My flowering Cacti 2019
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fanaticactus
- Posts: 3194
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:44 pm
- Location: Grand Isle Co., Vermont
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
Going back to the Peniocereus...it appears that the stems are long and slender. Does it get so tall that it's necessary to stake it or otherwise support it? Is it a candidate for a hanging basket? I'm asking so I'll know whether it's practical to have in my relatively small greenhouse (8'x10'). And once it's a few years old, would it be difficult to move out of the greenhouse for the summer (for fresh air) and back inside again for the winter?
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
Thank you very much for your comments, Alexandro and fanaticactus.
My Peniocereus greggii plant is not large and impressive enough to warrant being illuminated at night for the neighborhood people to see.
I am going to attach a digital image or two, to show the growth pattern of the plant.
While the stems are thin, they are also lanky. That is perhaps a reason for the plant to usually be found in the wild leaning against another desert dweller like a creosote bush (Larrea tridentate). For especially our area, where there are still a few P. greggii plants to be found in the wild, having, what I call a "nurse plant", also gives the cactus more protection from the very intense sun light radiation. Just walking around in the desert, I noticed, that the best looking cacti are usually found in a location that has a beneficial effect on their growth, e.g. near a larger plant, an outcropping of rocks, etc.. If growing near some rocks, they have limited competition by other plants, perhaps shade from the hot afternoon sun, and also receive any runoff from those rocks.
Now, fanaticactus, as I stated above, I did take a few photos of my smaller P. greggii cactus. That plant has been in the ground for close to 10 years. It did have some die-back a few times, but made up for the loss of stem tissue by producing a side shoot. The main stem, which is not producing any flowers, is about 39 inches tall. The side stems are of almost the same height and did produce flowers, with perhaps five more to come.
I do not see, that this cactus could be considered for a hanging basket plant. It does have some upright, stiff stems. However, the side branches can grow horizontally and even droop, because of their weight. This cactus is a sprawling plant, however, unless you do stake the stems and provide some super nutrition to it, I do not believe, that you will have problems moving it in and out of your greenhouse. The only problem would be to reduce the width of the plant, so it would fit through the door. You could tie the stems together, to facilitate this task. P. greggii in a way grows in a similar fashion to the "dragon fruit" cactus (Hylocereus undatus and other closely related species), but is more upright growing and does not droop as much, because the stems are almost quadrangular (if 4-ribbed) or roundish (if 5-ribbed), plus they are more woody, not as succulent as those of the jungle cactus Hylocereus.
Harald
My Peniocereus greggii plant is not large and impressive enough to warrant being illuminated at night for the neighborhood people to see.
I am going to attach a digital image or two, to show the growth pattern of the plant.
While the stems are thin, they are also lanky. That is perhaps a reason for the plant to usually be found in the wild leaning against another desert dweller like a creosote bush (Larrea tridentate). For especially our area, where there are still a few P. greggii plants to be found in the wild, having, what I call a "nurse plant", also gives the cactus more protection from the very intense sun light radiation. Just walking around in the desert, I noticed, that the best looking cacti are usually found in a location that has a beneficial effect on their growth, e.g. near a larger plant, an outcropping of rocks, etc.. If growing near some rocks, they have limited competition by other plants, perhaps shade from the hot afternoon sun, and also receive any runoff from those rocks.
Now, fanaticactus, as I stated above, I did take a few photos of my smaller P. greggii cactus. That plant has been in the ground for close to 10 years. It did have some die-back a few times, but made up for the loss of stem tissue by producing a side shoot. The main stem, which is not producing any flowers, is about 39 inches tall. The side stems are of almost the same height and did produce flowers, with perhaps five more to come.
I do not see, that this cactus could be considered for a hanging basket plant. It does have some upright, stiff stems. However, the side branches can grow horizontally and even droop, because of their weight. This cactus is a sprawling plant, however, unless you do stake the stems and provide some super nutrition to it, I do not believe, that you will have problems moving it in and out of your greenhouse. The only problem would be to reduce the width of the plant, so it would fit through the door. You could tie the stems together, to facilitate this task. P. greggii in a way grows in a similar fashion to the "dragon fruit" cactus (Hylocereus undatus and other closely related species), but is more upright growing and does not droop as much, because the stems are almost quadrangular (if 4-ribbed) or roundish (if 5-ribbed), plus they are more woody, not as succulent as those of the jungle cactus Hylocereus.
