Growth Over Time - Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus

[WayneByerly]

This year, I have about 23 separate pots of cacti that are now, or soon will be in flower. While looking to see what the flowers of MY Echinocereus rigidissimus var rubispinus MIGHT look like when and if it EVER flowers, I discovered a posting here at the forum that contained an Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus. I bought this specimen in July of 2013 BTW. It's been a while since I've been at this Forum, and I thought I'd make a posting ... just as a way to get me started with this years spring flowers. I'll make a posting of all of them a little bit later. Anyway, this is what it looked like when I bought it.

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So my E. rigidissimus put on a little bit of growth for each of the next two years, and then it quit. For the next three years, it didn't do anything. And I mean NOTHING. It remained the same size for the next three years. The ONLY thing significant that happened to it was the fact that it lost almost all of its color. This cute little cactus with the red spines turned to tan spines and a green body.

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And then last year, in 2018, it developed a little red spot right in the center of the top, and I thought, "Hey! ... it's going to put on a little growth."

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The next month, I notice that it really HAD put on some growth.

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And by October, it had DOUBLED in size. ALL of this growth here, indicated by the extent of the red arrows, was put on in last summers growth stage.

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This cactus has never flowered ... which is a real shame as far as I am concerned, as I think a cactus with pink/red spines SHOULD produce some pretty flowers. This year, on March 28th, I took a wide shallow plastic drip tray (about 16" wide by 5" deep) and I put several of my cacti in it to make a "garden".

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How attractive, or how wise that was, are both debatable. But, done is done ... and I guess i'll see how well it does through this summer. Now, those two spots of dirt/debris on the top of this E. rigidissimus var rubispinus have turned into discernable buds, much to my surprise and delight. Not quite flowers yet, but I can come back to this and post another when those buds develop into full blown flowers. As an aside, I can't wait to see what the flowers of the Notocactus uebelmannianus just to the left of it look like. They should be spectacularly PURPLE!!!

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[ElieEstephane]

Weclome back to the forum! Very beautiful cactus indeed. Can't wait to see the flowers open and those of the notocactus
I know this is a posting about the echinocereus, but the gymnocalycium ragonesei and the eriosyce in the last photo really caught my eye. And the myriostigma in the back... l

[WayneByerly]

Weclome back to the forum!

Hello Elie
VERY nice to BE back ... the last six months have been ... difficult ... please be assurred that it was never my intent to just ignore the friends I have made here ... the very GOOD friends that I've made here ...

I know this is a posting about the echinocereus, but the gymnocalycium ragonesei and the eriosyce in the last photo really caught my eye. And the myriostigma in the back... l

The Gymnocalycium ragonesei is a recent acquisition and also has some buds ... some VERY SMALL buds. With a jewelers loupe (and that's what it takes to make it big enough to see, in order to count), I can see up to five buds ... very small buds ...
Gymnocalycium ragonesii

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The Eriosyce senilis var multicolor (which came to me labeled Neoporteria multicolor) is also a relatively recent acquisiition (Oct 2018), but as of yet has produced no buds or any indication (at least so far) that it will produce flowers this year. The spines are indeed multi-colored. The ones on the side are gray, and the ones on the top (especially when wet) are black.
Eriosyce senilis var multicolor

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I've had several Sulcorebutia over the years ... this is the first time I've had one bloom. There are three buds on this one ... two of which are blocked from photography by other cacti ... you can only see ONE (and a little bit of the side of one more) well enough to photograph.
Sulcorebutia canigueralii v frankiana

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And I am VERY surprised that you noticed the A. myriostigma ... there was just the bottom edge visible in the picture ... it's the same myriostigma that I once labeled (as a joke) my "star" cactus, as it appeared as several "star" images when viewed from the top. Anyway, it has already produced flowers.
Astrophytum myriostigma

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But the cactus that I am MOST fascinated with is my Echinopsis chamaecereus ‘Rose Quartz’. Last year it put out two flowers. Truly magnificent deep dark red flowers ... but only two ... this year i've counted 18 or 20 buds ...
Echinopsis chamaecereus1

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they're developing all the wayfrom the top ...
Echinopsis chamaecereus2

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down to the level of the ground.
Echinopsis chamaecereus3

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And it looks like a good number of the buds will erupt into flowers in close proximity ... close to the same time...
Echinopsis chamaecereus4

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Echinopsis chamaecereus5

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And then there's the purple one. PURPLE, PURPLE, PURPLE
I didn't have the date set on the camera when I took this picture, so the date stamp on it is in error. And I didn't feel like reaccomplishing this picture just over a date stamp. Sorry. I've got two cacti that look JUST LIKE THIS. One was labeled Notocactus uebelmannianus and the other was labeled Parodia werneri. There ARE some minor differences between the two, but as far as I know, these two names are synonyms for ONE cactus genus/species. Anybody have a word they want to interject here on this subject? I sure would appreciate it!

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[hegar]

Hello Wayne,
that is an interesting story about that Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubispinus. I had no idea, that the spine color could vanish and then - all of a sudden reappear - when the growing conditions would change. Do you have any speculation about what caused this? Did you change the growing medium or fertilization? Anyhow, your plant looks a lot better now and I do hope, that you will finally see some flowers on it.
I do have two plants, which I believe are also of that species. They do have reddish spines too. I just tossed some seed years ago onto the ground of one of my cactus beds and these plants started to grow. Now they have reached the size of the original "mother plant" in my collection! Each of them has two flower buds. It will be interesting to see the flowers, because at this point I do not even know, if they are pure-strain E. rigidissimus var. rubispinus or perhaps a hybrid between two of the many Echinocereus spp. plants in my front yard. I just let the bees do the pollination.

Another thing that you brought up in this thread is your purple-flowering Notocactus uebelmannianus. Just yesterday, when I looked at a short video clip posted by forum member Tony Marino on facebook, I noticed a cactus with beautiful purple flowers and asked him what the name of that plant is. He told me it was a Notocactus werneri. Your plant looks pretty much the same. So the Notocactus or Parodia uebelmannianus and werneri may indeed be synnonemous names.

Harald

[ElieEstephane]

I'll be waiting for all the flower photos!

[Steve Johnson]

Hi Wayne,

Great to see what your collection is up to these days, and those photos are wonderful. Congrats on the progress with your E. rubispinus -- not the easiest to grow, so you're definitely doing things right. When the buds turn into blooms, you'll enjoy seeing those drop-dead gorgeous flowers!