A friend of mine gave me this huge, beautiful cactus yesterday, and while I’m totally thrilled, I also have no idea what it is! I’m hoping that someone may be able to give me some information on its extreme leaning as well - he looks pretty top heavy, but appears healthy all the way down to the base.
Thank you for your help! Fingers crossed.
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M. matudae is supposed to be a fast grower, so even if Mike's Mammillaria is a backebergiana, at least this gives us a general idea as to the growth rate for both species.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Yes Elie it is a backebergiana. Just showing as an example of how these similar species can grow over time. I realized after posting that its at least 15 yrs old. This was taken in July 2019.
theclosetguy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:15 pm
Yes Elie it is a backebergiana. Just showing as an example of how these similar species can grow over time. I realized after posting that its at least 15 yrs old. This was taken in July 2019.
It's an amazing plant!
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a)
theclosetguy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 6:35 pm
We have a chain of stores here called .99cent stores and everything was .99cents. So this baby started out as a 2" tall .99cent plant.
Thanks
Mike, could you give me an approximate length on the longest stem? Since your backebergiana started out as a 2-incher 15 years ago, I can calculate the annual growth rate. Then if M. matudae grows at a similar rate, I'll have an idea about how long it'll take for mine to start going recumbent.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Hi Steve
Thanks for the question. I just went out to measure and found one if the arms rotting at the base. I bit of quick surgery to remove the rotting tissue. I think I got it all.
I will need to move this guy out of the direct cold and cover it before the next rains. This happened last year also. One arm decided to go mussy. You can see the callused over area in the first picture.
The longest and original arm is 17"
Sorry, trying not to hijack the topic. Just some pictures showing the damage I found today. The callused over spot is last years damage. When these plants get this large, its a chance that an arm will die. These are touching the soil, so they are not getting the best of air circulation when the ground is wet.
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