Kykeion

I don't think so. On my TBMs that have thrown roots the roots grow a bit and stall, looking dried out on the surface, then continue to grow from the tip some time later. If you are wanting to make a cutting this way because it already has roots I don't think the rood dying while you are drying the cut is going to be an issue.

From Cactus Art: "The variegated form of Trichocereus bridgesii forma mostruosa is a freak appeared spontaneously among normal green plants at CACTUS ART nursery. The mother plant (the one on the main photo) is the fist and unique specimen of this extraordinary plant, perhaps other clones exist elsewhere, but this is the unique original CACTUS ART clone." There appears to be at least two clones of variegated TBM out there, the "US" clone and the "European" clone (mentioned above) (designations I just made up, so in no way common or recognized universally). I don't know where the "US" clone originated, and I am not even certain that the two are distinct, but based upon photos I have seen there appears to be two (at least) separate clones. There is also speculation that there are more than one form/clone of TBMC. Sacred Succulents occasionally offers cuttings of TBMC that they found growing on their huge short form mother plant. For an unknown reason one of the pups grew crested, so they removed it and have been propagating it. There is also a TBMC clone out there that throws reverted (not crested, but still monstrose) pups which are much longer than the normal short form pups, suggesting a different origin than the SS TBMC. I have no knowledge of where the VTBMC originated, or anything else about it other than it is not in very many peoples hands. I vaguely recall someone claiming to have gotten a TBM from seed that I believe resembled the short form, which if true suggests there may be several lineages of TBM out there which take on a limited number of forms (part of the reason I prefer "short/long form" over "clone A/B"). To my knowledge the various combinations of monstrosity, cresting and variegation all occurred as random acts of nature. For some reason plants will occasionally grow a branch or limb which shows different genetic expression than the rest of the plant (the genes don't change, they are just expressed differently- on/off, different combos). What causes this change is unknown, but observant growers will often propagate these "sports" if they have interesting or useful traits. I know there are folks out there experimenting with exposing seeds and plants to various chemicals, hormones, radiation, pathogens, harsh conditions, etc with the hope of producing new mutants, but I have no idea how successful any of their attempts have been. In the case of Trichoceri the hybridization/crossing of certain individuals and species seems to produce high numbers of mutants/crests/veriagates, but this isn't quite the same as "turning on" such traits in a "normal" specimen.

You are unlikely to find an unequivocal answer to this question unfortunately. There are at least two distinct forms of the fully monstrose T. bridgesii (not counting crested or variegated forms which appear to have originated as sports from TBM clones, and not seed). There is quite a bit of debate and speculation surrounding the existence of other forms. T. bridgesii seems to have strong phenotype variability based upon growing conditions. For example so called semi-monstrose T. bridgesii have a tendency to revert to normal, non-monstrose growth when planted in the ground. I have seen a lot of variability in TBMs, and it is hard to say how much of it is due to different growing conditions and how much is due to actual different plants/clones. I have been trying to collect as many different (apparent) variations as I can and growing them out under the same conditions to try and determine if there are (a. 2-3 clones with lots of variation due to environment or (b. numerous varieties (short, long, medium, fat, skinny, clumping, non-clumping, etc.). I'll try and post some photos, but fair warning I said as much in the post zelly linked and I have yet to do so, so...

In Phoenix there is the Desert Botanical Garden. I have not been, but it looks pretty cool. I'm sure there are some other cool places in Phoenix as well. About 2 hours to the southeast of Phoenix is Tucson where there are a couple places I'd recommend. First is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, it is kinda of a cross between a zoo and a botanical garden. Lots of native plants, cacti and at least one, but I think two crested Saguaro cacti. There is also the Tucson Botanical Gardens. They are relatively small, but beautiful with an interesting collection. They also have a really cool butterfly house that just opened for the season on Oct 1st.

Def that one!

Interesting. Curious to read the actual article. I find it interesting that "This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US." is stated in the abstract, yet you sill have to pay for a journal subscription to access it.

You should be able to update the listing and add that the cactus has split and add pictures. This will allow bidders to retract bids if they decide that it is no longer worth their bids. I believe that you might be able to end the auction early since the item being offered has been "damaged" since original posting. I'm not certain on these things as I have never listed on eBay, but I have seen similar things happen to listings I was either watching or bidding on. Also, my long form TBMs will throw occasional areoles along their lengths as they grow.

Salt may be an issue as the product you linked is "packed in real seawater" according to the product description.

Possibly. I just traded away the remainder of mine a few months ago.

