The Cactus Thread

[Zigs]

Ooooh there stunning wow, captain neem oil been assisting bless him

He's thinking about cooking one

Copper King, I like that one !!

It is a nice one, I saved one from shop marketing a while back

It had a pin stuffed right down the middle to hold a Santa Claus hat on

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

He's thinking about cooking one



It is a nice one, I saved one from shop marketing a while back

It had a pin stuffed right down the middle to hold a Santa Claus hat on

Ha ha cooking fried cactus and chips mmmm bit prickly

 

[Zigs]

Had customers come round today so separated out the for sale plants that are overwintering in the cactus house before they came round.

 

[Anniekay]

Nice looking display there, @Zigs !!

 

[Zigs]

Nice looking display there, @Zigs !!

Ta Annie They were all mixed in with the other plants this morning

Had to have a bit of a tidy up in the shop tunnel too Sold my first Cactus for Tortoise food today

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

Had customers come round today so separated out the for sale plants that are overwintering in the cactus house before they came round.

View attachment 2670

Oh wow there awesome, what’s the hairy one left of the Golden barrels

 

[Zigs]

Oh wow there awesome, what’s the hairy one left of the Golden barrels

That'd be the Cleistocactus strausii

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

That'd be the Cleistocactus strausii

View attachment 2681

Oh wow it’s a stunner and what’s the long green one behind that cause that looks awesome

 

[Zigs]

Oh wow it’s a stunner and what’s the long green one behind that cause that looks awesome

That's an Austrocylindropuntia subulata, have to make sure the frost doesn't get them

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

That'a an Austrocylindropuntia subulata, have to make sure the frost doesn't get them

Oh wow it’s a very pretty plant, I will have to keep any eye out for one I do like it, are they ok as house plants or have to live out

 

[Zigs]

Oh wow it’s a very pretty plant, I will have to keep any eye out for one I do like it, are they ok as house plants or have to live out

It'd make a good houseplant but it grows very tall so you'd have to cut the top off or get a bigger house

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

It'd make a good houseplant but it grows very tall so you'd have to cut the top off or get a bigger house

To be fair our stair way in our house is pretty tall, it’s that tall when we paint it we have to get the gutter ladders out so might be fine there

 

[Zigs]

I think our A. subulatas for Tortoises are £6 each, just checked and I haven't put the price on the website

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

I think our A. subulatas for Tortoises are £6 each, just checked and I haven't put the price on the website

View attachment 2685

This is now on my list to get now

 

[Zigs]

This is now on my list to get now

Never seen anyone but me selling them Do you have a Tortoise as well?

 

[CrazyCactusLady]

Never seen anyone but me selling them Do you have a Tortoise as well?

Ha ha no that’s one pet I don’t have is a Tortoise, got dogs, horses and ferrets but that’s it oh and a ton of prickly and hairy friends

 

[NigelJ]

My Austrocylindropuntia subulata lives in the unheated greenhouse all year round now as it got too big for the windowsills. I've had it over 30 years and it could be 50+ I don't find it a particularly rapid grower. It is a good example of what happens if you don't keep up with the skin care.


Crassula ovata another one that got too big for the windowsills. However it does flower most years and again I've had it over 40 years. At one time mealy bug nearly finished it off and I restarted from a cutting (a bit like great granddads spade). I had it about 20 years before it flowered.
In the background is a psychopathic Fero cactus if you get too close it leaps onto your clothes and tries to get your throat, inside it was known to grab the curtains and throw it's pot at you, again I've had it decades and it is consigned to the greenhouse.

 

[Tetters]

My Austrocylindropuntia subulata lives in the unheated greenhouse all year round now as it got too big for the windowsills. I've had it over 30 years and it could be 50+ I don't find it a particularly rapid grower. It is a good example of what happens if you don't keep up with the skin care.
View attachment 2707

Crassula ovata another one that got too big for the windowsills. However it does flower most years and again I've had it over 40 years. At one time mealy bug nearly finished it off and I restarted from a cutting (a bit like great granddads spade). I had it about 20 years before it flowered.
In the background is a psychopathic Fero cactus if you get too close it leaps onto your clothes and tries to get your throat, inside it was known to grab the curtains and throw it's pot at you, again I've had it decades and it is consigned to the greenhouse.
View attachment 2708

Nigel, that cactus looks different to the big one Ziggy keeps, and the odd bits with ''whiskers'' look like reversions to me. As far as I'm concerned they are all psychopathic, and I'm in terror every time I have to go near the cactus house. They even sneak their way into here, and I often get pain in my toes from what seems to be secret daggers (I prefer bare feet indoors) - glochids I suspect
Anyway, if the whiskery bits are reversions, maybe the original older looking body is a different parent species? .... Chollas are definitely banned here - definitely!!

 

[NigelJ]

@Tetters perhaps mine is just more mature than Zigs

 

[Zigs]

Lovely plants @NigelJ

I think Tetters has got it, there's a monstrose subulata that's very slow growing. I've got a small one that's at least 6 years old and only about 6 inches tall, also inherited one that's much older but still only a few feet high.

The normal A. subulata is huge and grows a foot a year quite happily

This "log" is a normal one on it's side, it was pruned the year before and all the shoots are new growth.



This is the "Monstrose" version, which can throw out reversions like the one above occasionally.



The other possiblity is that there's not enough nutrient in the pot for yours to grow to it's full size, my Brother has got one in a tiny pot that he never feeds and it's eaten itself to produce a new shoot