A small collection: 2015 and beyond

[Steve Johnson]

As summer vacation season comes to an end, I'd like to show y'all some wonderful cactus photos I've been storing up over the last couple of weeks.

Looks like my Turb polaskiis have a little "tag team" situation going on. You recently saw a double flower on the one from CoronaCactus, so here's the California Cactus Center polaskii:







Epithelantha gregii 'rufispina' popping out another flush.



Mammillaria deherdtiana flowering again -- in August??!!?? Yep, here it is on 8/20:







Gymnocalycium vatteri going from buds to blooms.

















Not exactly the best display I've seen compared with previous summers, but those flowers are still pretty.

If the vatteri seems to be saying "I could've used a little more heat there, guy!", my Gymno stenopleurum has no complaints:





Ditto regarding the baldianum:







Since this report is mostly about Gymnos and Astros, the Astrophytum contingent will now check in...

Unfortunately the capricorne's first bud of the year finally decided to abort. However, there are 2 buds continuing to develop nicely -- and it's pretty obvious which one is going to bloom first:



I'm really glad I was able to get my asterias flowering on camera 3 weeks ago, so I'm not disappointed that I missed it's latest. Although I can't show you the "during", at least the before-and-after pics are worth looking at:





As soon as its flower was done, the asterias started right up on a brand new bud. I'll save the pic I shot today for later.

My 'capristigma' synchronized its flowering watch with the asterias -- once again no "during", but here's the "before-and-after":





And this time the star of the show happens to be -- Astrophytum myriostigma quadricostatum. Seen here in a group photo I took on 8/27, a lovely late summer evening:



The star takes center stage:







Like a teeny tiny piece of the sun fell to earth, wasn't it? Although withering cactus flowers usually aren't photogenic, I think we can make an exception here:



2 weeks from now I'll be photographing the heck out of the collection as I prepare for my big end-of-summer review. After that I'll start posting installments, but in the meantime I leave you with another little souvenir of late summer on the plant bench...

Cumarinia odorata -- catch the sun at just the right angle, and in the evening these spines look like they're glowing:



Have a happy Labor Day, my fellow Americans!

[cactushobbyman]

Nice report.

[Steve Johnson]

Of all the presentations I've posted over the years, I enjoy doing these annual reviews the most because it gives us the opportunity for y'all to get a comprehensive look at the progress this small collection has been making since my 20-year absence from the hobby ended in 2011. I'll have plenty of "then and now" photos to show you, with commentary which I hope will be a value-added feature of your experience. And of course you'll see some nice September flowers along the way. Now let's start our journey as I set the table for Part 1 and an examination of the cacti that have been with me the longest...

My first collection had humble beginnings when I developed a passion for cacti at the tender age of 12 in 1970. As I built and maintained it over the course of 21 years, there was both good and bad. The good -- a fascination with smaller species which happily coincided with limited growing space. The bad -- there was so much about cacti I didn't know, and my ambitions for keeping a diverse collection wrote checks that my experience (or lack thereof) couldn't cash. (Back then the only way dedicated hobbyists could get their experience was by killing a lot of plants along the way. With easy access to online resources like the forum, there's no reason to go that route these days. But I digress.)

Marriage and an apartment collection in 1979 led to a divorce and no place for even a single plant in 1991. Funny how the twists and turns in life work out. However, to avoid boring everyone with a bunch of superfluous detail, I'll just say that the kindness of my best friend and his family gave me the space and opportunity to build a new collection. This time it was the humblest of beginnings, when they gave me 2 succulents from a local Armstrong Garden Center as a Christmas present in 2010. The present included an Armstrong gift card too, so I put it to good use in May 2011. While I've always enjoyed succulents, apartment living with limited space meant that I had to pick my battles firmly in favor of cacti. The Armstrong chain carries a great selection of the former, but not much in the way of the latter, although when I went to the local one, I did find a couple of favorites from my young days which I was happy to have. That would be Espostoa lanata, and the popular "red-headed Irishman" -- Mammillaria spinossissima.

The good and bad of my first collection followed me, but I'll discuss the bad again later. The good is a continuing fascination with smaller species, so my particular collecting interests have allowed me to make the most out of the space limitations I'm dealing with. Due to the 20-year gap, I was out of the loop in terms what the SoCal nursery scene had to offer. Forget the Big Box stores and general-purpose nurseries -- I was after places dedicated only to cacti and succulents. Upon making a few inquiries, I was pleased to find out that a cactus nursery I went to in the '80s was still in business. Yep, that's the California Cactus Center, which started in 1976 as Maleenee Desert Gallery. Time to go cactus shopping, so with a wish list of old favorites in hand and some new ideas in mind (those were supplied by Cactuspedia), I made a beeline for Pasadena. And here's what came home with me on a beautiful afternoon in June 2011: Astrophytum capricorne, A. myriostigma quadricostatum, Cephalocereus senilis, Eriosyce senilis, Gymnocalycium ochoterenae vatteri, Stenocactus multicostatus, Sulcorebutia rauschii, Tephrocactus articulatus papyracanthus, Turbinicarpus polaskii, T. pseudomacrochele, and T. schmiedickeanus klinkerianus. I wasn't quite done with my acquisitions that summer, so another trip out to the CCC in July yielded the following: Astrophytum asterias, Copiapoa hypogaea, Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus, Mammillaria grahamii, and Melocactus matanzanus. Here's the nucleus of my current collection on 7/16/11:



Now for the bad. I still had a lot to learn -- my "old school" ways included a cactus mix that was too heavy on the soil and too light on coarse mineral for drainage, using plain terracotta pots, watering with hard water, and a totally inadequate fertilizer. Luckily I was a quick study when I joined the CactiGuide forum and put myself through a crash growing course in early 2012, so these mistakes were easily corrected. But before I got there, I didn't realize that I had some casualties in the making. Here's a view of the collection on 9/27/11:







"X" marks the unfortunate spots, and here's a basic rundown on what happened with the casualties:

Astrophytum asterias, lost its roots due to overwatering in the heavy CCC mix. The replacement I got in 2012 is the asterias you've seen elsewhere. It'll give you a real eyeful in Part 2.

Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus, also lost its roots. IMO the most attractive of the genus, so it was a heartbreaker when my 2nd effort in 2012 fell to rot. 3rd time's a charm, though, and I'll show you a beautiful, well-grown rubispinus -- also in Part 2.

