Micromegas Posted February 25, 2007 OK guys, this is pretty wild. I rescued this amazing specimen from a house due to be demolished... someone had knocked this beauty down (must've been 5m high at least in its prime ) and it was just laying in the yard, in the middle of rose bushes with debris and wood etc. just piled around it. It had obviously been laying on the ground for some time - totally abandoned - as it has pupped profusely in an attempt to regain its former beauty. I picked up these large pieces which only just fit in the back of my car. There were also some other cacti laying around as you can see, that I took cuttings from. The state of this garden was just unbelievable, all these beautiful plants just left to die, trampled an crashed by bits of wood and iron. Not to mention the state of what once would have been a lovely rose garden. I can't believe someone would do this to such a garden! Anyway, I believe this stunner is T. Terschekii (sp?) or Pascana (correct me if I'm wrong), either way I want to restore it to good health... but how... some advice would be GREATLY appreciated in terms of getting it in the ground, upright or vertical, as is or with cuttings etc. I have plenty of room as I live on a farm, so space is not a problem. As you can see some parts have rotted on the smaller pieces but the one large piece is in quite good condition and might be able to just stand right back up and keep on growing??? There's quite a fat peice of San Pedro (about 8 inches long) next to it in the photo for some perspective; it really is an enormous cactus! Please help me get it in the ground and growing happily! Although I am happy to have this plant, i am really quite sad and distraught about the fact it was just knocked over so unceremoniously as if it had no value at all. What a shame... Thanks, Micro 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) Woot! Edited February 25, 2007 by apothecary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moses Posted February 25, 2007 awesome find and yet so sad i'd be propping that big one up to root in one piece along with the large tip near the monstrose in the photo then cutting the rest into cleaner pieces and planting them. were there more pieces left salvageable in the garden? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) Hi Micromegas, it´s unbelievable. It looks like Trichocereus terscheckii. Terscheckiis of that size are very expensive;congratulations! bye Eg Edit: and you seem to have a Cereus peruvianus montrose on the upper left. Edited February 25, 2007 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shruman Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) What to do, what to do, I know u chop it up & mail it to me Seriously nice cacti , lucky find, put it in the ground. Because they have been on its side chances are it may have root buds forming? I would probly plant horizontal (the way u found them) in 20 to 30 cm logs & if tips dont have root buds I would root them vertical in foot or so lengths. Edited February 25, 2007 by shruman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mu! Posted February 25, 2007 Here's an idea; hold a competition for a few of those pups! Good find, great salvation. Was there any other cacti left after you'd gotten your cuts, or had you cleaned up the whole place? Even scarred and damaged stock might be useful to some persons out there Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Micromegas Posted February 25, 2007 Yeah this is actually quite sad I'd give it all back to see this beauty in original condition... the big piece will go into the ground and staked, maybe a foot deep in the ground. Also a few of the smaller pieces can be planted as is. The second biggest piece is a bit of difficultly, it's pupping really well but has rotted away in quite a number of places. No, the salvation is not complete, I will go back tomorrow and hopefully there is someone around to talk to. Everything small(ish) and manageable has been salvaged, but the main shaft of the cactus is still prostrate, lying on one of its own (broken) arms with rootball in tact but totally dried out. I dunno what to do with it really, cut it into two or three smaller pieces or organise some serious machinery to lift it out. Probably need to talk to the land-owner to do that though. Hopefully there'll be some demolishion workers around tomorrow and I can see what's what. It would be a shame if they just scooped it up with a loader and took it to the dump Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted February 25, 2007 Well, at least these Guys haven´t tried to burn em. It makes it easier for the cuttings to set roots. These Bogans make me wonder all the time.... bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) Especially when the property purchacers haggle over a thousand or two on the buying price of the property then go and destroy a few grands worth of garden plants. I'd say go back and cut it into as big of a bits as is managable and get the lot. Possibly take a ute as the construction workers may have heavy machinery equipment(ie,bulldoser) onsite they may willing to help u get it on the back of the ute, even if it costs a slab of cold beer for the workers. Although this is very sad, these opportunities allow sum to get sum awesome cacti for next to nothing. If they knew wat they were actually worth most of us would not be able to afford them. Great score. I'd cut out any ACTIVE rot and allow to recallous and plant out. Plant them however is most convenient or most asthetic I think...Any material that is cut out and can't be planted could maybe be dried and tested as to see how good of an insence it makes. ANything that is really ugly can just be used as stock plants, then remove and grow on the nice lookin pups. Edited February 25, 2007 by naja naja Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebas Posted February 25, 2007 I'm glad you saved it... this plant deserves propagation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DuG Posted February 25, 2007 Great find I agree with naja, cut out all the active rot and goopy stuff. If you can get it back to clean cactus it should heal well. A spoon works well to scoop out all the icky rotting stuff. I did this to my bogan find and it worked for most pieces. Some had to be recut 2 or 3 times to get rid of all the rot. stake the big sections well as they will have a LOT of weight in them and can be easily knocked over, for the others cut them down to small lengths that are easy to handle and ater they have calloused plant them in dry soil. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
