Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

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Download
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Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Download »

I got screwed on an Facebook sale mid last year. The seller posted an image of a mystery cleistocactus and then sent me a very shabby barely rooted cutting of the same species which I later identified as C palhuayensis. The tip was banged up and the plant itself was wet and wrapped in plastic.

Today I was moving some plants around when I noticed that one of the broken pottery shards I'd used to prop the cutting upright when I got it was pushed upwards. Removing it I discovered two branches starting to grow out of the soil.

Image

Image

(Please ignore the crappy soil. I ran out of good cacti mix filling this pot so I topped it up with some other stuff and then it was made worse by the handyman brushing the leaves off the roof onto my plants).

I pulled the plant out of the pot to take a look at it and found the two branches were pale white below the surface.

Is this normal? The only other branched Cleistocactus I've got is a monkey tail and that branched at ground level. It seems odd to sprout out of the ground like this so I wonder if this is something to do with it being a cutting.
DaveW
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by DaveW »

Some cacti do produce underground runners or rhizomes (some Echinocereus and Notocactus for instance) but being rhizomes these come off the roots rather than being offsets on the body.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0

As you say it could be due to it being a cutting with the bottom of the stem buried. Underground stems or runners are usually whitish and elongated and do not turn into normal growth until above the soil and in the light when they can then photosynthesise. Can't say I have heard of a Cleistocactus on its original roots doing it, therefore possibly your explanation of underground offsets on a buried stem is correct?
Hero878
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Hero878 »

Hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread? But I wanted to ask does it really take a Cleistocactus 10-15 years getting to a height of 1 metre tall before they bloom? I have monkey tail cactus which is part of the Cleistocactus family and it blooms even though its like 2 years old.
Download
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Download »

Hero878 wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:38 pm Hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread? But I wanted to ask does it really take a Cleistocactus 10-15 years getting to a height of 1 metre tall before they bloom? I have monkey tail cactus which is part of the Cleistocactus family and it blooms even though its like 2 years old.
This Cleisto was blooming earlier in the year. It only had two flowers on it but it did bloom.
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by esp_imaging »

Hero878 wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:38 pm Hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread? But I wanted to ask does it really take a Cleistocactus 10-15 years getting to a height of 1 metre tall before they bloom? I have monkey tail cactus which is part of the Cleistocactus family and it blooms even though its like 2 years old.
That's probably realistic for a well grown C. strausii in a pot in the UK. Other species, as you have observed, can flower when much smaller.
C. strausii when given free root run or potted up generously could probably be (lots?) faster than that.
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DaveW
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by DaveW »

Depends what you include in Cleistocactus Hero? Some of those previously in other genera flower much smaller than C. strausii. Also a rooted cutting of a taller flowering plant will flower much smaller than the parent plant did. Cleistocacti grow quite fast if given free root room and many will get to 1 meter high long before 10 years. Cerei usually require bigger pots and more root room than you would give for the globular cacti.

Your "Monkey Tail" = Cleistocactus colademono was formally in Hildewintera where it was first published as Hildewintera colademononis. David Hunt corrected the spelling of the name on transfer to Cleistocactus as is allowed for spelling mistakes under the "Rules". But even LLIFLE still gets it wrong since it has never been validly published as colademononis under Cleistocactus. The correct name is Cleistocactus colademono.

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Hero878
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Hero878 »

Thanks for the replies very interesting!
I will be sure to give my Cleistocactus more room now as I assumed it needed to be tightly potted as with most other cacti.
The reason I asked was because I just ordered some Cleistocactus Ferrari and was also hoping to get a Vulpis too sometime in the future as I like the colour of the blooms these give. I was gutted when I realised I might have 10-15 year wait haha
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by DaveW »

Cleistocactus ferrari is a Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus variant and probably needs to be a bit taller to flower.

http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... s_ferrarii

Cleistocactus vulpis-cauda (name means foxes tail) is often considered a subspecies of Cliestocactus brookiae (syn C. wendlandiorum). both the species are nice plants and flower reasonably small. In fact apart from the fact the flowers do not open wide and remain tubular it looks very similar to your Cleistocactus colademono.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0

Cleistocactus brookiae is also a nice plant, but grows upright rather than being a hanging basket type plant.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0
Hero878
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Hero878 »

Thanks Dave very interesting!
I can see why they call V Culpis foxes tail it certainly looks quite gingery. Shame I cannot find one easily for sale at the moment, it must very rare.
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Minime8484
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Minime8484 »

Download wrote: Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:49 am This Cleisto was blooming earlier in the year. It only had two flowers on it but it did bloom.
Would you be able to post a photo of the flower? At least here in the US, that species is virtually unknown.
DaveW
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by DaveW »

Not sure if I still have C. vulpis-cauda somewhere Hero. I was starting some again for myself and gave one away last year. I may even have a start of C. brookiae somewhere too, but you will have to grow them on since they would only be small cuttings. I will have a look when they start growing if you remind me since you are in the UK I believe?

As said before you want to go through the online dealers lists on Cactus Mall. However most will not ship plants until the growing season starts. This is the time of year they ship seed.

http://www.cactus-mall.com/nursery.html
Hero878
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Re: Cleistocactus palhuayensis growing branches under the soil?

Post by Hero878 »

DaveW wrote: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:17 pm Not sure if I still have C. vulpis-cauda somewhere Hero. I was starting some again for myself and gave one away last year. I may even have a start of C. brookiae somewhere too, but you will have to grow them on since they would only be small cuttings. I will have a look when they start growing if you remind me since you are in the UK I believe?

As said before you want to go through the online dealers lists on Cactus Mall. However most will not ship plants until the growing season starts. This is the time of year they ship seed.

http://www.cactus-mall.com/nursery.html
Thanks Dave thats very kind of you! :)
Yeah I'll keep checking those malls. I have shopped at thecactusshop (online) and cactusland out of those.
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