VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

A more in depth look at individual cactus species, a new one is added each month -managed by Hob

So, which one of these deserves your vote, 4 votes each

Poll ended at Sat Jan 06, 2018 6:22 am

-Stenocactus multicostatus
3
8%
-Astrophytum myriostygma
3
8%
-Astrophytum capricorne
1
3%
-Ferocactus hystrix
2
5%
-Ferocactus glaucescens
4
10%
-Mammillaria karwinskiana
1
3%
-Mammilaria elegans*
1
3%
-Mammillaria elongata*
2
5%
-Echinocereus rigidisimus
3
8%
-Echinopsis peruviana
0
No votes
-Echinopsis schick hybrids*
0
No votes
-Echinopsis subdenudata
0
No votes
-Parodia scopa*
0
No votes
-Parodia leninghausii*
1
3%
-Pilosocereus pachycladus
1
3%
-Myrtillocactus geometrizans
0
No votes
-Pachycereus pringlei
3
8%
-Pachycereus marginatus
0
No votes
-Polaskia chichepe
0
No votes
-Stesonia coryne
2
5%
-Stenocereus thurberi
0
No votes
-Stenocereus griseus
0
No votes
-gymnocalycium baldianum
2
5%
-Gymnocalycium damsii
0
No votes
-Gymnocalycium pflanzii
2
5%
-Rebutia heliosa
3
8%
-Cleistocactus winterii*
0
No votes
-Cleistocactus straussi
0
No votes
-Harrisia justbertii
0
No votes
-Cylindropuntia imbricata
0
No votes
-Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus
1
3%
-Brasiliopuntia brasilensis
1
3%
-Matucana madisoniorium*
3
8%
 
Total votes: 39
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stefan m.
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VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

This is a voting poll for your favorite cacti that will receive a cactus of the month article,chose up to four options, and only one cactus per genus gets selected if it wins.Top three get the article, some too common plants are excluded, rare plants are avoided, and no changing vote. To some of you that feel like your plants have been excluded, this list is only 80% long as the original, and hat to cut some plants off of it. There will another voting pool for succulents.
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

Edit/// youre going to have to revote-turns out consolea falcata has already been declared, and now should have been excluded.
I apologize for my mistake.
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

// unless anybody else is willing to cast their votes, Unofficial winners Are based on previous poll
1st-Pachycereus pringleii
2nd-Ferocactus glauscens
3rd-Pachycereus marginatus-but one plant per genus. Random otherwise.
DaveW
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by DaveW »

Our society (BCSS) did a survey of it's members about a decade ago Stefan and the most popular genus was Mammillaria, with most of the smaller growing free flowering genera following close behind. Most of the Cerioids came very low down on the list, or were not mentioned at all since they did not flower until quite tall. Therefore they took up too much expensive heated greenhouse space which people preferred dedicating to smaller free flowering cacti like Parodia's (Notocactus), Rebutia's, Sulcorebutia's, Mammillarias, Ariocarpus, Lophophora's Lobivia's etc and even Eriosyce these days.

Cerei are OK if you pick the smaller species. Many Cleistocacti will flower when a reasonable size, but Carnegia's and Pachycereus, Neoraimondia's etc are now seldom seen in our collections since you will not see flowers in your lifetime unless you can bed them outside in the right climate. Even Ferocactus get a little large in pots for many to wait for them to flower, or give them that much room.

I assume we must be different to other countries, since needing expensively heated greenhouses in often small gardens British Cactophiles have become more discriminating as to the plants we grow over the years. I remember when I started in the 1960's people grew anything they did not have a hope of flowering in their small greenhouses and certainly not on the their windowsill, from Cerei to eventually rampant growing Opuntia's. In fact as long as it was a cactus we grew it. I suppose, as in your case Stefan, that was when the range of plants available was much more limited. However the difference in the 1960's was there was not the range of species available internationally as seed, so the genera and species we could obtain were restricted. I remember in those days Turbinbicarpus were rare and thought hard to grow. Now I find they are one of the easiest from seed, stand cool conditions and flower when fairly young.

Our collectors are much more discriminating now, since most of us grow the smaller plants we can hope to flower and do not need a lot of heat in the winter. There are some collections with mature Cerei in them, but often they have to keep up higher winter temperatures and need higher greenhouses. Inevitably with limited greenhouse space, as our collections mature and plants outgrow their allotted space we tend to get rid of them. In fact it is now hard to give away six foot cereus or large Opuntia since people do not have room for them.