Melocactus matanzanus, died a very slow death when I forgot that Melos need some occasional watering in winter. Big mistake during the winter of 2011/12, and it never recovered. At least I learned from the hard experience, and the matanzanus I got from C and D Plants last year will rate a really nice entry later in this review.

Stenocactus multicostatus, quick death by Neem oil spray. The first and last time I made that mistake.

Turbinicarpus polaskii, I covered this story in First weekend of the new year. The CCC polaskii gets a nice update in Part 1.

Copiapoa hypogaea, the tale of woe I briefly described here -- I think you'll enjoy what the surviving pup looks like these days.

Okay, the table has been properly set, so in my next post we'll get up close and personal with the 2011 "veteran" cacti after 4-plus years under my care. Then as I post further installments, you'll be able to watch the collection get bigger.

[Steve Johnson]

Wish I did more cactus photography from the get-go, but unfortunately I don't have much of a pictorial record from 2011. At least I was smart enough to retain 3 hi-res group shots I took on September 27th of that year. You just saw the group, so now we'll pick out the individual plants -- with one exception, those are the "before" photos that begin each set here.

We'll start with my 2 and only Armstrong Garden Center cacti:



Even after 21 years of cactus collecting, my experience didn't add up to much. So there I was, a complete noob again, and I did precisely what no cactus grower should ever do -- go with the commercial crap the nursery sells. In my case that was E.B. Stone cactus & succulent mix. EEEK!!! Quite frankly I'm surprised the "red-headed Irishman" and the "old lady of Peru" survived, but they did more than that after I moved them from that horrible stuff to pure soil-less mineral mix. Yep, that's the pumice and decomposed granite I've talked about so many times before. These results speak for themselves -- first the old lady on 10/12/13, 7/5/14, and the summer that just ended:



Then the Irishman showing a year's worth of excellent growing from 9/21/13 to 9/20/14:



At the end of this summer:





Wow, that thing is huge! The Irishman gave me its very first flowers in February 2014, and the plant has been great about blooming in winter since then. Buds should start appearing right after New Year's Day.

Next up, it's time for the main events of 2011 as I reacquainted myself with the California Cactus Center. A lot of local history there, and I'd like to share just a little bit of it with you as it intersects with my own. In case you don't know the name, Woody Minnich is legendary in the cactus & succulent world. For those who could make the trip out to the Antelope Valley, Cactus Data Plants was a truly mind-boggling experience. I went there once in the late 1980s, and 2 things struck me. One was the sheer size of his operation with a massive number of cacti we'd never be able to see elsewhere (at least in the US). And the other -- I wanted to buy a few cacti, and a whole lot of signs said "not for sale". Fast-forward to 2007, when Woody decided to pull up stakes for New Mexico. Some of his plants went with him, but he sold the vast majority of his inventory to the CCC. This led to the "mother of all cactus sales". We'll fast-forward again to June 2011, and part of my pleasant surprise there was finding out that a few remnants of his Antelope Valley collection were available for sale. Pretty sad that my first casualty happened to be one of them...

Here's my old Turbinicarpus polaskii in better days when it flowered on 7/22/11:



Flowering again about 2 months later:



Now we'll bring in a sample of the mix I was getting from the CCC:



Actually not bad if I leaned it out a lot with pumice, and certainly better than the E.B. Stone mix. But back then I still had to learn the hard way, and I was about to find out that too much soil and watering at the wrong time would be fatal to the old Turb. There was, however, some good that came out of it -- I took this pic on 10/31/11:



No doubt about it, that was rot. More specifically, orange rot, which is a common problem with soils containing organic material. (Saw way too much of that in my younger days.) This photo led me to discovering CactiGuide, and I joined the forum just 2 days later. I didn't anticipate how incredible the experience would be over time, so I think "good" is an understatement! And I'm really glad that I was able to save the 3 seedling volunteers we see in the first 2 polaskii pics. We'll jump ahead to 4/27/12, when the polaskii I got from CoronaCactus became their "mama":



The seedlings looked like raisins, and I wasn't sure if the littlest would make it. But the tiny guy responded in a pretty big way, so I was able to chalk this up as a save. Since I discussed the family's breakup in my previous post, we'll concentrate on the progress of the survivor I'm keeping. Here it is on the day my CCN polaskii joined the family, then at the beginning of January 2015:



I keep my Turbs completely dry in winter, so the CCC polaskii looks good under the circumstances. Just add water (but not too often!), and this is what we get -- from spring to the end of summer 2015:



Same timeframe from the top:



Because this is the polaskii's first growing season in its own pot, I have a feeling that most of the growth is taking place in the roots. It'll be interesting to see what goes on above-ground next year, and while I don't think it'll be ready for a bigger pot before 2016 is done, the plant could surprise me. I already have a bigger glazed ceramic pot reserved for it, so regardless of however long this takes, I'm prepared. By the way -- I have not 1, but 2 polaskiis that recently flowered at the same time. I'll post the pics in my installment covering the 2012 arrivals.

Here's my other tale of disaster and recovery:



Another case of having to learn the hard way, and it took me all the way into summer 2013 before I realized that there's more to repotting than merely shaking the soil from the roots and plopping the plant into mineral mix. My first big repotting project was in 2012, so the mistake was leaving in a clod of the CCC mix wedged up into the hypogaea's base. 20/20 hindsight tells me that because the soil was staying overly moist after watering, doing it once too often would lead to serious trouble. That's what happened -- fine on 8/7/13, then a week later one foolish mistake right after watering:



(If you'd like a more detailed look at what happened, you'll find interesting reads here and here.) Too bad I couldn't keep all the pups, but given my space limitations, I had to pick the best and give the rest away to local growers who wanted them. The pup I selected was actually a twofer -- instant parent starting a brood of its own, here as it settles in on 8/31/13:



At some point the clever little thing put a bun in the oven, and the newest pup announced itself 7 months later -- here on 3/29/14:



Take the "after", turn it into a "before", and here's the new "after" on 2/15/15:



The latest pics are from the end of this summer on 9/19:





The parent's shape does look a bit odd, but I don't mind at all -- and the pups are beautifully formed! Copiapoas tend to be opportunistic, although I've found that my hypogaea does most of its growing in spring and early fall. Spring would've been time for the growth of a new offset, but repotting it in February was likely to prevent that possibility. Going back into the photo archive of ex-cacti, I see that the now-dead hypogaea sprouted a pup in early October 2012. Things are staying hot and summerlike here, so the lovely hypogaea we see today could pop out something nice before the growing season ends.