Harald
- P_greggii1 (2).JPG (171.21 KiB) Viewed 7485 times
- P_greggii2 (2).JPG (146.27 KiB) Viewed 7485 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
Today, I almost overlooked my small Thelocactus hexaedrophorus plant, which had one nice flower. I believe, I need to either move this plant pretty soon or dig up the peanut cactus Echinopsis chamecereus, because the little single-stemmed cactus is slowly disappearing among the plants near it.
Harald
Harald
- T_hexaedrophorus2.JPG (98.25 KiB) Viewed 7472 times
- T_hexaedrophorus6.JPG (76.47 KiB) Viewed 7472 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
There was not much going on in my cactus garden. However, a pleasant surprise was to see the opened blossom of my Thelocactus hexaedrophorus. I thought it was done blooming, but perhaps because of the cooler than average temperatures and more overcast skies, it opened the flower once more, and this time a little wider. You can actually see individual flower petals. 
Otherwise only three prickly pear cacti were in bloom, the previously photographed brick-red flowering Opuntia engelmannii, and two other species, both perhaps hybrids. One of them was given to me as a single cladode years ago and I was told its scientific name is Opuntia alta. However, according to the CactiGuide listing, there is no such plant. It is three to four feet tall now and there are a number of pads. That plant is now flowering for the first time and the blossom is just the common yellow color.
The other prickly pear cactus is a very vigorous plant. I can barely cut as many cladodes off as it produces. It is spineless and I do not even notice any nasty glochids. So I am quite sure, that this most likely is a hybrid, because nature would not produce any living thing that does not have any kind of protection from predators (herbivores). Perhaps it does not taste good enough to eat. The fruit is elongate and not plump like most other prickly pear fruit. It does stay fleshy for a long time and some of last year's fruit are only dropped now!
Harald
Otherwise only three prickly pear cacti were in bloom, the previously photographed brick-red flowering Opuntia engelmannii, and two other species, both perhaps hybrids. One of them was given to me as a single cladode years ago and I was told its scientific name is Opuntia alta. However, according to the CactiGuide listing, there is no such plant. It is three to four feet tall now and there are a number of pads. That plant is now flowering for the first time and the blossom is just the common yellow color.
The other prickly pear cactus is a very vigorous plant. I can barely cut as many cladodes off as it produces. It is spineless and I do not even notice any nasty glochids. So I am quite sure, that this most likely is a hybrid, because nature would not produce any living thing that does not have any kind of protection from predators (herbivores). Perhaps it does not taste good enough to eat. The fruit is elongate and not plump like most other prickly pear fruit. It does stay fleshy for a long time and some of last year's fruit are only dropped now!
Harald
- T_hexaedrophorus10.JPG (86.99 KiB) Viewed 7451 times
- O_alta1.JPG (130.03 KiB) Viewed 7451 times
- Spineless Opuntia2.JPG (81.17 KiB) Viewed 7451 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
hello Harald
I also have a hexahedrophorus thelocactus but I do not see any signs of its flower, so I have discovered that I need to change it from pot
I liked the flower a lot ..... congratulations
I also have a hexahedrophorus thelocactus but I do not see any signs of its flower, so I have discovered that I need to change it from pot
I liked the flower a lot ..... congratulations
GabrielRe: My flowering Cacti 2019
After a few days of either no plant being in bloom, or not getting home from work early enough to see an open blossom, I was finally able to take a few flowering cactus images. The first flower bud on my Echinocereus eyriesii clump opened up around midnight on Thursday, but was still open by the time I had to leave for work, after an early appointment with my family doctor. There are, however, numerous additional flower buds on that plant, which also flowers repeatedly throughout the season.
One of my little clumps of Echinopsis chamaecereus is also continuing to flower. This plant, commonly known as "peanut cactus", is easy to grow and produces good-sized flowers for the size of it stems.
The last cactus shown is now and will forever be one of my favorites. I purchased a seedling plant in a 2.5 inch (6 cm) square plastic pot a long time ago. The plant was at first slow to grow and then decided, that it needed additional stems. Now, finally, after a long wait, it produced its first flower buds and two of the three were open today. The cactus is known as the "beehive cactus" or also "strawberry pitahaya". It does form huge mounds here in the New Mexico part of the Chihuahuan desert. (I did take an extra trip in the area closest to El Paso, Texas, near Mesquite, NM, in order to photograph this plant in flower. The story is posted under "Cacti Places" and has the title "Echinocereus stramineus Cacti from the Bishop's Cap Area of New Mexico" or something like it).
