Gemhunter from now forward~

[gemhunter178]

Before I start posting some pictures of the new plants I recently got - here's one more flower - my older Astrophytum myriostigma! It has been with me for a few years and even bloomed at least one other time, but I was never home to see it.


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gpbQCw

This photo was made manually from a stack of 5 photos!

[gemhunter178]

And onto some new plants from Miles!
Here's a Echinocereus reichenbachii 'miniature form!'


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gpYtYc

[gemhunter178]

Here's a Discocactus latispinus HU146 that I just got from Miles as well! Any advice for this one? I forgot where that thread with all the helpful info was by... someone who grew these things like weeds? I just remember seeing a thread of that guy's collection a while ago and it was impressive.


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gqH3nm

[gemhunter178]

Another new acquisition is this Ariocarpus agavoides! I have seedlings of these guys, but, nothing this big yet, so it's a welcome addition!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2grrjQU

[gemhunter178]

Last one for the week is a Turbinicarpus valdezianus! I really like how small these are and how neat their spines are!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gs6LvF

If I switch to posting all five of my photos once a week.... would people prefer that?
My collection isn't the largest and it might get repetitive real quick if I took any more photos (also, those manual focus-stack shots take a while)

[Hanazono]

Here is my discocactus, the name tag said "placentiformis v latispinus f major HU640".
I bought seeds and sowed in 2007.
The current size is 18 cm in diameter. I assume it will grow more than 20 cm in diameter.
I lost some seedlings by rotting roots.
https://cactiguide.com/forum/download/f ... w&id=69046

[Steve Johnson]

If I switch to posting all five of my photos once a week.... would people prefer that?
My collection isn't the largest and it might get repetitive real quick if I took any more photos (also, those manual focus-stack shots take a while)

Posting once a week with all the photos you have for the week is a good idea.

By the way, I gave you a small shout-out when I posted to my Member Topics thread yesterday. You'll have to scroll down a bit to get there, but I think you might like it:

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 95#p362007

[gemhunter178]

Posting once a week with all the photos you have for the week is a good idea.

By the way, I gave you a small shout-out when I posted to my Member Topics thread yesterday. You'll have to scroll down a bit to get there, but I think you might like it:

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 95#p362007

Oh yes, I saw that and really appreciate it! In fact, today I took some pictures of the East Coast polaskii family today and I'll be processing the pictures tomorrow (or today here since it's past 12)

In addition, I took a series of "manual focus stack" pictures of one of the family and plan on posting a short thing on the before and after of focus stacking!

Sorry that I don't always have time to fully read your thread (and do it justice), but I do enjoy it!

[gemhunter178]

Totally ran out of time today to focus stack the picture as I still have to get some artwork done and it's already past 12:30 here - so here's a different angle showing some post-winter rest spine growth on one of those Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus var. polaskii! Sown in 2013, seeds courtesy of Steve Johnson!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2guATMy

[gemhunter178]

Here is my discocactus, the name tag said "placentiformis v latispinus f major HU640".
I bought seeds and sowed in 2007.
The current size is 18 cm in diameter. I assume it will grow more than 20 cm in diameter.
I lost some seedlings by rotting roots.

Oh my, I missed this earlier - that is quite an amazing specimen!
I sowed a batch D. horstii a few years ago and they were all growing very well....until one day they all just rotted away. I didn't change any of their growing conditions, but, I haven't had the best luck with full-cephalium cacti species (though my Melocactus longispinus seedlings are doing quite well!)

Hopefully I'll get the chance to get another someday. Perhaps I'll opt for a well-grafted one.

[gemhunter178]

Managed to process these photos yesterday, but it was too late to post as I had some other responsibilities:
Here's the full Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus var. polaskii family on the East Coast! (There are 7, many have split from their first watering over the years, but, it's not very visible)
These were grown from seed given to me by Steve Johnson back in 2013 from his polaskii family! (Steve has an amazing informative thread about his journey in growing odd, pretty plants!) His thread can be found here and if you haven't seen it, you should (though it's already pretty popular!)

Oh, and the sow date for these guys is Aug. 20, 12013, making them almost 6 years old!


Link: https://www.flickr.com/gp/157149974@N06/yt8767

...and, as promised, here's the before and after of manually focus-stacking:

To start, here's a base image (we'll be 'fixing' the blurry part):


Link: https://www.flickr.com/gp/157149974@N06/7nQyvK

Here's the 4 other images I overlaid, oriented, and masked:


Link: https://www.flickr.com/gp/157149974@N06/79398m

And the final result of all the work!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gvVT88

Overall the image should be sharper than fully closing your aperture and I get to selectively focus on the background where I want to focus!

Edit: forgot to talk about how these are "the East Coast family" and that has since been added!

[gemhunter178]

It's Opuntia humifusa season here! Here's a flower with a pollinator!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gxhjNg

Oh, and here's a flower on my new Mammillaria wrightii ssp. wilcoxii! Hopefully I'll keep it alive this time....
Also, cameras/screens are notoriously bad at showing pink things... I tried my best to post process but it's still a bit too vibrant for most screens...
It's also a quick photo stack of 4 pictures!


Link: https://flic.kr/p/2gxgVEr

[fanaticactus]

Love the new 'babies'...good luck growing them into fine specimens. Beautiful early summer flowers!

[gemhunter178]

Love the new 'babies'...good luck growing them into fine specimens. Beautiful early summer flowers!

Thank you! Things are definitely ramping up here - especially looking forward to my Echinopsis subdenudata which seems to have 3 simultaneous flowers this year! (hopefully will have an update this week)

Oh, and those few-year-old Echinopsis mirabilis seeds are still viable! PM sent.

[fanaticactus]

My two E. subdenudata both had flowers this weekend--the older one had two and the younger, just one. Got pictures of them about 1 am. I've neglected to post photos recently as many of mine flower...very busy here.