We have 2 more old Turbs to review, and I think they could be CDP "legacy" cacti...



Or howzabout schmiedickeanus klinkerianus (the CCC has been known to be hit-and-miss on the accuracy of their plant labels). The plant has done well for me, although I started noticing changes last summer that concerned me a little. So why not ask the forum? That I did, and feedback coming from the pics I posted led to the suggestion that the klinkerianus was corking. It's a natural part of aging in older cacti, but with that said, I'd still like to see what's going on. The plant on its north-facing side 7/4 and 9/27/14:



The klinkerianus got the brunt of it on the south-facing side, here on 7/4 and 8/24:



Suppose it would only be reasonable since it's the side that gets full-on sun exposure. Anyway, the corking didn't bother me in and of itself, but it was the sudden onset that kinda did. I have 2 theories. One is that I haven't been around cacti long enough to know that rapid corking is normal, and my klinkerianus would be old enough to fit the aging profile for its species. The other theory? Maybe the plant wasn't happy with the way it was grown in the past. Not original thinking on my part -- Ian mentioned this possibility when I posted a followup to my original inquiry here. A problem with slow-growing cacti is the fact that changes in growing practice take years to show up in the plant. If theory #2 is correct, then the klinkerianus responded to what I've been doing since 2012 by corking so that it can concentrate its nutrient energies on healthier new growth. Hard to reach any conclusions on this issue, but for whatever it's worth, we'll have a look at the corking then and now -- from the end of last summer to this one, north-facing side...



and south-facing side:



The view from above:



As I said in Part 12 of "Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in", the only change I've made recently was a thorough washing of my mineral mix, so there aren't any DG fines to clog up the works anymore. Once again if theory #2 is correct, we'll come back in 2 or 3 years and see a healthier klinkerianus.

The last old Turb is my pseudomacrochele, and this "then-and-now" goes straight from 9/27/11 to the photo I took 10 days ago:



In "Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in (Part 9)", I discussed what I did to give the plant's roots some extra TLC when I repotted it in May. (Still not sure if that's a pup or a seedling volunteer that fused with the main taproot. For the sake of convenience, I'll just say it's a pup.) I know it may be difficult to see any change in the pup, so take my word for it -- after about 2 years of no activity, that tiny guy is finally growing again! Now here's a change that's obvious for all to see -- at the end of May shortly after repotting, then on 9/20:



Going back to my photo archive, I looked at the pseudomacrochele pics I've taken since early 2012, and I haven't seen it so plump before. There's only 1 explanation, the plant has been busy growing new roots. Even the pup is poking its little head out, and if new growth isn't showing up on camera yet, I have a feeling that will change next summer.

Since I promised y'all September flowers, here's an appetizer:





On September 26 -- the calendar says it's fall, but according to our SoCal weather, summer hasn't ended yet:







I seriously underestimated how much I have to show you, so in my next installment we'll look at the rest of the 2011 "veteran" cacti.

[george76904]

Wow, that was a great post! Thanks for sharing!

[Steve Johnson]

Wow, that was a great post! Thanks for sharing!

You're more than welcome, my friend! I have a lot of fun being able to share my experiences with our fellow cactus fans. If it's educational for some of you too, then so much the better!

Okay, picking up where we left off, this post will cover the other 8 California Cactus Center plants that got my new collection going in 2011. We'll begin with an item which I know for sure is a CDP "legacy" cactus...

Tephrocactus articulatus papyracanthus. The paper-spine caught my fancy as a young collector, and it was an obvious choice for my wish list of old favorites. The CCC doesn't normally stock them, but I was lucky enough to be there when the good folks brought out a specimen from Woody Minnich's old collection they were willing to sell. However, it came with a small warning -- Tephros tend to drop stems on their own, and even a touch by human hands will do it if you're not careful. The lady I was dealing with packed up the paper-spine for my drive home, so thanks to her kind attention, I had an intact plant sitting on my bench. You may remember the case of accidental propagation I've mentioned before -- these human hands weren't careful enough, and a week after I got it, 1 paper-spine turned into 2. Here they are, Sr. and Jr. on 9/27/11:



Sr. went to a good home in January, so let's see what Jr. has been up to this year. Tephros get awfully thirsty when we keep them dry in winter (IMO that's recommended), but it's pretty amazing to see how plump they get with their first watering of spring. Here's Jr. coming out of its dry spell on 3/5/15, then a week after first watering (3/14):



I had trouble getting new growth out of my paper-spines, but once I figured out what they want, it was off to the races. Jr.'s 2015 growing season on 4/5, 5/25, 6/28, and 9/19:




Whenever I look at Jr. these days, 2 thoughts spring to mind -- "ooh, looking good!", and "hmmmm, I wonder how long it'll stay that way before a stem drops". Only a matter of time before this happens, although I know a few locals who'd enjoy getting whatever propagation material comes out of my Tephros.

I think this is a CDP "legacy" cactus, although I'm not totally sure:



Doesn't matter I suppose. In any case, the capricorne came to me as a sunburned, stressed-out little plant that turned into a major success story over the course of 2012. Now we'll briefly review my growing practices -- mineral mix and acidified tap water, check. Fertilizer, check -- but which fert? I've been using Dyna Gro All-Pro 7-7-7 ever since Darryl at CoronaCactus gave me the recommendation in early 2012. (With an excellent nutrient profile including minor and micronutrients, Dyna Gro is one of the best fert manufacturers you'll find.) Pure soil-less mineral mix means that we need to use fert every time we water, and 1/2 tsp. per gallon is perfect for cacti. We'll bring the following pic into this discussion -- the capricorne on 5/19/12:



Not much of a change yet, but I wasn't expecting miracles since the plant didn't have much in the way of roots coming out of the CCC mix. Give it time, let those roots grow in, and here's the miracle -- on 7/28 and 9/22/12:



The capricorne traded its terracotta pot for glazed ceramic in early February, so let's have a look at the before-and-after going from mid-March of last year to the end of summer this year:



The bud you see in the "after" opened a week ago:



Unfortunately I didn't get to see the flower, although my "queen of the Astrophytums" favored me with a gorgeous bloom which I got on camera 2 weeks prior. I'm saving the photos for the conclusion of my review, so you'll just have to wait. Tease, tease, tease!

While the CDP "legacy" plants do have a special place in my heart, there's plenty of room for the love coming from the rest of these cacti.

