Mr. Bowser

What Selenicereus Hamatus really looks like

That would be tits!

The one labeled T. bridgesii looks more like a healthy seed-grown cuzco to me. 1 Developed spines in the picture are darker at the base and broaden at the aerole. Bridge typically have spines that are lighter at the base and darken at the tip, and do not broaden at the aerole. 2 The pictured trich has one or two long central spines with much shorter radial spines (6 to 9 or so total?). Bridge have fewer spines (3-5) and tend to be splayed out equally as opposed to an orderly central and radial distribution. 3 The ribs are knobbier around the areole of the mystery trich, whereas the bridge seem smoother. Heres a comparison shot, the cuzco was sold as a peruvianus (although some say the cuzco is a type of peruvianus), and the bridgesii was grown from cactusplaza seed, and was the most "typical" looking bridge of the batch. I don't know shit about ariocarpus, but that Lopho sure is a beauty!

I've got a fully rooted degrafted bridge that is growing a bunch of root nubs out of its midsection. It started growing the nubs as a graft, so not sure what caused the growth of root nubs, since they are growing on the most well lit side of the cactus... probably the cactus is just water stressed or growing faster than the stock could handle. I've also got a pach that was deprived of light on the top portion and began growing root nubs at the base of the unlit portion, so maybe there are a few different triggers to the root nub growth. I'd probably chop below the root nubs and root that section, or pot it a little deeper so the root isn't exposed and has more support.

[edit: wrong thread]

Planted some Trich seeds from SS and started my first seedling grow log! T. Peru 'Los Gentiles' (95) T. Bridge SS02 x T. sp 'Serra Canyon' (53) T. Peru 'Serra Blue' x T. Bridge SS02 (122) T. Peru SS01 x T. Bridge SS02 (41) T. Bridge SS02 x T. Peru SS01 (93) Each seed pack was supposed to have 30 to 70 seeds... but they averaged a very generous 80/pack! I love SS!!!

Second what ballzac and mutant said. Also, I've had cuttings rooting with too much sun that started etoliated growth instead of rooting... this also made them shrivel up and look really sad. I prefer indirect lighting, bright but no direct sunlight. I suspect the cactus cutting spends more energy in root development when shaded, because there's not enough light yet for growth from the tip. After having many cuttings with unsightly etoliated sections from rooting with too much light, I only root indoors in the fall/winter with low lighting to direct growth to rooting only.

Usually, I open them up to check on them and air them out every day or so after they start popping up. I wait a few months atleast until spines / aeroles are visible and the little leaf looking things (?) are absorbed into the stem. Gradually give them an hour or two with the lid on but ajar every day for a week or so then poke a few holes in the top next week (or use a perforated chamber lid) and a few more holes next week... The key is to let them slowly adjust to the drier environment over several weeks so they can adapt by developing their roots and water storage capacity. I'd harden them off before grafting to peres just as a precaution

Thanks for the info mindperformer! Hopefully I'll get some good experience with rainforest plants by the time some vines are available stateside

Hey mindperformer, can you let me in on what nursery in the USA has rooted d cabrerana cuttings available? Thanks!

Saw the prices on the Alicia anisopetala seed (min order 20 USD for 20 seeds) at kiwiboancaya ... pretty outrageous before adding shipping also ! Mindperformer, if you or anyone else knows of a more reliable / reasonable seed bank for Alicia anisopetala or DC that can ship to US please PM me Thanks!

WOW that albino looks awesome! Glad you were able to get a few more pups out of it

check out this thread... http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31705

Thanks for clarifying! I'll have to take some overhead pics of my trichs to checkout their differences rib structure side by side

Correct me if I'm wrong... but wouldn't cactus in question have to have 8 ribs to look like a plus sign when viewed from overhead? Some of my cuzcos (one was sold as KK242 but who knows really!) have 6 and 7 ribs, so they don't look like a plus when viewed from above.

