddenly.

[GermanStar]

I had an Echinopsis hybrid that tried to lay down over a period of a couple years. I say 'tried' because when it got too close to ground level, it was destroyed by ground squirrels (I salvaged a thick 18" cutting and planted it in a different part of my property). It started out vertical, and ended at no more than 30°, but not before producing four big pups I now have wrapped in chicken wire. I'm guessing it has a healthy dose of E. candicans in its genes.

[GermanStar]

Beauties! I don't think the eruca will go horizontal now. New stems probably will.

If you get eruca flowers, I am very interested to see them. I have tried to see them in habitat a few times with no luck.

peterb

Picked 'em up at my favorite local cactus nursery, Shady Way. I love that place!

[GermanStar]

This discussion led me to make a move I hadn't considered before. I wound up digging up the remainder of the Echinopsis hybrid and planted it where I had intended to plant the Oreocereus, and replaced it with said Oreocereus. Hopefully, the Harris Ground Squirrels will leave the new plant alone, and the old plant, which was wrapped in chicken wire, is now beyond their reach on the other side of my home. Incredible root system on the Echinopsis, btw. Fingers crossed. The other side of the coin is that the Echinopsis is now exposed to our Perccaries, but they have shown little to no interest in that genus to date. And my worries about the Peccaries destroying the new Oreocereus have been addressed. They've shown no interest in a nearby O. celsianus, but at 40", that may be too large for them to tackle, so I considered the O. trolli a bit of a risk. Still pondering what to do with the Creeping Devil.

[Minime8484]

Nice new additions! That Oreocereus is a gorgeous clump.
My eruca was a similar size when I got it, and I planted it with a bit of an angle hoping it would creep. Well, it had other ideas, and grew back to vertical.
Mother Nature does what Mother Nature wants to do.

[GermanStar]

Isn't it something? That was one of those times I see something at a nursery and just can't believe my eyes. I mean, how cold anyone walk past that O. trolli and not bring it home?

I'm pretty sure whichever growth plan I attempt to accommodate, the plant will go the other way.

[Tony]

Re the Eruca, I bet if you dig out a slightly angled depression and just lay it on its side and put a mound of dirt and some gravel on top of the roots, it wouldnt mind it that much.
I would be shocked if the pecaries could eat that thing.

[GermanStar]

I tend to agree Tony, but my experience suggests that if it's not an Echinocereus, Cylindropuntia, or a Fero, it's a gamble. As formidable as that S. eruca seems, they could dig it up, destroy the roots, even kill it from the bottom up. But there are other Stenocereus around that they don't bother, and if this guy has a similar scent, I suspect they'll leave it be. They seem particularly driven to explore the unfamiliar, and by explore I mean damage.

[Harriet]

Nice additions!