I grew Rebutias in my younger days, although I can't remember if Sulcos were on the hobbyist radar screen back then. When I perused the CCC's plant benches, this apple green gem really stood out, so there was a new experience worth trying:



Coming out of its first winter under my care:



Ouch! I didn't know if the rauschii would survive, but no reason to give up, eh? In fact this turned out to be another success story -- maybe not on the same scale as the turnaround with my capricorne (and it took longer), but impressive nonetheless. I saw a lot of improvements in 2012, including my photography skills. Such being the case, I can consult the archive and tell you that the rauschii produced its first pup in May 2012, and ended that growing season with 10(!). And after aborting a couple of buds, one went into flower on 7/26/12. What a wonderful surprise! Then more pups and 2 flowers in 2013. Sadly no flowers since then, but everything else about that plant pleases me to no end. Here's the rauschii on 4/27/14 and and 9/20/15:



We're getting only one side of the overall picture, so here's a view from above:



The latest pup doing its thing:



What, only one? My rauschii is usually free with offsetting, but I can't complain because I believe its roots are busy exploiting the potful of completely open mix (in other words, no DG fines) the plant received when I moved it into glazed ceramic at the beginning of spring. With a year of undisturbed growth coming up in 2016, the plant's progress next summer should be awesome.

This cactus was new to me, and I was fascinated from the moment I saw it -- Eriosyce senilis:



We all have to start somewhere, and aside from all the other mistakes I was making in 2011, that somewhere was assuming that all desert cacti should stay completely dry in winter. Thankfully a veteran member (more specifically Ian) corrected me, and what he said back then stuck in my mind -- "E. senilis is more tolerant in cultivation than it should be". At least keeping my senilis dry that winter didn't do it much harm, and the plant proved its tolerance by plumping up nicely, as we see here on 3/31 and 4/16/12:



The senilis gave me its first flowers too, and those drop-dead gorgeous blooms have been a highlight of my winters ever since. Still had to do something about its winter watering care. Occasional sips in winter 2012/13 didn't quite do it. While the senilis is the only cactus that actually enjoys the CCC mix, my instinct told me that it should be leaned out more with pumice if I was going to give the plant full-on soaks during wintertime. Every 3 to 4 weeks depending on how warm the daytimes are (last winter was so warm that I may have been watering a little more often). The plant approved, so from then to now you'll see a happy, growing senilis that always stays nice and plump -- here on 10/26/13 and 9/19/15:



There's a bonus story related to this cactus, coming up in Part 3.

We're getting into some pretty big plants here, and because we're almost done with the commentary in this installment, I'll let the following photos do most of the talking.



The vatteri always goes "splat" by the end of winter -- 3/8/14, but not so much on 3/5/15:



Take the "after", make it a "before" and see what happens after its first watering of spring -- 3/14:



Once again on 3/14, then 9/20:






On 3/16/13, followed by 2 years' worth of growing on 9/20/14:



A view of growth from the top -- same "before" date, followed by the quadricostatum's latest repot on 5/17/15:



I think the plant likes its new home, 5/17 and 9/19:



My big, beautiful Astrophytums synchronized their flowering -- here's the quadricostatum on 9/24:



Yeah, I had to miss that flower too. That's fine, there'll be more where it came from! (And they're almost always ginormous!)

This one I'd like to spend a little time on -- Cephalocereus senilis:



Another old favorite, but I was never able to keep them long enough to grow. When I moved the collection from the CCC mix to mineral mix, it never occured to me that photographing the roots of my cacti might be useful. Glad I did it when I unpotted the Ceph, so this is a rare shot from 4/7/12:



If I hadn't made the change to the pumice-DG mix, I'm sure that the "old man" would've gone to the great compost heap in the sky along with the ones I killed in my younger days. Instead this was a major save. A year of growth going from 7/27/13 to 7/19/14:



The old man keeps on growing -- 9/20/14, then 2/7 and 9/20/15:



He started out as a 4-incher, then when I measured him for the end of summer, he stands tall at 10"! My, the old man sure looks grand, doesn't he? (The lower part of his stem does look skinnier, though. Not that I'm worried, just curious if it's normal. Thoughts, anyone?)

Mammillaria grahamii.



The species loses a lot of water over the winter, but it makes for a nice entry in my "Winter shriveling/spring plumping" presentations. For example, 3/7 and 3/14/15:



Repotting day on 5/10, then on 9/19:



My grahamii is always good about flowering in spring and summer. Buds getting ready for a late-summer flush on 9/7:



From buds to blooms:



Of all the grahamii flower photos I've taken (and that's a lot!), this is the best I've ever seen:



When I straightened out the plant with its repot, I was kinda interested about how long it would take to start leaning again. 2 months? 3 months? Well, there's the answer -- 4.



That wraps up 2011, so in my next installment we'll examine the progress of the cacti that joined the collection in 2012.

[george76904]

Man that Cephalocereus senilis sure is something isn't it! I purchased an Eriosyce multicolor this year, it appears exceedingly similar to senilis. I'm not sure if it is but I can't wait for flowers from them. You mentioned that it liked the CCC mix as opposed to soilless mix?
Not to hijack your thread Steve, but I have purchased a few melocact(i/us?) this past growing season, and was wondering about their winter care. I know you mentioned not watering them at all to be a bad thing, but how often and how much did you water them during the winter? I know it will be different for me since I am planning on keeping them both inside and above 60 for the entirety of winter. However I was hoping you would be willing to give me someplace to start.
Thanks for the help,
Will

In answer to the beginning of the post, yes I am learning lots from your posts!

[Steve Johnson]

I'm always happy to answer questions as we go along, so please don't hesitate to ask away!

I have 3 cacti I grow in the 50/50 pumice-soil mix -- E. senilis and my 2 Tephros (you'll see the pine cone in Part 3). The commonality here is that they have fine root systems which aren't supported well in a coarse mineral aggregate.

Juvenile Melos can actually be kept dry in winter. It's when they start growing cephalia that they really need occasional watering to keep their roots alive -- every 3 weeks and just enough to moisten the mix. I use a spray bottle on the stream setting, then shoot little streams around the base of the plant. This gives you a lot of control, and it's pretty hard to accidentally drench the pot that way. Now, if you have adult Melos, their cephalia may put on some growth if the winter days in your place are warm enough (low to mid 70s). 2 things to know about here. First, the cephalium is a vegetative body, and the only part of the plant that continues growing when Melocactus reach maturity. Second, it doesn't use photosynthesis for growth, so lack of light indoors is not a problem. If you see the cephalia on yours growing in winter, then you should be fine with full-on watering every 2 weeks.

