Derkshaman

Lately I'm doing a lot of work in the garden. Besides constructing a hoop house, there is also a large alley in my yard that I'm filling with potted cacti. On one side of the alley is wrought-iron railing. In the afternoon, some pretty intense sun shines down through this railing and I am hoping to set up some plants as buffers to provide a bit of shade blocking. Really any kind foliage will be helpful, but if possible I'd like to plant some climbers. Only interested in perennials- I get attached to my plants. I'm interested in plants that are fast growing and can survive some intense sun. Most interested in something that climbs, or vines of some sort... but also would appreciate suggestions for bushes. I live in zone 9a, so triple digit summers are typical... the location intend to plant is mostly full sun, so this thins out the possibilities quite a bit. If it grows well in AU, it would probably do alright in my climate. The most important feature is to tolerate sun and grow relatively fast. I don't mind watering often or some work to get the plant established. Culturally valuable plants are always a plus- if there is ethnobotanic history, pretty flowers, or any use that is awesome but it definitely isn't a must. I'm avoiding the plant 'cat's claw' because it is rather invasive and very messy. One plant in particular is appealing to me and seems suited for the job; the plant is passion vine- a sort of variant of passion flowers. Does anyone have any experience with this plant? Sorry for the broad thread- I'm kind of thinking out loud. Would love to hear the communities' thoughts too, and maybe you can introduce me to some new plants. Will post a photo soon too if it helps give people ideas. Appreciate everyone reading this

Never seen anything quite like it

Don't use halogens. Just buy a couple 'cool white' CFLs

Great job! They look very healthy. Awesome hybrid too, can't wait to see them mature. They're at an age where you don't really worry about them up and dying anymore, eh?

Welcome to the forum. Glad to see you're growing from seed! Those are all looking pretty healthy. How old? I'm gonna guess 2-3 months. All of them are bright green except for the first batch. Is it the lighting? If not.. I wonder what made them look a little different. More light?

Awesome, thank you- I will look into these. In my climate, during summer, we have weeks of ~110 degree weather usually. But if it has managed 104, it seems to be worth a shot.

I see this practice done very commonly. Should it be routine? Would you recommend it even if my 3 year old seedlings are still managing to stand without stakes? When is the ideal time to make cuttings from a grown out seedling? And do the bases put back out pups with decent girth?

I hear they also do well in hard sun? This is my original plan but I still need some confirmation

Chiletepins are my favorite. Awesome smokey flavor... but their spiciness is uniquely short lived and doesn't accumulate in your mouth like other chilis. Habeneros because they are reliable for making hot salsa. I always add at least one to the batch. Helps the sinuses, and generally just fun to eat... but sometimes it hurts my stomach the next morning if I eat too much. Nothing really exotic about my preferences

Oh! Forget what I said then. Just one guy got a headstart to occupy the space. Sand is very specific. What type of sand were you using? And did you wash it well? I use sand very sparingly. Except for with seedlings. Nice grafts man. I'm going to try some on pereskiopsis very soon.

Not to worry. There are all sorts of variables. 60cm vs 50cm isn't bad. I've had the same sized clones vary in growth speed by 100%, when potted the same time in the identical pots... granted the one that grew much faster was in almost full shade vs half sun (wouldn't you have guessed it to be smaller?) One variable I've found is that when you mix up a batch of soil, inevitably every pot you fill gets a different mixture. The ones filled at the end contain finer particles... maybe less grit/pumice and more soil to use for roots. Or who knows, maybe the ones with more grit end up growing faster with more breathable roots. Also sand can sink to the bottom and effectively reduce the size of the pot.

Remove please. Cheers

Would these grow alright in 9A? I have a very small greenhouse, if necessary. Always interested in learning to grow new plants.

Not to change the subject too much, but what do you mean by they "originated as sports" ? I always wondered how there came to be a variegated version of an existing clone (in the case of the variegated TBM and TBMC). I assumed they were just seed grown phenotypes that just happened to have the same shape. So, somehow people actually bring out variegated traits from these cacti? How is it done?

Take this for what it's worth, but I've found segments as long as 6 inches on my short-jointed form. As far as I'm aware, there are only two widespread varieties. I have heard claims from others of a 3rd, the medium one, just as you said though.

I have a clone of some bridgessoid that I've been growing for years, one that has a seemingly nonexistent immune system. Every year it seems that I loose a plant and am forced to make cuttings, which I even dust with sulfur. After a couple months of scabbing, I attempt to plant the cuttings as I do with all my other clones, with a careful mixture of 1-1-1 soil-perlite-sand. Even with this, I find that the cuttings will rot and die if any rain happens to fall, or sometimes even if it's too humid! Even out of the rain, I will run into weeping black tips (let alone bottoms) on healing cuttings! None of my other clones are so finicky and have so many cases of rot even with ideal care. My success rate rooting this clone hasn't even been 50%... So I'm aware that I need to try something new. Can I leave these cuttings just sitting around for half a year, and expect them to throw roots? Should I leave them in an all perlite, or all sand mixture? If so, does sand work as well as perlite would? I wasn't aware that cacti would shoot roots out into nutrient-less substrates. And should they have any light during this time? I assume they should stay exclusively in the shade until rooted.

If you're referring to me Zelly, I was just questioning his assertion of a plant being the clone 'colossus' when he previously discussed it to be Altman's... and that's only because I, much like you, am very specific about clone names and am very bothered by people using them loosely. Hopefully that's not the case; I have a lot of respect for you and would hate to leave any bad impression. Anyways, without further dilution to this thread, I'll shoot a bit straighter! How long ago did you name Zeus? Is he from seed?

Ohh, yeah Altman has 3 clones that he sells: One is the one that's semi-monstrose, PC, and then one that looks identical to the pictures you posted in this thred, especially the second of the two pics. I think you're right that those might be a different clone in both pics!

(pics)

Your trichocereus is Altman's Pachanoi. It's very distinct, and super common in the states. You can even find a couple mixed in at Home Depot on occasion. The plant looks basically like PC on steroids to me. Much fatter, V-notches, and proportionally longer spines. There's something distinct about the thorns that I can almost always call it though. EDIT: Hey man you posted the same pic of this Pach like a week ago that I called as Altman's- I ID'd it as such and you confirmed it to be Altman's. Where'd this 'Collosus' come from?

Yeah it's not the PC Pedro but this just goes to show how much the genes overlap!

Update guys... on the piece I was struggling to root. So, for some reason the thorns were all bent to point downwards... so I actually confused the top for the bottom! And I always thought this was a mistake I could never make. Basically I took it back out of the soil to check for roots... and there was a small white pup trying to grow underground! I took a closer look and noticed the v- notches were upside-down. Something tells me the piece will be rooted pretty quickly, now that it's right-side-up. How embarrassing

This isn't really a topic I like to discuss, nor does the community. Many of these clones/genetics are like trophies; it's fun to collect a variety. Considering what you're after... there's probably no reason to seek named or specific cultivars. Any T. Bridgesii will give you what you want. Hope that helps!

The main reason I like to up-pot gradually is that I damage the roots less taking a plant out of a conservatively sized pot, vs an oversized pot where the roots really stretch out. Yes plants generally grow faster in bigger pots, but like others are saying, there's such a thing as too big when it become counterproductive, particularly with slower growing plants.

The smaller 'seeds' are surely just crushed up particles From what I know, Texenis is the OG variety of L.W... a very slow grower!