I do have three plants, all still small. In my opinion, this cactus produces the best tasting of all cactus fruit. As the common name "strawberry pitahaya" implies, the fruit smells and tastes like a strawberry, except it is a bit sweeter! The flower is quite large and showy. What else can one want from a cactus? Because the plant, when not in bloom, does have light colored spines, another name for this plant is "haystack cactus".
Harald
One of my little clumps of Echinopsis chamaecereus is also continuing to flower. This plant, commonly known as "peanut cactus", is easy to grow and produces good-sized flowers for the size of it stems.
The last cactus shown is now and will forever be one of my favorites. I purchased a seedling plant in a 2.5 inch (6 cm) square plastic pot a long time ago. The plant was at first slow to grow and then decided, that it needed additional stems. Now, finally, after a long wait, it produced its first flower buds and two of the three were open today. The cactus is known as the "beehive cactus" or also "strawberry pitahaya". It does form huge mounds here in the New Mexico part of the Chihuahuan desert. (I did take an extra trip in the area closest to El Paso, Texas, near Mesquite, NM, in order to photograph this plant in flower. The story is posted under "Cacti Places" and has the title "Echinocereus stramineus Cacti from the Bishop's Cap Area of New Mexico" or something like it).
I do have three plants, all still small. In my opinion, this cactus produces the best tasting of all cactus fruit. As the common name "strawberry pitahaya" implies, the fruit smells and tastes like a strawberry, except it is a bit sweeter! The flower is quite large and showy. What else can one want from a cactus? Because the plant, when not in bloom, does have light colored spines, another name for this plant is "haystack cactus".
Harald
- E_eyriesii1.JPG (173.25 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
- E_eyriesii2.JPG (108.35 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
- E_chamaecereus6.JPG (91.45 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
- E_stramineus4.JPG (137.6 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
- E_stramineus2.JPG (118.96 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
- E_stramineus3.JPG (106.91 KiB) Viewed 7356 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
I photographed four flowering plants today. Three of them I had pictured here already. However, I am posting additional images.
The first shows a plant I had called "spineless Opuntia" before. It does have golden-yellow blossoms. While I divested myself from a large number of prickly pear cacti, I shall continue to have some in my cactus collection. These plants are mostly quite competitive and tough, which even lead NASA to conduct experiments about the possibility of growing prickly pear cacti on Mars! We did have a member on this forum, who was very proud of his prickly pear cactus bed, whenever it was in flower. I called him jokingly "Opuntia Bill".
In Mexico, the pads and fruits of some of the species and cultivars are used as human food. Of course, animals will also feed on them. Even an insect pest, the cochineal insect, which feeds on prickly pear and chollas was used and still may be used. In the past the red dye, extracted from crushing the female mealybug insects was used to dye the uniforms of the red-coated policemen (bobbies) in England. It was and may still be used as a food coloring substance and in cosmetics.
The second "repeat flower" representative is the strawberry pitahaya (Echinocereus stramineus). I did take more photos today, because the plant did have all of its three blossoms open.
I similar reason applies to the flowering Turbinicarpus macrochele, which did bloom on May 4th. That time, however, it only produced a single flower. Today there were two of them present on the plant.
The last flower series is also not a first-time-flowerer, but I did not see an open blossom until today. It is one of my hybrid Astrophytum asterias. This plant flowers repeatedly and has been with me for a good number of years.
Harald
The first shows a plant I had called "spineless Opuntia" before. It does have golden-yellow blossoms. While I divested myself from a large number of prickly pear cacti, I shall continue to have some in my cactus collection. These plants are mostly quite competitive and tough, which even lead NASA to conduct experiments about the possibility of growing prickly pear cacti on Mars! We did have a member on this forum, who was very proud of his prickly pear cactus bed, whenever it was in flower. I called him jokingly "Opuntia Bill".
In Mexico, the pads and fruits of some of the species and cultivars are used as human food. Of course, animals will also feed on them. Even an insect pest, the cochineal insect, which feeds on prickly pear and chollas was used and still may be used. In the past the red dye, extracted from crushing the female mealybug insects was used to dye the uniforms of the red-coated policemen (bobbies) in England. It was and may still be used as a food coloring substance and in cosmetics.
The second "repeat flower" representative is the strawberry pitahaya (Echinocereus stramineus). I did take more photos today, because the plant did have all of its three blossoms open.
I similar reason applies to the flowering Turbinicarpus macrochele, which did bloom on May 4th. That time, however, it only produced a single flower. Today there were two of them present on the plant.
