Trichocereus what?

[Monk]

I purchased this one labeled as "Cereus peruvianus." Haha! I'm no cactus expert, but I know my ass from my elbow and this is no C. peruvianus. I've had it less than a year and it has more than doubled in size. The picture doesn't do the color justice as there is a strong blue-ness to the top half. Anyway, what do you guys think?

Sorry for the angle, I'm on a different computer and couldn't figure out how to rotate.

EDIT: Here's the top view:

Edited September 24, 2007 by FeloniousMonk

[Evil Genius]

hi Monk, it looks like a Trichocereus Macrogonus! I like mislabeled Cacti! bye Eg

[chilli]

I would also say it looks like a Macrogonus, but the bottom half looks quite different to me.

I think you have to sit on something before you rotate don't you?

[Monk]

Thanks for the responses guys! You just confirmed my initial suspicions, but as I said, I'm no cactus expert.

but the bottom half looks quite different to me.

Yes, it believe it is a seedling and I think that is just the remainder of its juvenile stage. It was just starting to grow out of it when I purchased the plant, but now it looks very different. It has been growing very fast. From chewing on excised areoles (minus spines of course ) of my various cacti the bitterness values are something like this:

T. macrogonus (this plant)<T. pachanoi (AKA predominate clone USA)<(T. 'Juul's GiantxSSo1)=or<TBM

EDIT:

I think you have to sit on something before you rotate don't you?

Haha! I tried that, but the spines really hurt!

Edited September 10, 2007 by FeloniousMonk

[XipeTotec]

Haha! I tried that, but the spines really hurt!

you think that hurts... u should try rooting some cuttings!!! ...... yes, I know guys, ive done that one b4, but its still funny (to me)

[Ace]

ROFPMSL - I must have missed that one last time Xipe

[Monk]

Hehe, nice Somebody else who literally loves their plants

[gerbil]

ditto...to me it looks what I recognise as a T. macrogon(oid)us.

[Monk]

Here's another one. I purchased this one from the Huntington Botanical Garden plant sale a few years ago labeled "Trichocereus peruvianus." Now I'm not so sure. The problem is, when I left that town, a gardner friend said he would "take care of it" for me and now doesn't want to give it back! I suppose since he's been caring for it for about 3 years, he has some claim to it, but we're still in negotiations... Anyway, if anybody's got any idea of what species it may be, please help.

FM

[Pisgah]

Just want to revisit the pic from the first post. Looks like a lot of what is growing out from Mesa Garden "Pachanoi" seed from a couple of years past.

This is what my MG "pachanoi" looks like. Seems macrogonus to me as well.

[Ace]

Felonious - I'd say your second specimen (post #9) is a T. peruvianus of some sort (there are so many variations within the wide umbrella, you can never really get an exact ID past that IMO). I'd say that because of the bluing (though it looks quite grey in the pix) and the spination as well as the ribs and growth habit.

I'd say the 1st specimen is also a T. peruvianus as it has the blue tinge to the flesh as well as some nasty spines. There is a few comparison pix on THIS page that show the difference between cereus and trichocereus.

Pisgah - Although yours was labelled pachanoi, I'd call it peruvianus too. Again, bluing, spination (can be yellow on new spines, old ones are usually red/brown), ribs, habit. Certainly not a pachanoi, or at least not the comon type (could be from a long spined var from a wild specimen, but the traits dont match at all IMO).

As for Macro vs Peru - what is the real difference? Do they have distict features (if so, what?) or are they synonymous?

[Pisgah]

Yeah, that plant definitely wasn't pachanoi. It seems a couple of years ago Steve at Mesa Garden was having a tough time sourcing pachanoi seeds, maybe still is having difficulty, but it seems that lot of seeds was definitely peruvianoid/macrogonoid in appearance.

[Monk]

Thanks everybody! Now I just gotta try to re-acquire its genetics. Do you think I could simply excise a little areole and graft it onto a Tpach? This guy really seems to want to hold onto the plant and not "mutilate" it by making a cutting. I even offered to give him the top 75% for shape sake and take the stump, but to no avail just yet

[Ace]

Hmm, if you want to pinch a couple areoles without mutilating it, that could prove tricky... Obviously the easiest and best for all involved would be to go a 25:75 chop with the rooted stump being shorter, but if that is off the cards, then you may have to go for either a couple single areole grafts (one alone is not very likely to take, so a couple would be best to ensure a successful graft). You could also try a small rib section as a wedge graft - these seem to have a reasonable amount of success, but if he doesnt want it mutilated, this might not be a good idea.

Otherwise you may have to wait till she pups...

[Monk]

Thank you for the advice, Ace. I've never done either of those type of grafts, so that info really helps. I think I just gotta get him to realize that while he has watered it for a long time now, I originally sourced and purchased the plant and do deserve some right to original genetic material. Seeing as how he has a ton of cacti and really only likes it for the shape/appearance, I think the cutting/stump approach is the most fair. We'll see, I've yet to meet someone as stubborn as myself, so I've got a good chance

FM

[Ace]

Haha - sounds like a couple of pricks fighting over something spiky For more info on them grafting methods either check the net or maybe look thru Teo's grafting book (I think there was some info in there, but it mostly related to peres grafting if I remember right).