I think you will find plants that are popular in one country, due to their growing conditions, will not be in another Stefan, depending whether they can be grown outside, or need heated greenhouses. However most collectors grow the lower growing freer flowering genera, if not the taller Cerei. There are some big collections here, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Most get by with greenhouses ranging in the 10ft x 8ft or 8ft x 6ft sort of sizes.

This would be larger than most British collectors greenhouses and containing some very old choice plants, but note the typical lack of really tall Cerei or Opuntia's in such a mature collection.

http://forum.bcss.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=152157
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

Im gonna have to 100% disagree with the BCSS review. In fact, while i avoid buying south american plants do to the difficulty to grow, i find mammilaria plants to be the least favorite- their flowers look mundane, they are often small and slow growing, handling ones with tiny fishhook spines is somewhat of a annoyance, cleaning pests is more difficult than a lot of plants, their similar shapes and colors boring, and their popularity is making them tiresome to look at. With limited window space, Id rather waste itt on some cacti that can have good flowers or a decent shape, dont require cold winter rest to flower and something i dont have to wait an eternity to get big. All in all, mammilaria is a plant id only recommend to rookie growers- its simply not worth the effort.
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ElieEstephane
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by ElieEstephane »

I don't see why your personal opinion has to be the norm. The largest part of cacti collectors would often grow rewarding plants (clustering habit, free flowring, nice geometrical shape) while cerei that are attractive at first are a burden later unless you can grow in the ground. I would never attempt to grow a columnar cactus inside and see it deformed and etiolated. Moat growers don't have the luxury of a greenhouse and are simple windowsill/outside in summer growers. For this reason, mammillarias are so popular, not because they are forced on people. And a collector that is not 100% dedicated to cactus growing wants something easy to care for. Thats why astrophytums for example are less popular than mammillarias. Faster columnar cacti require more frequent repotting and large quantities of soil which can get very expensive for some growers.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

And a collector that is not 100% dedicated to cactus growing wants something easy to care for
somebody who is 100% is a nursery owner. I am at 40-30% dedicated for my cacti and that works out for me.
As for wanting something easy to care for, thats kind of contradictory from your earlier statement :
I think it's better to do not so common plants to introduce everyone to rare or unheard of cacti
.
my consensus is that mammilaria as a genus is TOO common and TOO popular to be considered as a plant that deserves any award. If casual growers focus on this and echinopsis oxygona types, its their choice, but its not a choice id consider from even a semi serious collector. I do find rarer small and clumping types exciting, but something as overused as the genus mammilaria i consider an eyesore. I look away from them every time there is a cactus shipment.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by ElieEstephane »

stefan m. wrote: As for wanting something easy to care for, thats kind of contradictory from your earlier statement :
I think it's better to do not so common plants to introduce everyone to rare or unheard of cacti
.
First of all, i was talking about ideas for the cactus of the month topic not about popular plants topic. Introducing someone to a plant they don't know is different than forcing them to grow it. They just learn about it. I enjoy learning about thelocactus for example but im not interested in growing them.
Second, a rare plant is not at all hard to care for which does not contradict what i stated earlier. Haageocerei, for example, are very easy to care for but they are very rare in cultivation. Some people even mistake them for other genera.
Third, the vast majority of users on this site are not dedicated cactus growers. They just enjoy having a small collection for plant diversification, for lack of space or for lack of suitable conditions. So while you are not are wrong at all, you'd do best to respect their opinion. Your personnal opinion is that mammillarias are ugly so you don't have to outright refute Dave's reply. He is just giving his opinion too and he more experience than any and all of all of us combined.
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) :mrgreen:
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

True, but remember about dave's reply- i said "Im gonna have to 100% disagree with the BCSS review"- to be fair, im dissing growers that have mammilarias as bulk of their collections. Not to sound like an elitist, but when someone claims something so common and boring is the "best plant ever" im obliged to cut them short in their tracks. There are common plants- and not columnar mind you, that deserve more attention, but instead are overshadowed by the solely that genus.
Think about, if there were no mammilaria, there would be more rebutia, gymnocalciums(and not grafted ones),echinocereus, parodias, lobivias.. and many others, all overshadowed by the popularity of tubercules and tiny magenta flowers.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by ElieEstephane »