The last flower series is also not a first-time-flowerer, but I did not see an open blossom until today. It is one of my hybrid Astrophytum asterias. This plant flowers repeatedly and has been with me for a good number of years.
Harald
- Opuntia sp1.JPG (92.98 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- Opuntia sp3.JPG (84.37 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- E_stramineus7.JPG (102.54 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- T_pseudomacrochele6.JPG (66.85 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- T_pseudomacrochele9.JPG (71.24 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- A_asterias hybrid1.JPG (113.51 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- A_asterias hybrid3.JPG (98.49 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
- A_asterias hybrid4.JPG (63.34 KiB) Viewed 7329 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
My cacti are not very cooperative this year. I was home on Saturday and Sunday, but several plants waited until today to flower. If I am lucky, some of these plants may bloom again tomorrow. Also, I do get off work one hour earlier. Perhaps that will not be too late then.
Some of these plants have many stems and a lot more flower buds, which will bloom at a later date.
So, here we go with Echinocereus cinarescens showing its first flower, but several more in waiting.
The Echinocereus enneacanthus will most likely flower tomorrow, judging by the large flower buds.
My always prolific Echinopsis eyriesii is going to flower tonight. I shall take pictures of the open blossoms tomorrow morning.
Today, my larger clump of Echinocereus pentalophus did bloom. Perhaps I shall see some open blossoms tomorrow afternoon.
Two Thelocaxti did have open flowers today and may be back for an encore tomorrow.
First is my largest Thelocactus bicolor
and last is the Thelocactus with pretty red and white spines and a huge blossom, T. heterochromus. I believe, that species produces the largest flower of all Thelocacti. It is in league with the larger blossoms of the Echinocereus species.
I hope, that I can show some of these plants with open flowers tomorrow in this thread.
Harald
Some of these plants have many stems and a lot more flower buds, which will bloom at a later date.
So, here we go with Echinocereus cinarescens showing its first flower, but several more in waiting.
- E_cinarescens.JPG (166.65 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
- E_enneacanthus.JPG (153.98 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
- E_eyriesii.JPG (159.86 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
- E_pentalophus.JPG (147.54 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
First is my largest Thelocactus bicolor
- T_bicolor.JPG (134.3 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
- T_heterochromus.JPG (126.05 KiB) Viewed 7292 times
Harald
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
hello Harald
all your echinocereus have a beautiful flowering
thelocactus is awesome I liked it a lot
I hope for more blooms
regards
GabrielRe: My flowering Cacti 2019
Hello dinfelu,
I agree, that most of the flowers produced by the cactus genus Echinocereus are beautiful. However, there are some other genera, e.g. Echinopsis, which is hard to beat when it comes to flower color and size.
Yesterday evening, after returning from work, I did post some digital images of plants who had flowered that day or were most likely going to flower today. The only plant, where I was quite sure to see blossoms early this morning was the night-flowering Echinopsis eyriesii. I did go out of the house at 07:35 a.m. and did find the flowers still open, but leaning a bit, because we had had a pretty windy night (first image), with wind speeds reaching up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). To my big surprise, I did find that plant still with wide-open blossoms at my return home and took two photos at 5:27 p.m. Perhaps because of the strong winds and partially overcast skies the plant decided to keep its blossoms open all day long and then close them sometime tomorrow morning.
Another plant that did have several flowers was the Echinocereus cinarescens. I think, its light pink blossoms with their green-yellow throats make this cactus attractive when in flower. So here are today's pictures:
My Echinocereus pentalophus plants also produced flowers. Mostly the clump of the "purple pentalophus" as I call it, did bloom. I also do have a small clump of a plant with slightly thicker stems, which do not turn purple whenever the plant is stressed. That cactus is producing large blossoms, but I have thus far missed all of them. Today's flower was only partially open.
The last cactus, which surprised me with a nice number of beautiful blossoms is the Echinocereus enneacanthus. This plant has a flower, that is similar to that of the Echinocereus stramineus. Both plants are also called "strawberry pitahaya", because their fruits smell and taste like strawberries, except that they are a little sweeter. A. stramineus produces a larger flower and larger fruit.
I am closing today's entry into my thread with a picture showing all the plants presented above together in my cactus bed.
Harald
I agree, that most of the flowers produced by the cactus genus Echinocereus are beautiful. However, there are some other genera, e.g. Echinopsis, which is hard to beat when it comes to flower color and size.