[Steve Johnson]

2012 was an important year as I quickly corrected my newbie mistakes from the previous summer, then watched the resulting improvements with no small amount of satisfaction. Aside from the changes in growing practice, there was another one percolating under the surface after the new year began...

The old plant bench had room for more cacti -- not much, but enough to put me in the buying mood for whatever items of interest I could find at the California Cactus Center that spring. Round 1 in early March was Sulcorebutia callichroma longispina, Tephrocactus articulatus inermis, and Turbinicarpus valdezianus, round 2 in early May Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus, Epithelantha micromeris, and Mammillaria deherdtiana. It was also the last time I would buy plants from the CCC, when I switched preference to buying cacti from reputable sources online. No disrespect to the CCC and the people who go there, but I had 3 reasons for this decision. First, their plants can be expensive (when you see a letter instead of a price on some of their plant tags, watch out!). Second, the inventories we find on the Web go far beyond what's avaible from even the best brick-and-mortar nurseries. And third, shipping bare-root cacti means they can be repotted without all the mess and bother of cleaning the roots coming out of a nursery pot.

Like ships passing in the night, my last time getting cacti from the CCC coincided with my first experience with CoronaCactus Nursery. The first group on 4/27 included the Turbinicarpus polaskii "mama" I showed you in Part 1, Eriosyce odieri, and Mamm blossfeldiana. Didn't take long before I knew I was going to the right place, so the rest of 2012 was all about CCN. Here's what came in on July 15, 2012: Astrophytum asterias (replaced the CCC asterias I lost), A. 'capristigma' (2 that Darryl kindly sent as freebies), Gymnocalycium stenopleurum, Stenocactus zacatecasensis, and Turb valdezianus.

The collection is a little bigger at this point in our story, so I have the "family portrait" broken out into 3 groups here on 9/8/12:







And of course some notes to go with these shots:

1. The A. capricorne's way of thanking me for giving it better care in its first full season on my plant bench.
2. Limited space on the bench, so I eventually gave away the smaller 'capristigma' to make room for something else.
3. Ooh, the Epithelantha doesn't look happy, does it? Should blow your mind a little bit when you see what it looks like these days.
4. The Turb valdezianus on the right came from the CCC. It corked badly in a matter of months, so off it went to a Long Beach Cactus Club member who wanted it. You'll see the CCN valdezianus later on.
5. I tried putting paper-spine Jr. and Sr. back in the same pot. Swimming in a big potful of coarse mineral aggregate -- bad idea, and no wonder they didn't want to grow for me.
6. Mamm blossfeldiana -- a beautiful plant that grew so well and flowered a lot. Such a shame that it rotted when I left it out for some rain in early April of this year.

Since we have 2012 setting a new place at the table, we'll look at the individual plants -- cast in order of appearance from when they arrived. FYI, from here on out all undated pics you see were taken on the weekend of September 19-20 2015.

Sulcorebutia callichroma longispina (often misidentified as pulchra) -- came home with me on 3/4/12, and here it is in its new home a month later:



What a beautiful cactus, and trouble-free from the start. And it just loves to grow in mineral mix. Here's an example from last year -- 4/29 and 9/20/14:



Same dates with a view from the top:



Repotted into high-fired ceramic on 4/26/15 -- ooh, I think the callichroma likes its new home!





Tephrocactus articulatus inermis, AKA the famous pine cone cactus (or "cat turd" if you will ). Came in with the Sulco, and its first pic is already showing a new stem -- here on 5/6/12:



Back then I was growing my Tephros in mineral mix, and the pine cone didn't mind it as much as the paper-spines. Showing nice new stem growth in its first year under my care -- 5/6, 5/26, 8/5, and 10/7:



The brand-new stem you see in the 8/5 pic started, then suddenly quit -- unfortunately too late in the year for it. No biggie, although there is something else I should point out concerning the photo from 5/6/12. I've heard about this practice before, but I never paid enough attention to see if it could be happening in one of my own plants. Well, here we are -- nurseries are known to pump up their cacti with Nitrogen to make them more "presentable" for sale. I think that's exactly what happened, and I would avoid any nursery doing it. If nothing else, IMO it's a form of false advertising. At least no serious harm was done, and I could look forward to a pine cone that eventually took on a more natural look.

I was still concerned about the lack of growth on my paper-spines, and Ian suggested that Tephros may need soil in the mix to support their fine roots. Growth above ground needs growth below, so if he was correct, then a 50/50 soil-pumice mix should do the job. And he certainly was -- time to get them in the right mix! I repotted them in mid-March 2013, but I had an oopsie with the pine cone when it dropped a stem. I hoped to see a new stem replacing it, although if the plant wanted to work on a better root system instead, then once again no biggie. Now, I just have to post this pic so I can show you what a wonderful year it was for paper-spine Jr. and the pine cone in 2014, here on 6/7 and 9/1:



We're up to this year and the transition from terracotta to glazed ceramic, 3/14 on the left:



My 2 Tephros got matching glazed ceramic pots on 4/18. How ironic -- after growing 1 new stem, the paper-spine wasn't bothered by the repot as it pushed out another afterwards. The pine cone just got back to work on its roots, so no new growth this year. However, they're doing great at taking up water and nutrients, and I'm sure the plant will produce another new stem or two in spring. The only thing I'm not thrilled with at the moment is the appearance of light patches on the old growth. Hopefully they're precursors pointing to the places where new growth comes in, although I also have to wonder if this could be a delayed effect of the pine cone showing some unhappiness about the way it was treated at the CCC. Clearly my dealings there have been a mixed blessing. Exhibit A -- a Turb valdezianus that came with the Sulco and the pine cone, the details of which aren't worth going into. Exhibit B -- another try with Echinocereus rubispinus, which gave me a lovely flower in mid-June of that year, then promptly rotted. (To be honest, I may have to own an ignorant mistake on that one.) I got the rubispinus on 5/6/12, but there was nothing mixed about the blessing that came along with it -- Mammillaria deherdtiana:



The species is rarely seen in US collections, and it was sheer luck that I found one. While the constraints of an apartment collection don't allow me the luxury of making impulse buys, this was a time when my rare bit of indulgence paid off.