Got a shelving unit to house the cactus/succulent garden over the winter Brought the garden indoors for the winter its been nothing but cold and wet weather for the last week here with the weather only getting worse. (Half hour of rain and clouds, half hour of sun... repeat for the next 6 months )

The medium is a mixture of lava rock, pea gravel and expanded clay pellets. (The clay pellets float to the top, so it looks like straight clay pellets)The mixture is cheaper and seems to support the peres better than straight clay pellets. The hydro shop guy advised against coco coir in my ebb and flow unless its got a filter since the fibers could clog the pump. Looks like the coco is just fine to water from the top tho CFL has some advantages with seedling grafts since the stock and scion really love illumination on all sides... and its cheaper and cooler to run. Don't think the grafts grow much faster under the MH than CFL tho maybe just a little thicker with longer spines. I like the peres and all but... I'd really like to get a larger diameter rootstock that can also take a daily watering. I'm hoping selinicereus will fit the bill!

I use an ebb and flow system, home made of coarse out of some plastic storage bins, a pump and plastic tubing. It took a while to fine tune the auto-siphon which was upgraded from last winter season, but relatively inexpensive and low maintenance. I was shocked how well the peres and grafts do when placed in hydro culture like this! This system is great for speeding seedling growth. I use 14/10 MH lighting and get pretty decent results. Even if you don't have enough cuttings now, just wait a month and each peres can give up a cutting... Anyway, was thinking about experimenting with rooted selinicereus stock in the E&F system, maybe dialing back the watering schedule to once a day... anyone use this stock in hydroculture?

Not sure about your seedlings, as most tricho seedlings look quite similar. However a couple traits distinguishing the cuzco from peru (at least IME): 1) broadening of the spine at the base on fully developed spines 2) dark colored base of the spine with lighter mid and tip sections on fully developed spines 3) wavy margin between the ribs (more clearly visible when older) That said, some vendors consider the cuzco a type of peru, so they share a lot of similar traits as well. Based on these criteria, I would say the first and second pics show at least two cuzco traits, the other pics seem peru to me. My cuzco grows incredibly fast and is a very hearty rootstock! These babies look nice and health, good work!

So I've been foliar feeding cacti for a while now, and was wondering if anyone else here is doing the same, and what other methods people are using. Basically, I like to keep the pH of the water around the roots around 7-8 to help ward off rot, and enhance uptake of NPK. However, at this slightly basic pH, micronutrients are less available to the roots, and to make up for this, the cacti are foliar fed micronutrients at night when the stoma are open. Typically have alternated misting with nutes and with plain water to keep the stoma from getting clogged. Also thought foliar feeding might be beneficial to get nutrients to cuttings that haven't taken root yet. Although it may be equally possible that in a healthy well fed cutting the lack of nutrient uptake could help signal the cutting to send out roots in search of water and nutrients. Any thoughts or experience with this?

IME some bridge individuals are more sensitive to black spots than others, however the black spots seem to be more of a cosmetic than life threatening problem. As EG pointed out the black spot infection may weaken the plants immunity to other infections, I'd watch out for any mushiness around the base. I've lost a cactus that started off with black spots, and later the roots rotted out before I could save it. I'm fairly sure it was afflicted with two separate infections. Personally, I like to keep the nutrient water/soil neutral to slightly basic, and I have read elsewhere the pathogenic fungi prefer acidic conditions. Not sure how this would affect bactierial infections... but tweaking the water pH usually helps my cacti turn the corner on black rot.

Sowed Tonight 100 T. Bridgesii (Kohres) Test run with new germ setup... Next up Los Gentiles, SS02 x SS01, SS01 x SS02, SS02 x Serra Blue and one other

Oh Clint... first the utan thing, then Republican endorsement and talking to a chair... ur losin it man! ehem Good luck with the seeds import situation. Its nice that someone is taking the time to at least hear you out. Hopefully an itemized receipt from the vendor will help you get the rest of the missing seeds back as well!

Looks like 3 or 4 of the pups are pretty healthy. As spacemonk said, I'd cut the healthy pups off the log, cutting into the log instead of the pup. Parts of log may be ok if you cut off the rot and let it dry out first. Good luck!

I'm a big fan of limonene as an insecticide for ants and mites and such. Its naturally derived from citrus rinds as orange oil and biodegradable. Its fairly safe and smells great. Usually I mix a cap full of limonene with an equal portion of 90% + and dilute this mixture with a liter of water. A little goes a long way. I've ousted a few fire ant nests that were behind my outdoor cactus pots. Saturated the ground and no trace of them since. Trichos don't seem to mind being sprayed with this mixture. Also most citrus rinds are supposed to repel ants. Personally i'd stay all natural for pest control, some synthetics are pretty harsh on the environment