Dennis' cacti collection

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denniscao
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Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA

Dennis' cacti collection

Post by denniscao »

Hi all, I decided a year ago (winter 2019) to start a cactus collection from seed and thought I'd share some photos of cacti seedlings and other succulents I've picked up along the way. I live in Minnesota, USA, so my plants spend a lot of time in the basement.

This was supposed to be a pack of Gymnocalycium mihanovicii seeds, but a few of the seedlings look quite different, a couple are very hairy, and the biggest one looks somewhat grotesque, with single spines. They don't match anything else I've planted so I'm looking for an ID.
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Here's a double-headed sulcorebutia tarabucoensis
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And a double-headed and variegated (?) stenocactus crispatus
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I really like this copiapoa grandiflora
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And, finally some successful propagation from a haworthia truncata Lime Green.
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Steve-0
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Location: Salt Lake Valley, Utah...high mountain desert climate

Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Steve-0 »

Very nice, Dennis!

and a BIG Welcome to the forum!

That copiapoa grandiflora has got some cool skin texture....almost reptilian.


You obviously have a green thumb and a decent camera. Great macro shots!

Steve
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A1essandro
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Location: Samara, Russia

Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by A1essandro »

Hi Dennis!

Good seedlings! It will be wonderful if Stenocactus is variegated! 8) Also Copiapoa has really great colour.

I also started to collect cacti year ago (November 2019) but I started with buying small plants (usually 4-5cm). I sowed seeds only 6 days ago.

I think it's hard to start with sowing. But your seedlings says that it's possible! =D>


Steve-0 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:23 pm ...You obviously have a green thumb...
Sorry Steve, could you please explain what does it mean? It's not clear for me.
Best regards,
Alexander
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Steve-0
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Steve-0 »

Alexander, "green thumb" simply means one has a knack/skill for making plants grow well.

and ...According to James Underwood Crockett, it comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flowerpots has a green thumb.
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A1essandro
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by A1essandro »

Steve-0 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:07 pm Alexander, "green thumb" simply means one has a knack/skill for making plants grow well.

and ...According to James Underwood Crockett, it comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flowerpots has a green thumb.
Thanks!
Nothing similar I can remember in Russian. Only one phrase I can remember in this context: "golden hands" - person who has really high skills for crafting everything has golden hands.
Best regards,
Alexander
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Steve-0
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Steve-0 »

A1essandro wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:18 pm
Steve-0 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:07 pm Alexander, "green thumb" simply means one has a knack/skill for making plants grow well.

and ...According to James Underwood Crockett, it comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flowerpots has a green thumb.
Thanks!
Nothing similar I can remember in Russian. Only one phrase I can remember in this context: "golden hands" - person who has really high skills for crafting everything has golden hands.

interesting ....and I've never heard of "golden hands" before. Perhaps that comes from the Midas story. Cursed to turn everything he touched into gold.



@Dennis...sorry to sidetrack your thread.
Jangaudi
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Jangaudi »

denniscao wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:07 pm This was supposed to be a pack of Gymnocalycium mihanovicii seeds, but a few of the seedlings look quite different, a couple are very hairy, and the biggest one looks somewhat grotesque, with single spines. They don't match anything else I've planted so I'm looking for an ID.
Where did you get that package of seeds ? I had several "invaders" from packages from one of the Czech cactus club dealers ;)
denniscao
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by denniscao »

Thanks for the welcome everyone!
Jangaudi wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:58 pm Where did you get that package of seeds ? I had several "invaders" from packages from one of the Czech cactus club dealers ;)
These were from Succseed, everything else from them has been great, and I'm not one to complain if I got some different species for my money!
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Aiko
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Aiko »

denniscao wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:07 pm This was supposed to be a pack of Gymnocalycium mihanovicii seeds, but a few of the seedlings look quite different, a couple are very hairy, and the biggest one looks somewhat grotesque, with single spines. They don't match anything else I've planted so I'm looking for an ID.
Image
The hairy one is certainly a Mammillaria. The big one, way too soon to tell.
denniscao
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Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:43 pm
Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA

Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by denniscao »

Aiko wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:43 pm The hairy one is certainly a Mammillaria. The big one, way too soon to tell.
Ah it does look like a M. bocasana or something similar, thanks!
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A1essandro
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by A1essandro »

denniscao wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 3:24 am
Ah it does look like a M. bocasana or something similar, thanks!
I believe that this is M.bocasana as well.
Best regards,
Alexander
Mrs.Green
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by Mrs.Green »

Steve-0 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:07 pm Alexander, "green thumb" simply means one has a knack/skill for making plants grow well.

and ...According to James Underwood Crockett, it comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flowerpots has a green thumb.
Interesting Steve-0! :) I am familiar with the expression ( in Norway we say ‘grønne fingre’ ( green fingers) but I didn’t know where the expression came from.



Denniscao; welcome and great pics! :)
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One Windowsill
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Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by One Windowsill »

The original English phrase was "green fingers" but became "green thumbs" in the US. I think Mr Crockett was probably making things up.

It was definitely associated with magic in the early days of the 20th century, perhaps an association with fairy-folk? There are many poetic references to plants having green fingers in the 19th century. I think it was just suggesting that gardeners were part plant.

Here, where Hannibal beat Flaminius, the grape-vines held each other by their green fingers...
denniscao
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Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA

Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by denniscao »

Some more pictures. I think you can see the full resolution of the image if you right click the image and open the image address in a new tab. One thing I've enjoyed about this hobby is obtaining seeds from people all over the world.

3 month old Pseudolithos miguritinus, I took a gamble on someone selling on Facebook from Mexico, looks like a great source!
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Propagating some crassula, Buddha's temples on the left and estagnol on the right.
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These are some 3 month old gymnocalycium LB2178 hybrids (left) and variegated hybrids (right), seeds off eBay from Thailand. Definitely looks like some variegation in the seedlings on the right side.
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I started moving some 3 month old sulcorebutias out of their baggies. I had sown a lot of these since I figured the small size of the plant might be compatible with my winter basement growing. I didn't think about if that's still true when there are hundreds of them, but that's a future problem for me. Seeds were from CandDplants, ADBLPS, Mesa Garden, and an ebay seller from Ukraine.
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Finally a Conophytum calculus I started over a year ago. This was dormant for almost 8 months in 2020. I had thought all the seedlings died, but luckily I decided to water the pot again and this one came out of its shell.
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denniscao
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Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:43 pm
Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA

Re: Dennis' cacti collection

Post by denniscao »

Got some new shelving up, plenty of room for supplies storage that I am sure will eventually be replaced by plants. I also got a roll of reflective bubblewrap insulation to replace the foil-lined cardboard I had been using before to get more light onto the plants.

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