Ferocactus not oozing

[brixtertabun]

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[cosmotoad]

I don't have any advice for you but generally not oozing is a good thing as far as I know. I've never heard someone worried about their cactus not oozing, but there's a first for everything I guess

[brixtertabun]

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[hegar]

Hello brixtertabun,
I am aware, that Ferocacti do have extrafloral nectaries. I even do have a small Ferocactus wislizenii, along with other members of that genus in my collection. However, to be honest with you, I have not ever checked out whether or not those extrafloral nectaries were producing any exudate.
As long as the cactus looks healthy, I do not even care about ants visiting the plant. They may be beneficial to some cacti, but they can also be a nuisance, to put it mildly. In my outdoor plantings they did pile up the soil after rains and when establishing new colonies in such a way, that the cactus almost became buried by those mounds. Some of my plants did not do well at all, perhaps because the ants did bite through the roots that were in their way. In short, if my Ferocacti were not producing any nectar, except when they are blooming, I would be happy.

Harald

[Ferocactus57]

I wouldn't be too worried. Most of mine seem to produce it when new sets of spines have been completed and then for a little while after. Now there are times where there will be none producing it. This happens less often on older ones that are of flowering age though. I never really use that as a sign of healthiness though. Since some I have are crazy about it and others sparingly do it. What would worry me on a wislizeni is if the spines start coming out shorter or thinner than before which would show lack of nutrients or sun.

[Ferocactus57]

So after writing what I did I had to go check it out. You might be on to something here. On my 30 year old wislizeni I can see where it produced nectar because the areoles are blackened from mildew. It has many years worth of spines that are smaller with no blackening while my father kept it in the same pot for 10 years same soil. Since I repotted it 3 years ago and every year since it has blackened areoles. Also has blackened ones from when we repotted it last time over a decade ago. Older than that it's too hard to tell. Now this could also be a watering thing too because he only watered it once every 3 weeks. I water right after it dries except in winter. This has definately given me something to think about.

[cosmotoad]

Well I learned something today, usually to me a cactus leaking in any way is bad news. I'll remember that for when my ferocactuses are older and fully matured. Sorry for doubting you, it just sounded strange to me

[brixtertabun]

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[Ferocactus57]

During the growing seasons usually once very 7 to 10 days. If it's really hot I have done it in 4 to 5 days. The larger ones I usually wait a couple of days longer. I also started to keep him outside during the growing months.

Here's some pictures for comparison.
I hope this shows up showing all completed spine sets for this year are oozing some even have two extrafloral nectaries.

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Shows last two years are blackened with mildew from nectar not getting taken away.

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Almost a decade of no production all white.

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Over a decade ago it shows blackening from mildew production and heavy spination.

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I'm really starting to think there is something to this. I've looked at most of my 60 other ferocactus and the ones that should be are producing it and producing great spination. Now that doesn't mean there is directly a correlation because again when my old one was repotted each time I also took over watering responsibilities. I don't think it's a sun requirement because a decade ago I didn't take it outside even though recently I did. It sat in the same spot in the window for 25 of its 30ish years

[Ferocactus57]

I just looked closely at yours the new spine clusters are opening up the nectaries. I think it's just taking a bit of time to like the repotting. Watch those little knobs on the top of the newer clusters I bet you it will start making some.

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