I knew nothing about the species going into it, but I found out later that deherdtiana is slow to establish its roots. First signs of new growth toward the end of September 2012, that's about right:



Everything about deherdtiana is slow -- slow to get the roots going, slow to grow, slow to offest. Maybe true, or -- what about mineral mix? The deherdtiana started growing new pups in March 2013. I don't think this is a coincidence, and I've seen my pumice-DG mix do wonders for too many other cacti to believe otherwise.

My first encounter with flat mites took place 3 months later, and those incredibly tiny nasty things were happily munching away at the plant's base before I knew they were even there. But once I noticed the telltale damage, I knew what they are, what they do, and how to get rid of them. (Many thanks to A. Dean Stock for recommending TetraSan. While flat mites occasionally visit some of my cacti, I reach for the TetraSan spray bottle well before their damage has the chance to go far.) More coincidence, or did the deherdtiana take sweet revenge by accelerating its new pup growth? I'll let you decide -- here's a 360-degree view on 4/12/14:




That was just the beginning, and now I'll bring you up to the end of summer 2015:









It's interesting to see how the deherdtiana is favoring its west-facing side for most of the pups. Since I repotted the plant in glazed ceramic at the end of January, I think it's safe to assume that its roots have been a bit slow to establish again. But because it's in a potful of clean, open mineral mix this time, I wouldn't be surprised if the deherdtiana starts filling that space with new pups next year.

As we countinue our journey, we'll look at my acquisitions from CoronaCactus. The Turb polaskii "mama" on repotting day (1/4/15), and 4/13 in the middle:



A bird's-eye view:



Now that the remaining members of the polaskii family are in their own pots, they're finally starting to grow, and it confirmed my suspicion that they would've continued to struggle if I kept all 4 polaskiis together in the same pot. Not much in the way of progress yet, but enough for a promising start on what the polaskiis will do next year. In the meantime, this is really what I've been waiting for -- both flowering at the same time. The buds on 9/24/15:



2 days later, and possibly the biggest polaskii flowers I've ever seen:







Eriosyce odieri, arrived on 4/27/12 with a very nice set of buds -- here a week later:



Yep, that's right -- a plastic pot! After briefly flirting with plastic, I decided it wasn't for me, and I went over to waterproofing my terracotta pots in 2013. (Neither here nor there, I just wanted to mention it.) There's not much to tell about the plant besides beautiful flowers in late spring (only 1 this year), and slow, steady growth. Flat mites generally don't find brown-skinned cacti appealing, although they've had a go with the odieri a couple of times. I posted a pic of the wonderfully funky glazed ceramic pot I found for it in "Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in (Part 7)", so here it is on 9/20/14 and repotting day on 4/18/15:



The odieri lost a lot of water over the winter, but that's totally normal. In fact, Thelocephalas (E. odieri and napina, for example) need to stay completely dry during winter, and they should get most or all of their water in summer. (Stretches of hot, sunny weather are acceptable for springtime watering, but sometimes difficult to come by.) What we'll be looking for here are signs that the odieri has re-established well enough to take up water and show at least a little bit of new growth. The benchmarks on 4/18 and 9/20:




Changes are barely noticeable from the side, so let's try the top:




Ahhh, that's better -- the odieri is definitely taking up water, and yes, a little bit of new growth. Also, if you look at the before-and-after pics from the top, you'll notice the plant's skin has taken on a subtle greenish tinge. It's a sure sign that water and nutrients are getting into its tissues.

Uh oh, there I go again -- we're only halfway through the 2012 cacti, and I underestimated how much I have to show you. There are 2 special cases that deserve their own post, albeit for different reasons. Of course this messes up the chronology I had in mind, but I think you'll enjoy my next installment. After that, we'll resume the "CoronaCactus show".

[keith]

M. deherdtiana one of my old timers that didn't survive Phoenix AZ , too hot I guess ? yours look great. I've killed allot of cactus over the years come to think of it. oh well I have a small one hope I can get it up to the size of my original plant.

[keith]

your M. theresae is outstanding. this is another difficult plant for me from seed and after. here's mine in Phoenix doing OK BUT hasn't flowered much since I've moved back to Moorpark. Didn't help it was blown out of its pot a few years ago in the windstorm disaster I had. Also lost my M. guelzowiana after the wind storm and need to get another one. yours look good try and get it to a big clump something I have not manged to do after 25 years.

I think you're going to need a bigger bench pretty soon

[keith]

Is your turbinicarpus actually this ? Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele ssp. krainzianus ? I thought Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele had open spines and pink flowers ?

I have one yellow flowered I think T. krainzianus it has denser spines hard to see plant bodies ? I have Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele growing from seed but they are not doing so great hope I can jump start them some day ?

[Steve Johnson]

Is your turbinicarpus actually this ? Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele ssp. krainzianus ?

I do think mine is pseudomacrochele ssp. krainzianus given the flower color. Guess I should update my photo filenames, and I'll reference the subspecies when I post the plant again. Such a lovely Turb isn't it? Then again, I have yet to find a Turb species I don't like.

Thanks for your nice feedback, Keith!

[Steve Johnson]

Before we examine the rest of my 2012 cacti, we'll make a detour with 2 that have their own unique story to tell.

Special case #1 -- Eriosyce senilis

Picked out of the lineup from 9/8/12:



Little did I know there was a surprise in the pot that day. If you don't mind a detour from the detour first, I'll mention 2 nuggets of basic cactus education which go along with this entry. And I think they should be helpful for less-experienced growers. When you look at the pot, you'll notice a white residue on the outside. It comes from Calcium bicarbonate leaching out of the tap water I was using in 2011. The harmful effect of hard water on container-grown plants has been well known for many years. Although it can take awhile before problems become obvious, sooner or later bicarbonate buildup in the pot will lead to a decline in the health of our cacti. At the end of 2011 I found an eye-opening article on acidification, then after reading and re-reading it, I began acidifying my tap water with 5% vinegar. The results have been nothing short of amazing, and acidification should be standard practice for growers who need to use water from the tap if rainwater is not an option. What you can't see in this photo is the fact that the bicarbonate residue was slowly disappearing as a side benefit of the acidified water in my regimen. It would've eventually gone away, but of course better if there's no reason for seeing that residue to begin with. Resolving our hard water problem is only half the battle, so we need to look at the other half. The surprise I'm about to show you will factor in to my 2nd educational nugget. And here it is in this photo taken a week after the one you just saw -- notice something?



