Welcome Craig Fry!

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Mrs.Green
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by Mrs.Green »

Hi C and D :) Interesting! I have in fact wondered about what was inside a cephalium. Thank you for sharing :)
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hegar
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by hegar »

Hello Craig,
I am sorry to see that your large Discocactus horstii succumbed to root rot. I also so thank you for making the best of the unfortunate situation and to show us the inside of a cephalium. It does indeed contain living tissue.
One question I wanted to ask you:
I do see a number of pups growing out of the side of the mother plant's stem. Most likely most of the cactus growers would discard them alongside the main plant, perhaps because they too have already been invaded by either the bacterium or fungus that killed the main stem.
Did youi ever try and succeed to save a pup from a cactus that had died of a disease? I did have a beautiful large Echinocactus texensis plant and did not recognize the rot until the stem became soft. The pups it had formed, after a roofer stepped on it, were removed by me and I checked and cut them back until I could not see a discoloration. Then I applied a bit of rooting hormone with benomyl and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, none of the pieces survived. Perhaps I could have tried to use a piece of the epidermis with some areoles and grafted it onto a prickly pear, a Tephrocactus, or an Echinopsis, which I do have an excess of.

What are your experiences with salvaging cacti from plants were dear to you, but did succumb to a plant pathogen? Is it even woth a try or just a wasted effort?

Harald

P.S.: I have never grafted a cactus and perhaps I should start to experiment with that technique. I did graft or better do budding of a pecan tree (patch bud) and almond (T-bud).
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

The dead Discocatus horstii draft was over 20 years old
I cut many heads off over the years and tried rooting them,
with little success, and consider myself a re-rooting expert
I have a couple going now, some in "Play Sand", which I will report on later

Grafts are not always long lasting, I have lost many grafted plants
And most of the time it's the stock that goes bad, and kills the scion in the end

I cut off any heads that can be saved, if they have brown rot in the stem, they are goners.
You need to cut off all the brown rot, then let dry for a couple weeks, then root

Any contamination in the union of the stock and scion while grating may take months to years to manifest, and then infect the scion with lethal affects.
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hegar
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by hegar »

Hello Craig,
thank you very much for your quick response to my questions. I had no idea, that it is very difficult to root members of the genus Discocactus.
I am rooting my offsets or pups using our local arroyo coarse sand/fine gravel mix and at least the Echinocereus, Echinopsis, Tephrocactus, Opuntia, Escobaria, Pterocactus, etc. are doing reasonably well, rooting and growing in this medium. I have also been able to root some Peniocereus greggii cuttings, but most of those did not take. The cuttings or pups do get watered by my automatic watering system three times a week for about 20 minutes each time. I am going to experiment with rooting hormone and recently purchased three small bottles with different strength of active ingredient rooting powder.
With some cacti I do not succeed keeping them alive very long. One of those is Leuchtenbergia principis. The plant just sits there in a semi-shaded location and its physical appearance slowly declines. It will stay alive for perhaps three to four years. Possibly I have not yet found a good spot to grow it.

Harald
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Some clumping Discocactus are easy to root, it's more at a species level of which plant is easy or hard to root
Discocatus horstii are super rot prone and rare on their own roots for that reason.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

The Tephrocactus geometricus fruit took a year to ripen
They were still attached, so I pulled off the skin to see what's going on inside

It's packed with seeds....
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and the seeds are giant for a cactus...
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I planted at least 20 in this pot,
and so far only one has sprouted
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I was looking up the seeds online to see if they were normal, which they are, and came across this photo
A sea of balls
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Mammillaria theresae
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Frailea castanea
from seed
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Gymnocalycium triacanthum that's kind of gone monstrose
with crested flower
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Mammillaria gracilis cv. oruga
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My friend Justin H. told me about using "Play Sand" for rooting
It's amazing, most things root twice as fast, with deep fibrous roots
Tephrocactus bonnieae inermis heads
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After a couple weeks
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I put about a quarter fill of pumice on the bottom of the pot, then the rest is pure sand.
It might even be good to raise seeds in. Doing more research.

Play Sand is a pure quartz small grained white sand that has been washed and sifted.
We get it at Home Depot in 50 lb bags.
Last edited by C And D on Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Echinocereus rigidissimus rubrispinus
22" this year
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But sideways??
Anyone?

Forgot our Western Fence Lizard, one of many
I've been feeding them meal worms
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abhikjha
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by abhikjha »

Hey Craig, awesome plants, especially that monstrose Gymnocalycium.

I also heard about sand is awesome for rooting. Many asian growers use rooting gel and sand to save many plants after surgeries or for degrafting process. Didn't try it as yet.

Did you wet the sand anytime during the rooting process?
Tropical weather, no winters! :roll:
abhikjha
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by abhikjha »

Also, you mentioned you keep Ariocarpus in hot box. Can you describe what it is and if possible, a picture for reference would be useful. I am growing tons of Ariocarpus from seeds which I know will take ages to grow, so any tips and tricks would be super useful. I am in a climate where we don't have winter (lowest it goes to 15-18 C for few days in December and rarely it goes past 40 C in summer)
Tropical weather, no winters! :roll:
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Yes, I water the rooting cuttings in the Play Sand along with all my other plants about once a week.
The sand stays wetter longer than normal cactus mix.

Here is some photos of my Hot Box
It can hold a little more than 3 flats of plants.
It has chicken wire open bottom, and some heat can escape when I keep the lid ajar with a half inch gap at the top.

I hope to make a bigger one some day
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abhikjha
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by abhikjha »

C And D wrote: Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:43 pm Yes, I water the rooting cuttings in the Play Sand along with all my other plants about once a week.
The sand stays wetter longer than normal cactus mix.

Here is some photos of my Hot Box
It can hold a little more than 3 flats of plants.
It has chicken wire open bottom, and some heat can escape when I keep the lid ajar with a half inch gap at the top.

I hope to make a bigger one some day

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Thanks Craig! I just degrafted a couple of my Arios as root stock was rotting. Will definitely use sand as rooting medium for them. Your hot box idea is really interesting. So air ventilation is not an issue? And what does the lid made of?
Tropical weather, no winters! :roll:
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

It's great to be back on-line
I missed the daily check-ins on what's new in the succulent world
Like a nervous twitch, I feel the need to check out the world of News, politics, science and succulents daily to quell my incessant curiosity.

I haven't taken many photos lately,
but I have these Ariocarpus photos from last Fall.

The hot box in full bloom.
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The A. trigonis corner
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A. retusus with "Fat Tubercles"
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A. retusus confusus
Purple flowers and spikey tubercles
Will have seeds next Summer
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A new pair of A. retusus "Cauliflower"
Will also have seeds next Summer
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A. fissuatus x retusus hybrid from seed
about 6-10 years old
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Winter Turbinicarpus flowers

T. pseudopectinatus
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T.pseudopectinatus inermis
grafted
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T. hoferi
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T. rioverdensis
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T. valdezianus
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Mark
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by Mark »

Those all look fantastic Craig! Do you water the Turbi’s during flowering or after?


Mark
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