Yesterday evening, after returning from work, I did post some digital images of plants who had flowered that day or were most likely going to flower today. The only plant, where I was quite sure to see blossoms early this morning was the night-flowering Echinopsis eyriesii. I did go out of the house at 07:35 a.m. and did find the flowers still open, but leaning a bit, because we had had a pretty windy night (first image), with wind speeds reaching up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). To my big surprise, I did find that plant still with wide-open blossoms at my return home and took two photos at 5:27 p.m. Perhaps because of the strong winds and partially overcast skies the plant decided to keep its blossoms open all day long and then close them sometime tomorrow morning.
- E_eyriesii4.JPG (155.72 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_eyriesii6.JPG (140.64 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_eyriesii7.JPG (88.63 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_cinarescens2.JPG (167.6 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_cinarescens3.JPG (117.42 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_pentalophus2.JPG (152.18 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_pentalophus4.JPG (103.64 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_pentalophus green1.JPG (105.48 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_pentalophus green2.JPG (97.56 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_enneacanthus2.JPG (153.06 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_enneacanthus3.JPG (135.24 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
- E_enneacanthus4.JPG (98.81 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
Harald
- Cactus Bed 05-21-2019.JPG (162.19 KiB) Viewed 7261 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
hello Harald
the set of Echinopsis eyriesii is spectacular, there are almost a dozen flowers, the echinocereus also together they look very good
Congratulations
the set of Echinopsis eyriesii is spectacular, there are almost a dozen flowers, the echinocereus also together they look very good
Congratulations
GabrielRe: My flowering Cacti 2019
Hello dinfelu,
thank you very much for your comment. The Echinopsis eyriesii is producing its flowers in a staggered fashion this year. A couple of years ago, it did have over 30 flowers open all at once! You could not even see the cactus bodies below! Well, I accept and appreciate this beautiful cactus, even if it were to push up only one flower at a time. There is a good chance though, that it will have a more showy display of blossoms later in the season.
Today I am posting mostly images from yesterday's flowering plants. First a final image of the numerous pink flowers present on my "strawberry pitahaya" Echinocereus enneacanthus. If all those flowers develop into fruits, I can prepare a decent fruit salad later in the year.
One plant, which did flower, but I arrived too late to be able to take a good picture of the blossom, is the Eagle Claw cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius). Because I have about a half dozen plants, which will flower repeatedly, I should be able to show an open blossom in the near future.
That plant is a common native cactus where I live.
The last two images show a cactus, which does not have any significant spines, because of the variety I purchased. The plant did suffer quite a bit, when I removed the prickly pear cacti, which had surrounded it. It did recover enough to go into bloom, but I believe I should give that plant a drink of water. The name of this, yet another Echinocereus species, is E. viereckii var. morricalli.
Harald
thank you very much for your comment. The Echinopsis eyriesii is producing its flowers in a staggered fashion this year. A couple of years ago, it did have over 30 flowers open all at once! You could not even see the cactus bodies below! Well, I accept and appreciate this beautiful cactus, even if it were to push up only one flower at a time. There is a good chance though, that it will have a more showy display of blossoms later in the season.
Today I am posting mostly images from yesterday's flowering plants. First a final image of the numerous pink flowers present on my "strawberry pitahaya" Echinocereus enneacanthus. If all those flowers develop into fruits, I can prepare a decent fruit salad later in the year.
- E_enneacanthus5.JPG (153.6 KiB) Viewed 7157 times
That plant is a common native cactus where I live.
- E_horizonthalonius.JPG (128.08 KiB) Viewed 7157 times
- E_viereckii var morricalli2.JPG (87.48 KiB) Viewed 7157 times
- E_viereckii var morricalli3.JPG (112.32 KiB) Viewed 7157 times
Re: My flowering Cacti 2019
Today three cacti of two different genera were in flower. Earlier in the afternoon my Turbinicarpus horripilus flowered again. Then, this evening at around 9:30 p.m. two of my Peniocereus greggii (Queen of the Night) cacti produced a total of three flowers. The plant in the front yard, underneath the Mexican Elder tree, which already provided five blossoms on May 7th produced one more, while the older plant growing next to a fig bush had two flowers.
Here are a few images of these flowering cacti.
Harald
Here are a few images of these flowering cacti.
Harald
- T_horripilus21.JPG (107.8 KiB) Viewed 7079 times
- T_horripilus24.JPG (94.91 KiB) Viewed 7079 times
- P_greggii5.JPG (65.14 KiB) Viewed 7079 times
- P_greggii7.JPG (47.76 KiB) Viewed 7079 times