CactiGuide.com

MrXeric wrote: ↑Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:46 am It could probably dry in 1 day if I kept the pots under the sun when it's 110F+, but then my plants will burn!

Good to see a fellow fine top dressing user.
As for burning plants, mine burn all the time since they stay outdoors year round. It gives them character in my opinion

Little life update. I'm headed to Arizona on Monday to interview for an environmental consulting company. I really want this job, I love hydrogeology, the desert, cacti, and Arizona housing costs + taxes. I really want to get out of California at all costs, tax for the average starting salary of a hydrogeologist starts at 10 percent. On the other hand, taxes start at 4 percent in Arizona. It's also nice seeing houses with yards in Tucson renting for cheaper than studio apartments in my hometown.

Ariocarpus Fissuratus young seedlings. Got a good deal on these, got a little sunburt while acclimating to how I like to grow my plants.
I also want to post more of the plants I have with very fine top dressing. I see it's a topic increasing in popularity on cactiguide.
Finally got this Pelargonium caylae into a bonsai pot. Not a very common pelargonium, hard to find examples of these.
Finally, my Epithelantha Pachyrhiza bloomed. Good to know it's happy considering it's hard to tell if new growth is coming in on this plant.

No plants today.
I'm in Tucson for the night and I have time to hit Desert Survivors Native Plant Nursery at 8:00 AM before my fourth job interview which is at 9:30 AM.
Everything is within a mile from my hotel, the website says they have thelocactus macdowellii, if they have some in stock and are reasonably priced I'm definitely going to take two home with me.

I really want to get out of California at all costs" Good luck with interview , did you fly or drive to Tucson ?

keith wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 2:50 am I really want to get out of California at all costs" Good luck with interview , did you fly or drive to Tucson ?

Hey Keith, thanks for the good wishes. I drove to Tucson because I had my first in person interview at the companies' Scottsdale office.

BTW, I read on a post where you say seeds produced from your plants generally have low germination rates. Last time I checked on my seedlings in the baggies, I noticed that your seeds were popping up. It took a while at first but they're starting to get going. Every time I check, I notice a freshly sprouted seedling. I saw an instagram post by Tony Marino where he had a tephrocactus geometricus seed germinate months after the first one germinated.
Your seeds are definitely ones that are paying off with time and patience.

Update,
I GOT THE JOB! I'll be making good money, and I'm really excited to be moving to Tucson.
Within a few years I'll be able to put money down on a house and build a greenhouse, or at least some sort of shaded shelter.
After years of being poor, keeping small cacti on my parent's balcony to maintain sanity, I'm finally moving forward in life. Going to expand my cactus operation 10 fold hopefully, when I move out there in September.

Uploading some pictures of plants later, a couple such as tephrocactus alexanderi from my first post look much different now.

That's cool I really liked Tucson when I lived in Phoenix I used to drive down all the time. Visit mnt Lemon its really nice the drive up.

Good luck to you and your lame plants in Tucson!
Do you really need a greenhouse for you plants, up there? My view of Arizona is that it is dry and warm most of the year, so you should keep plants out.

keith wrote: ↑Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:52 pm That's cool I really liked Tucson when I lived in Phoenix I used to drive down all the time. Visit mnt Lemon its really nice the drive up.

One of the staff there also recommended mount lemmon. I heard it's nice to see the trees and enjoy the 9,000 foot elevation cooler temps.

Aiko wrote: ↑Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:58 pm Good luck to you and your lame plants in Tucson!
Do you really need a greenhouse for you plants, up there? My view of Arizona is that it is dry and warm most of the year, so you should keep plants out.

Thanks, as far as greenhouse goes, I think you're right. I would definitely want to make a shaded structure to prevent scorching though, to grow some less hardy cacti. When my start date gets closer and I pick out a place to rent, I'll definitely have to check out what my space limitations are, and hopefully the landlord allows for some sort of shaded bench or something.

Ended up not purchasing any plants in Tucson, figured I should keep the collection small for now.

This tephrocactus has been in a pot with no root space for 6 months, then kept unpotted for 4 months. Just this past month the new cladode has been coming in. Sulcorebutia rauschii, pathetic bloom this year, probably has something to do with all the heads that have been removed. Copiapoa Hypogaea, purchased it with no tap root and just the two heads. Getting bigger slowly. Pterocactus Fischeri, was purchased as a single fallen pad. Thelocactus hexaedrophus, relatively recently acquired. Leuchtenbergia principis, don't ever notice much growth on it, but I like the stress colors it exhibits Thelocactus Rinconensis, this one I actually got for free on father's day. A nursery was gifting free 4 inch cacti

HYPOTHETICALLY
An L. fricii that was in the beginning stages of forming a flower bud was grafted. Would the flower bud growing be a sign that the scion took? This was allegedly grafted on Friday July 1.

Unrooted cactus cuttings can bloom, so flowering would not prove the graft took.

greenknight wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:11 am Unrooted cactus cuttings can bloom, so flowering would not prove the graft took.

Thanks, that's pretty cool that a head can flower without being on an actively growing root system.

Congratulations on landing the job! Love the T. rinconensis spines!