Yeah, I know -- not easy to spot, so we'll zoom in closer:



That's a seedling volunteer! Now we'll advance this part of the story with a brief discussion of pots -- more specifically, the major difference with porous and nonporous pots. I used to grow everything in terracotta, and back in the old days a lot of other hobbyists were doing it too. However, 42 years after I started my first collection, I figured out what more experienced hobbyist growers had finally been catching on to -- grow your plants in nonporous pots, and over the long haul they'll thank you for it. The problem with plain terracotta is that evaporation through porous clay sets up a competition for water between the pot and the roots. If we keep it going, our cacti will ultimately be on the losing end of it. Use nonporous pots, and stronger, healthier roots mean stronger, healthier plants.

So what to do? Plastic pots are great, plus they're cheap. I tried plastic in 2012, although I decided it wasn't for me. (Just a matter of personal preference -- many people use only plastic.) There was no way I'd go back to plain terraccota, and I decided to waterproof it. Not quite as good as plastic or glazed ceramic, but close enough. It was a big job I had to do in stages, so I started the waterproofing project in March 2013. My E. senilises were in round 1 -- here's what came out of the pot on 3/17:



Like I did when I renamed my paper-spines, I'll call the senilises Sr. and Jr. With clean waterproofed terracotta pots at the ready, it was transplanting time. I was hoping to keep both plants in the same pot so Jr. could grow along with Sr. Unfortunately that turned out to be undoable, so Jr. got its own pot. The smallest I had was a 2-incher -- maybe small enough, although it still looked awfully big for the tiny guy. No choice but to overpot Jr., and I had some doubts about giving it the same soil-pumice mix that Sr. enjoys. Mineral mix might be a safer bet, so that's what I did -- throw it in and hope for the best. Didn't take long to see that I had nothing to worry about -- here's Jr. in its 2" pot of mineral mix on 3/18, 4/9, and 5/14/13:



Jr. was already proving to be a strong, tough little grower. Here it is growing and growing -- on 9/21/13, then 4/17 and 9/20/14:



Sr. and Jr. both got glazed ceramic this spring. Now there's a photo op -- repotting day on 3/22:



Back to Jr., 3/22 on the left:



Hmmmmm, this seems to be a step backward. The inside diameter of Jr.'s pot is 1.5", although deeper than the old pot. Did I miscalculate?



Ooh, perhaps I did, so Jr. gets a bigger pot in late February/early March. I think it'll be ready for Sr.'s soil-pumice mix too -- if I held Jr. back from being able to grow as much as it could've, it should take off again next year.

Special case #2 -- Epithelantha micromeris

The day after it came home from the California Cactus Center, repotted on 5/6/12:



Side by side, same date and a month later:



What we're seeing here are "sulk rings", and it was a bit shocking to watch the micromeris deflate. Thankfully, Craig at C and D Plants said Epithelanthas can take a long time to establish, so my concern was tempered by that simple piece of info. In fact, some keen observation (aided by my Canon Rebel DSLR) indicated a small response to watering over the next several months. We'll take the "after", make it a "before", and on the right here's the micromeris picked out of my 9/8/12 lineup:



Give it some time and patience, then coming out of a dry winter here's the result of early spring watering -- on 2/27 and 3/30/13:



Wow! And it sure was a pleasant surprise to see my first micromeris flower. Things were going great until the micromeris began showing signs of struggling that June. Long story short, Epithelanthas don't take kindly to overpotting. Since I held onto all of my plastic from the previous year, I had a smaller pot that should be a better fit for the plant. A smart move there, and the micromeris took off again -- here at the end of last summer:



Did you notice a teeny tiny something on the lower part of the plant? If you didn't, then a touch of fall growth in SoCal should clue us in here on 9/20/14 and a month later:



Yes indeed, new pups! You'll like what happens next, as we watch a busy micromeris get even busier. 11/27/14 on the left:



The "after" pic reveals more than just the 2 pups, although I don't want to get ahead of myself. At the beginning of March, a 3rd pup appeared -- another teeny tiny something, so we'll let it grow in a little bit before the newest pup is photo-ready. 3/28 on the left:



My micromeris is a prolific bloomer, and in this view from the top we see the first of its many flowers here on 3/7:



The species is remarkably self-fertile -- I always end up with way more seed than I could ever use, so most of it goes to other local growers I'm in contact with. I really don't have the setup for seed-growing anyway, but I decided to try a little experiment by sowing seeds in the micromeris' pot last spring. 6 months later, 1 seed germinated and got its start on life before the growing season ended at the end of November. I know it's a "Darwinian" approach to growing from seed, but from the good experience I've had with my volunteer seedlings, survival through winter would give me another strong, tough little grower. And survive it did, followed by 2 more seedlings that popped up their tiny heads in, dig this -- late February! An unusually warm winter certainly helped, so with its first deep drench of the year at the beginning of March, the micromeris and its seedling charges were ready for a fantastic season. Here they are happily growing in the pot on 5/24:



Using that pic as our benchmark, let's look at the progress with each seedling through the end of this summer:







Very nice -- my Darwinian approach seems to be panning out! This winter won't be quite so dry as one may think, since I learned how to give a number of cacti well-timed sips (something else I can thank Craig for. I can't tell you how helpful it is to get the advice of a veteran local whose climate is close to mine!). The micromeris is on the list for winter sips, and because the seedlings are doing so well in their first year, they'll be ready for more growing action next year. The only question I have is, how long will it be until they're ready for their own pots? I'm in no rush for the answer. I enjoy being able to give "surplus" plants to a couple of cactus clubs I support, so between that and other local contacts, I won't have any trouble finding good homes for those seedlings when the time is right. At that point, my last plastic pot will go bye-bye as the micromeris finally gets a glazed ceramic pot.

As this wonderful detour now comes to an end, I have 1 more thing to show you. My area received a very unusual late-summer soaker on September 15, producing 2.4"(!) of rainfall. When I came home from work that evening, I noticed a brand-new, incredibly small little something right on the neck of the micromeris. Well, I'll be jiggered -- right before my eyes, I was witnessing the birth of pup #4! Part of the big photo shoot for my end-of-summer review, and here it is on 9/20:





The micromeris isn't done growing yet either. It's hard to believe that the sulky little cactus I saw in 2012 has become such a wonderfully odd, incredible plant!

In my next installment, we'll look at the CCN cacti of summer -- and yes, winter 2012.

