Nick's Collection

[ElieEstephane]

I seriously need to take a photo of the Rebutia I have. I re-potted it after taking the earlier photo and now it has just over taken its new pot too...Insane how fast they grow!

I'm currently loving grafting, so I haven't really bought any new plants apart from some cheap Astrophytum Ornatum I saw for $2.99 each.

I also got some Adenium seed sent to me and bought some others not expecting much...But ended up with 72 plants, which wasn't expected at all, so I repotted all of them the other day before it gets too cold here.

I'm obsessed with new thick spines and this here is what i need! Awesome photos

[mmcavall]

Hello Nick, very nice collection, congrats.
What is the plant in the 7th picture of the first post of this thread (just below the asterias)? Do you know how old is it? How did you get so many flowers?

Hi mate, I believe its Mammillaria Karwinskiana but possible hybrid as it seems to have longer spines than the forms I've seen. Not sure on age but I don't think its too old. I kept it in full sun here in WA which is very strong in UV rays, so I'm not sure if that contributed. When I got it, the body of the cacti was green but as summer went on, it went a deep bronze red and it started throwing out hundreds of flowers non-stop for about a month and it has just started again now as it has gone into Autumn. I also use a fertilizer called Ozi Magic Monsta Bud and I have observed the flowers grow a lot faster after its application.

Thanks, Nick. I have asked exactly because it looks like my plant that I am trying to ID, which I suspect is M. karwinskiana. Mine was green and boring when newly purchased, but turned into a singular plant like yours (although not that floriferous).

[AusNick89]

Hello Nick, very nice collection, congrats.
What is the plant in the 7th picture of the first post of this thread (just below the asterias)? Do you know how old is it? How did you get so many flowers?

Hi mate, I believe its Mammillaria Karwinskiana but possible hybrid as it seems to have longer spines than the forms I've seen. Not sure on age but I don't think its too old. I kept it in full sun here in WA which is very strong in UV rays, so I'm not sure if that contributed. When I got it, the body of the cacti was green but as summer went on, it went a deep bronze red and it started throwing out hundreds of flowers non-stop for about a month and it has just started again now as it has gone into Autumn. I also use a fertilizer called Ozi Magic Monsta Bud and I have observed the flowers grow a lot faster after its application.

Thanks, Nick. I have asked exactly because it looks like my plant that I am trying to ID, which I suspect is M. karwinskiana. Mine was green and boring when newly purchased, but turned into a singular plant like yours (although not that floriferous).

Hopefully you've found your ID . Maybe try giving it a good fertilizer dose and see if it throws some more flowers!

[AusNick89]

Well, I added a heap of plants to my collection recently! I'm trying to sort of decide whether I should focus on just collecting a couple of different types rather than random ones of everything I see, like and buy on a whim .

I also wonder if that is a little bit of variegation on the baby Melocactus.

[ElieEstephane]

Wow! Very beautiful new additions

[AusNick89]

Wow! Very beautiful new additions

Cheers Elie, I think that's my lot til next spring here now...Unless I see some Gymnos or Rebutias lol

[Hanazono]

1st one is a very good Onzuka. It is not a standard Onzuka, is called "Shimairi Onzuka" means striped Onzuka.

Although the name tag on 6th one says "Astrophytum super kabuto", it is not a super kabuto.
I think the cactus is an Astrophytum hybrid which dose not show any characters of super kabuto at all, unfortunately.

[AusNick89]

1st one is a very good Onzuka. It is not a standard Onzuka, is called "Shimairi Onzuka" means striped Onzuka.

Although the name tag on 6th one says "Astrophytum super kabuto", it is not a super kabuto.
I think the cactus is an Astrophytum hybrid which dose not show any characters of super kabuto at all, unfortunately.

Oh nice, I thought it was very nice when I saw it and I saw those arrow looking stripes on the ribs and decided to get it as it was quite different to the others that the collector had. He had like 4 greenhouses worth of cacti so it was really hard to choose haha!

It's a shame about the second one, I wonder what it's a hybrid of? He had a lot of A. Coahuilense and Capricorne stuff around that area so maybe something of them.

[Hanazono]

I can not give an accurate comment but one of plants of the hybrid is a capricorne.
The body appearance shows the character of capricorne.

