modern.shaman

Rebutia sp.

I like to believe that spinetacular has been growing ariocarpus for many years and now has decided to sell his collection although its just speculation. yuccamanxyz is pretty clear that it is habitat collected however that doesn't mean they are "illegally" poached per se since they could be on his land or also be on land that is being demolished. As for aztekium valdezii, MANY plants have been taken from habitat however there are people that have had seeds for 4 years already and they could have been previously grafted and czech growers are know for their habitat poaching as well as their innate ability to grow difficult cacti with great results. Most (if not all) seeds being sold are produced from grafted plants that were grown from poached seeds/plants.

I germinate outside in a humidity chamber in the shade so they get temp fluxuation which leads to awesome germination rates as long as they don't get too much sun. I tend to 'air-out' the container once a day or 2 since I like to look at my seedlings but I can leave them as long as I want covered and I only mist when it seems to have lost some moisture. Once my seedlings reach 3 months (tiny seedlings like aztekium I will keep in high humidity for 6 months to a year) I remove the cover completely in one day but keep the light levels low (I have high humidity year round in my area) After a few months I slowly increase light level and tend to have my seedlings in full sun within the first year of germination. The seedlings do stall for a week or 2 at each step however they tend to grow fast after they are acclimated to the new conditions. I perfer to do this all early on since I will have to worry less as time goes on due to them already being hardened off to their 'adult' conditions.

One thing worth noting is that the boobies will grow thicker then on own roots and the cup size will be small at first; as small as an a cup (very small almost none existent) but will grow larger the longer it grows.

I was able to do an areole graft with success but soon after the pereskiopsis died and the scion was too small to grow well on own roots; there is a tiny amount of growth and roots. The boobies DO grow faster on already established trich stock and the pups also come out much quicker when grafted rather then own roots. Even well established boobs seem to take a while to pup once cut.

A very nice pilocereus sp; the 'hairy' areoles is the giveaway. Could be another species but I'd bet on pilocereus.

That one seedling that stands out looks like a cereus or pilocereus

I heard of this cactus 6 months ago thru xerophilia. The seeds have been on sale for atleast 3-4 month now thru a czech site. The seeds are around 7 dollars each at the moment. They have appeared cheaper recently on the popular auction site however I wouldn't trust those seeds. I was gonna get some seeds however they were sold out at the time I made my order however they have now returned.

It is most likely just Dichotomous(double headed) however be aware that polytomy is a form of crested and that could be a good cactus for a breeding program. I have a graft that made two double headed pups which I thought at first was crested as well. When crested it would continue to have an elongeted growing point rather then distinct apex as you can now make out on your graft. The areole in the center will likely be the last from the center. If your lucky one of the apex may later become crested.

I have grafted 3 pereskiopsis onto OSM and none of the three had the trait passed on. Most opuntia have virus' that may be passed on to scions. I did graft to pups rather then the mother plant so I will reattempt to see if I can replicate results posted in the posts you posted.