[Steve Johnson]

I set myself up with a nice little assortment of CoronaCactus plants in July 2012, so let's see how they're doing as they begin their 4th year under my care.

In my early years of collecting, I was fascinated by a wavy-ribbed genus called Echinofossulocactus (what a mouthful! The taxonomists gave us a break when they renamed it to Stenocactus). Can't remember seeing anything other than multicostatus back then, and that was the only species being sold at the California Cactus Center when I went there in 2011. At least I could find an old favorite, and one thing I do remember is that they're remarkably tough, trouble-free plants. But after so many years being away from the hobby, it was both ironic and sad that I accidentally killed the multicostatus with Neem oil not long after it came home with me. Any chance I could find a replacement? Nope, the CCC doesn't carry Stenocactus on a regular basis, and I came up empty when I went there in spring 2012.

Since CCN became my preferred source that year, I was pleased to see a good selection of Stenos on Darryl's website. Nothing against multicostatus, but if it's not the only game in town anymore, maybe there's a more interesting species I'd rather have. And I found it -- Stenocactus zacatecasensis. Here it is a week after my new Steno arrived (7/21/12):



The plant's first full growing season on the bench (3/16 and 9/21/13), followed by more excellent progress (9/20/14 on the lower left):




Not sure if the zacatecasensis is mature enough to bloom yet, but I may see my very first Steno flower in spring.

While there was nothing mysterious about what happened to the multicostatus, I had a mystery on my hands when a slightly corked Turbinicarpus valdezianus I got at the CCC suddenly started getting worse. Here when it came in on 3/4/12, then the situation went downhill from there (9/8/12):



The valdezianus was already old when I got it, so a certain amount of corking should be expected. What I didn't expect was to see it advance so quickly. As to why, I hadn't a clue, although looking back on the situation, this may have been avoidable. A classic case of closing the barn door after the horses bolt. Oh, well -- a younger valdezianus would give me another "bite at the apple", and luckily CCN had them in stock. Now we'll see if I treat this one better:



When the CCN valdezianus proved itself to be the plant I wish I had from the get-go, the CCC valdezianus found a new home to make space for something else in May 2013. (That year will figure hugely in upcoming installments of the review.) Its progress looks nice here on 6/22/13 and 11/22/14:



In the "after" pic, the valdezianus seems to be riding a bit too high in its pot. That was a 2.5" standard terracotta pot -- fine diameter-wise, but not deep enough for the roots. I tried to address that problem with a somewhat deeper glazed ceramic pot. Now we'll assess the results, the plant's repotting day on 1/18/15 (left):





No doubt about it, getting rid of those pesky DG fines in the mix did the trick for a healthy amount of new growth this season. The species normally does its growing in spring and early fall, although my valdezianus had other ideas -- most of the new growth you see here took place over the summer. It'll put on a little more, and after that, time for setting buds.

As y'all may have guessed from my history on the forum, I'm a generalist in terms of what I collect. Given the constraints of an apartment collection, it should therefore come as no surprise that I have to be choosy about what I select when we're dealing with larger genera. This certainly applies regarding Gymnocalycium, although mihanovichii was always an indispensible part of my earlier collections. Then again, the nurseries I knew back in the old days didn't offer much else. The Gymno vatteri I got at the CCC is a wonderful plant, and I considered old favorite mihanovichii as a companion with its lovely form and unusual skin colors. However, because we have more to choose from these days, perhaps I'd like something better. Courtesy of CCN -- Gymnocalycium stenopleurum with ready-made buds, and one about to pop here on 7/15/12:



Turned out to be a fantastic choice, and the species has 2 striking characteristics. One is a long blooming period that can run from early spring through the better part of fall. And the other, seasonal changes in skin color. We'll see both in evidence here -- 11/23/13 and 10/25/14:



3/28/15 on the left:



Gymno stenopleurum needs a lot of heat to see its flowers looking their best. Even in summer I've found it kinda tricky to get the timing right, although this September cooperated with a heat wave coming through at the end of the month:





I'm not a fan of hybrid cacti in general, but it's like Darryl was reading my mind when he sent me a hybrid I would actually enjoy -- Astrophytum 'capristigma'. Here they are, Sr. and Jr. sitting comfortably in a 3" pot:



Sr. was mature enough to bloom in 2013 -- its very first flower on 5/21:





While the beautifully-mixed parentage is clearly seen in the plants themselves, those flowers are all capricorne (only smaller, of course!). It's also interesting to note 2 other behaviors in their mix -- while fairly prolific blooming is typical myriostigma, Sr. and Jr. take more after capricorne with their slow growth. But slow as it was, they were finally crowding the pot, so I gave away Jr. and moved Sr. into its own 3" glazed ceramic pot on 4/4/15:



I've been missing Sr.'s flowers this year, although I'll have plenty of chances next year. And yes -- eventually the capristigma will need a bigger pot! In the meantime, I have an Astrophytum that may be even slower...

Ah, asterias -- the one Astrophytum species I loved, but could never figure out. There was something I obviously just didn't get when I tried asterias again in 2011. Then when I saw what a game-changer my pumice-DG mix was over the following spring, I felt bold enough to give the species another shot. This completes the roster of CCN cacti arriving in July 2012:



Darryl was really helpful about guiding me through the plant's first summer under my care. The combination of mineral mix and careful watering showed the result I was longing for, and I discovered that asterias isn't so difficult after all. Mineral mix? Absolutely! In the growing season "careful watering" means deep drenches and let the roots dry out completely in between. There are only 2 things we need to watch out for concerning asterias -- keep them shaded (especially during summer), and don't let them get any water at all when they're dormant in fall and winter.

A year after it joined the collection, I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see my very first asterias flower. Last summer, it was 2. This year takes the cake, with more blooms than I could've expected -- 6! Unfortunately the asterias decided to tease me by doing most of its flowering when I wasn't there. But my timing couldn't be better as it saved the best for last. Let's watch this bud develop on 9/6 and 9/19:



On the day of my big photo shoot for the end-of-summer review -- 4 weeks ago:











Simply gorgeous! Now, asterias definitely is a very slow grower, so it's hard to tell how much we'd see from year to year. Could be more than we think, though. I'll let the rest of October play out, take new photos, then put them together side-by-side with the earliest benchmark pics I have in the archive. If they show enough growing progress to be worth looking at, I'll post them as a follow-up to the review after it's done. With that said, we still have more installments on tap, so in my next post we'll review the last 3 of my 2012 CCN cacti.