Super kabuto is a true asterias with flecking mutation.
A true asterias can not be a mother plant when making a hybrid and so:
The hybrid on the photo should be capricorne x super kabuto (left side shows the mother plant.).

The flecking gene of super kabuto is very positive.
When you made super kabuto related hybrids, large thick flecking should be appeared on any hybrids.

I can not see large flecking on the cactus of your photo.
I assume the father plant was not a true super kabuto, was a super kabuto related hybrid.

I have these 1st filial hybrids. Both of them show large flecking over bodies.
capricorn x super kabuto
coahuilense x super kabuto

[AusNick89]

I can not give an accurate comment but one of plants of the hybrid is a capricorne.
The body appearance shows the character of capricorne.

Super kabuto is a true asterias with flecking mutation.
A true asterias can not be a mother plant when making a hybrid and so:
The hybrid on the photo should be capricorne x super kabuto (left side shows the mother plant.).

The flecking gene of super kabuto is very positive.
When you made super kabuto related hybrids, large thick flecking should be appeared on any hybrids.

I can not see large flecking on the cactus of your photo.
I assume the father plant was not a true super kabuto, was a super kabuto related hybrid.

I have these 1st filial hybrids. Both of them show large flecking over bodies.
capricorn x super kabuto
coahuilense x super kabuto

Thanks for the info Hanazono, very helpful

[hegar]

Hello Nick,

whatever kind of hybrid your Astrophytum cactus is, it is a pretty plant, even without flowers. I do like the sea-star-like sharp ribs and of course the speckling. With a hybrid you also do get faster growth than what you could expect with an A. asterias. Also, most likely your plant will not go as easily into root rot and death as the pure-bred A. asterias. I do have two plants, which do resemble A. asterias and were sold to me as such. Both of them do have a slightly protruding rib in the center of each segment. This does indicate, that they are hybrids. Those two plants have survived in the ground for almost ten years, flower nicely and repeatedly each year and have reached a nice size. I have killed all my Astrophytum cacti, except these two hybrids and two A. capricorne. Those just keep "chugging along" and I could not be happier with them. My horticulture professor used to tell us students about "hybrid vigor" and these plants prove him right.

Harald

[AusNick89]

I bought a few more plants the other day. I was only going to get 2 but ended up being talked into 4 by the mrs as my boys wanted 2 of their own...I didn't complain much anyway .

I've been doing some grafting too, the first photo being of a Ferocactus that Aiko from the forum sent me seeds of...I believe they grow fast from seed but got impatient to see its spikes. The second photo is of an Ariocarpus I grafted ages ago, it seems to be growing very slowly even on the Pereskiopsis, so I don't think the union is that great (?). I did really want to try more of this species but only 3 seeds germinated and didn't like the substrate, so I ended up saving the 2 by grafting them. I think I'll be keeping an eye out for some more seed next season if I can find some!

Quite a few of my grafts have been afflicted with rust fungus too it seems, so I don't think my ventilation is that great, I tried a fan but it only slowed it a little. I've been treating the affected ones with Phosaic acid. Not sure what else to do other than moving them into the sun from out of the garage.

Not sure what the 8th photo is, it was just a cheap one from a local supermarket that I liked the look and feel of...It literally feels like a shoebrush when your run your fingers down it. I tried to find an ID online and came up with possibly some sort of Haageocereus or Weberbauerocereus, but I'm not sure.

[AusNick89]

Winter starts here very soon but everything still seems to be wanting to flower, its seems a lot warmer than usual for autumn too.

I also received some Dorstenia seeds from a member on the forum (Kak tus - thank you very much ). I potted these up today and put them on a heat mat. I wasn't too sure on what would work best for these regarding germinating, so I ended up using a very similar mix to what I germinated all the Adeniums in - Which also seem to be happily growing. I'm not too sure how I go on about watering these over winter as they're still very small and the last time I let them get too dry I lost about 6 of them sadly. I guess I'll just have to wing it for now!

[AusNick89]

The Dorstenia sp. seeds have started to germinate, noticed one has popped up today.

I had the pot in the garage for a couple of days but bought some orchids that I decided to use the heat mat for, so I've put them
all together on an eastern window with a grow light above now.

[supergodzilla]

I'll be interested to follow your Dorstenia seedling(s). I've just had a few germinate myself, the Australian winter is clearly not the ideal climate for them to be starting off in, but they seem to be doing okay so far!