Lol, not accusing you of being noobish, just read this part and thought hmmm... that would explain the trouble. I'd guess poor genes then, or Ariz is just too hot. I feel your pumice pain. I used to be able to find decent sized bags of both pumice and cactus soil locally and at a reasonable price, but now no one carries them anymore (big and cheap). Last I looked a 4qt bag of pumice was like $15. I did find someplace selling pumice on line for $10 for ~50 lbs, but shipping is another $26. Not incredibly unreasonable, but it feels weird when shipping costs 3x and much as the product. There is also the fact that every retailer online lists the amounts they sell in different units of volume or weight so it is incredibly difficult to figure out where the best deal is.

Like others have said, I wouldn't worry about them. I think most of my TBMs have thrown air roots, both crested and not. I think that gravity may be a factor, the only columnars that have thrown air roots for me are ones that are not perfectly vertical in their pots, and have always thrown roots on their downward sides. Same reason why when you root cuttings log style roots only grow out the bottom. I think that since the crests and monsters grow in such unusual configurations you end up with "sides" oriented horizontally which can eventually trigger root growth. None of this is to say that humidity, light or hydration don't play roles in this phenomena.

Great looking place! I'm jealous of you fuckers who can grow citrus and cacti in the ground . I love where I live, except for the damn winters, they are not brutal, but too cold and snowy to grow a lot of what I'd like to grow.

☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ glad to see that you were able to finally get everyone to your new place. Hopefully you didn't loose much in the interim.

You are not watering your cuttings before they have roots are you?

I find the price roller-coaster on e-bay to be amusing at times. I like to keep an eye out for interesting mutants, even if I already posses one, just in case the price is right. Two years ago I bit the bullet and purchased a 12" T. schaferi monstrose for $100, since they don't seem to come up often. Earlier this year I was able to purchase a 5" cutting for about $35, a slightly better deal per inch, but even better deal when I considered how much the 12 incher had grown in two years. So, when a small specimen came up (~2") at the end of last month for pretty cheap I thought I'd go for it. When the price was bid up to about $15 plus shipping I decided to quit, and it eventually sold for $31. Shortly there after the seller posted another slightly larger cutting (4.5"). Similar story, I bid, then stopped once the price went over about $20. So today after it ended I checked to see how much it ended going for. I was shocked to see that it sold for almost $150 with shipping. Seeing this made me feel a lot better about the 12 incher I bought two years ago.

Hmm.. You may want to test the Natrasoap on a small area of a few plants first. Came across this when I was looking up the product. http://forum.auscactiforum.net/t520-natrasoap-be-careful Looks like is has caused black weeping rot for some people.

Of course you should! If you have to ask then the answer is yes. Your place looks pretty awesome! As far as mealies I have had ok success with rubbing alcohol and physical removal with a hose or sink sprayer. The challenge is that inevitably I miss a few and they eventually repopulate. I also think they hangout in the soil making them harder to get to. There is a horticultural oil that I had success with (don't recall name/brand) on my hoyas, however you cant use it on cacti or succulents, and even with the hoyas I had to be careful to not burn the leaves.

I'd protect them. even if they decide not to eat them they will most likely peck at them to taste them and decide if they are edible

Congrats on finally getting started on your green house. I know the feeling. I had mine for a while before I could get it built and it drove me crazy knowing I had it but couldn't use it.

I didn't notice the title of this thread when I clicked it, then had to do a double take once it opened. Glad your kiddos have been happy at Zellys Boarding School. Looking forward to seeing what comes out of these!

There is only one thing I see when I look at this picture.

Yeah, definitely not euphorbia seed. Just did a quick Google image search and nothing looks even remotely close (granted the accuracy of such a search is questionable). Interestingly though I did come across this image in said search from sister company Alibaba. Seems to be an accurate portrayal of what you are actually getting when you order euphorbia seed from them.

I guess you might as well sow them out and see what you get.

There is way too much fun to be had with this. The link in one of the above articles is too slow, but I found this page where you can choose what effect you want to use https://dreamscopeapp.com/

I recently went through this process twice, first to move my collection temporarily to a friends house, then again out to my new place. For the first trip we used a trailer like the one in the second pic. All plants were carefully loaded so that the pots all supported each other. I started with the heaviest towards the front and ended with the lightest at the door. This worked fairly successfully since both the beginning and end of the trip entailed travailing down dirt roads. The only issues were with the plants closest to the door as this ended up being the bumpiest area in the trailer. Some plants bounced out of their pots due to insufficient root systems an loose media, and even less fell over due to being top heavy. Bringing them home was less of a rushed endeavor so I was able to move them in several trips in my car and the back of a pickup. There were thankfully no moving disasters/casualties during the second moving. Large pots I simply moved as they were, while smaller ones were carefully packed into cardboard fruit crates I had been collecting for just such an event. I don't know if any of this is helpful to you, but I feel for what you are having to do and hope it all goes smoothly for you.