Well the issue is with "dissing" other growers. This is an international forum and everyone is entitled to their opinion without being "dissed".
"If there were no mammillarias..." that is solely based on location. Some countries, like England i believe, have many more rebutias and lobivias in cultivation. That has to do partly with popular demand. Same can be said about gymnos, parodias, echinopsis, melocactus, aloes and many more. I see them equally to mammillarias in imported plants.
Aslo, would you consider mammillaria luethyi, saboae, theresae and all similar mammillarias not worthy for a serious cactus collector?
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) :mrgreen:
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

Well again, thats your experience. My experience? if resale nursery hear owners say its the best plant, 30% of total cacti received are mammilarias. Mammilarias, that growers voted to be the best plant ever, nurseries that manufactured it, and shops to sell it. So, im blaming the plant and its fans for its dis-pleasurable popularity. If there were a rebutia and lobivia to every tenth mammilaria I see, youd get a very different feed in "my collection". So, while its nice they are popular in England, doesnt mean they are popular in wholesale or here. In fact, only time i did see rebutias, was when they were paired with 40 % mammilarias in the mix- the rest were even parts parodia scopa and gymno baldanium. Somehow they end up in every mix. They even have their own mix. So of course im going to dis growers if they chose a plant as the "epitome of cactus growing" and have it flood the market.
And checked out mammillaria luethyi, saboae, theresae and all similar mammillarias- as cool looking and probably sole redeeming members, unfortunately are NOT in wholesale. 200 species, and they chose the boring ones too.
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

if you even want evidence for my disdain,
https://shop.plantconnect.nl/catalogus. ... fMEg%3d%3d
and http://www.edelcactus.eu/Artikel/Index
And http://www.ubink.nl/en/exporter/exporteur-3
Could honestly say its not overused? And take into consideration they dont import large cacti and single species cacti too.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by DaveW »

I think you are comparing what you say is the limited rage of cacti in Macedonia with the more extensive range available in much of the rest of the world Stefan, since most collectors on this site probably have a much wider commercial access to different plants than evidently you do, that is unless you grow them from seed.

There are Mammilaria's with larger flowers, such as M. guelzowiamna and M saboae that can compete with both Parodia's and Lobivia's

M. guelzowiana
guelzowiana.jpg
guelzowiana.jpg (95.57 KiB) Viewed 6936 times
M. saboae
Mammillaria saboae.jpg
Mammillaria saboae.jpg (70.56 KiB) Viewed 6936 times
If you want to do a poll why not just ask people to list their favourite genus and species without limiting their alternatives by preselecting the choices based on your ideas? You could also ask them to state their country, therefore giving an idea of what is most favoured or available in that country. Also whether they are a windowsill grower, Greenhouse grower or able to grow outside all year round in their climate. That's what the BCSS Poll did, just asking for collectors opinion without restricting their choice of genus or species. Incidentally neither of the above Mammillaria's are rare in the UK and too difficult to obtain and I doubt they are in the USA, or most of Europe.

The links you list Stefan are for the casual supermarket or Garden Centre trade, not from specialist cactus nurserymen. They are aimed at the casual grower rather than serious collectors who usually buy from specialist nurseries or raise their own from seed so having a much greater range of genera and species available.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by 7george »

And take into consideration they don't import large cacti and single species cacti too.
Many of those pictured would grow big or huge given time but are not very convenient for mass trade and transport when get over-sized. Most columnars are for tropical countries where might be planted outdoors.

Single species... this often depends on nomenclature. Mammilloydia candida is widespread. Many are protected or rare species and problematic for importing. And when, one day the second species in that genus is discovered (or the genus is merged into another one) the magic of uniqueness ends. :( :cry:
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stefan m.
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Re: VOTING POLL-Cacti of the month candidates for january, february and march 2018

Post by stefan m. »

I think you are comparing what you say is the limited rage of cacti in Macedonia with the more extensive range available in much of the rest of the world Stefan, since most collectors on this site probably have a much wider commercial access to different plants than evidently you do, that is unless you grow them from seed.

There are Mammilaria's with larger flowers, such as M. guelzowiamna and M saboae that can compete with both Parodia's and Lobivia's
And i have to look for those- and intend to do so. About the rest, after pleading and begging the growers for better plants..... i realized that the person choosing the import of plants has the mindset of a magpie.
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