40y/o cactus unknown ID

[internettoughguy]

Hi! My grandmother passed away and I have become in charge of looking after her beloved cacti. Unfortunately none of us know what it is. Coming in possession of this cactus has inspired me to start up my own cacti garden and this will be the leading piece.

If someone could help me identify it I would be greatly appreciated! My mother says that it is roughly 40 years old but that is all we know about it, any information about it's species and what i need to know to look after it would be greatly apprecaited. it looks like it might need to be moved into a bigger pot or into the ground now, there is roughly 7 parts growing with some baby ones down below which i tried to snap a photo of, it's about 1.5m tall.

Edited December 16, 2009 by internettoughguy

[bℓσωηG]

Notocactus leninghausii , biggest one ive ever seen,has cool yellow blossums and is hardy

[bit]

Holy cow that's a beauty!! I have one that's 40cm tall which is about to come into flower - looking forward to it. I didn't know they got that big! That's bigger than an n.magnificus!

Oh, and resale on that would be $500++

Edited December 16, 2009 by bit

[flora]

wow thats realy cool. does it need repotting??

[PD.]

thats a monster!

[internettoughguy]

Thanks so much for the ID'ing, looks exactly like it! And for the kind words

Yes, I've suggested that it needs re-potting, but it's about to flower so we thought we'd re-pot it after summer. Mum tells me that it's been in the same pot ever since she was a little girl, so maybe it's about time to re-pot it! The poor thing.

[cocalero()]

wow. its amazing it could grow so big. It looks like the really tall column has puppy fat rolls.

How on earth are you going to get it out of that pot.

btw toughguy:

Edited December 16, 2009 by cocalero()

[Chiral]

wow nice plant...getting it out will be via a hammer and some large back swings to that pot I'd say...

Mum tells me that it's been in the same pot ever since she was a little girl...dunno how old your mum is but damn that's a long time to live in the one pot, it's gunna go into shock when you get that root mass out and re-pot it, be careful, wear thick gloves and take your time with it...good luck she's a beauty.

[internettoughguy]

^^Mum's 55 now, so that makes the plant ~40 years old! I'm heading into cacti cultivation now at almost 21, so i've got a good start in the game and hopefully get to live to see one of my own little cactus babies grow to be 40. That's the dream hey?

Hehe, I couldn't think of a new online handle, i wasn't expecting to get caught up in the community and start posting I'm actually not tough at all! ha!

Well, it's not going to come out easy, we're going to have to break the pot unfortunately...

it didn't even have any drainage in it! doesn't suit the cactus what so ever. He is going to be SO happy once he gets some fresh sandy soil to consume. Can't wait!

Edited December 16, 2009 by internettoughguy

[reshroomED]

Lovely big cactus.

Wonder what size it'd be if it had been planted in the ground.

I'd be sacrificing the pot myself. Few strategic taps with hammer and chisel would sort it nicely.

ed

[PD.]

Dunno if id so swiftly smash it out of the pot. I have one of these in a pot of the most shithouse red clay soil you could imagine. My mum got it from a clearing sale and i knew the house it came from, the plant had been in the same pot for many many years suffering no ill effect. It is growing along slowly but surely and very healthy, all it needs is a good water every now and then. i think with plant of this nature sometimes they like to be in such conditions and after years of being like that a sudden change to loose rich soil could be disaster. Its hard to say what to do with such specimens due to the age imo, are they happy where they are, do they need bigger pots? If it was mine, id leave it be until it showed signs of constant dehydration (easy to see with these notocac) even after a big watering.... but thats just me

I just wouldnt be so hasty with such a slow growing plant................ then again id prolly cut it into single columns and 20 years time have 5 specimens as nice as that one .

[bℓσωηG]

no drainage???? far out man...if i did break the pot i wouldnt tease the roots theyre prolly in a state id be thinkin straight into a prepared hole in the ground where the roots can grow out of their surely compacted condition by themselves..do your nanna proud son!!!

[cocalero()]

Hehe, I couldn't think of a new online handle, i wasn't expecting to get caught up in the community and start posting I'm actually not tough at all! ha!

hehe i just thought you might want an avatar to go with your name. I dont think internettoughguy is tough either hes from the internet.

[cocalero()]

 

Whats that little cactus in the right of the pic. He looks a bit sad in his pot.

Edited December 16, 2009 by cocalero()

[internettoughguy]

No idea what that one is either, don't think it came from my grandmother though, could be wrong- i've put both plants in a more open area to help them grow instead of being in the shade at the back of the house, going to try and get the cacti some spot light in the garden for a while. But there is no permanent room for them at the moment... Hmm, gotta wait for something to die out first

hehe i just thought you might want an avatar to go with your name. I dont think internettoughguy is tough either hes from the internet.

 

Ha, good idea! Thanks ;D

[cocalero()]

Wrap the whole thing in a thick blanket and lie it on its side,

crack the pot, cut off 50% of the roots and plant in the ground

Or... you could probably sell it on ebay for $2000 or more

you could just list it with a really high price to see if you

get any interest

or give it to the botanical gardens

you could get one of those memorial plaques with your name on it

"Internet Tough Guy donated this cactus to the botanical gardens ......"

[zelly]

Here's mine in flower...

I'd say leave it alone until you're ready to plant it in the ground.

[PD.]

Well heres mine, around 40cms tall.

Yours will look nuts when it is in full bloom ITG.

[flora]

ya dont juzt put it in a sandy soil, do some research and experiment a bit with soil mixes before you do

it certainly has done well up til now

[internettoughguy]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I went threw some old family photo albums and found some photos of the cactus from Dec 2001

[bℓσωηG]

thats killer!!!! get some seed mate! but youll need to partner her up or score some pollen ...people here trade the stuff you know

[mutant]

This is absolutely brilliant! You're lucky to have such an old man

I think I would go with PD on that, I mean, why repot? Plus its gonna be pretty hard and spiny [ouch!], this must be around a mans weight! Very tough gloves indeed are required - of the industrial type - and it's still tricky. I think I would either leave as is, or propagate, propably the first option, as PD says. But then again, I repot constantly my plants/cacti, so I might indeed go for it at some point...

But, no bottom holes is really strange!!! ...

oh, internettoughguy, welcome to the forums, you sound like a pretty good lad

I am not tough either, I just pose to be ;)

Edited December 17, 2009 by mutant

[reshroomED]

My experience with plants of such size has shown little to no soil left in the pot, and I've been amazed at the fact that they're still kicking. May not be so in this case, but I'd doubt it.

Unless ground-temps are too variant from what it's used to, I see no reason not to plant out. Of course you'd transport pot and plant to desired hole, lay pot over hole, then break, remove, and drop root-mass into hole.

Just what I'd do.

ed

[WoodDragon]

If there's no hole in the bottom then most of the soil that was originally in the pot should still be there - unless there was a lot of consistent splashing at the surface over the years.

The size of the pot though is in proportion to the rootball that a cactus that big would probably have: what's probably more important is getting just a bit of fresh soil mixed in. If it were mine (sigh...), I'd raise the pot high enough on 2x4s or similar that I could get underneath with a masonry bit and pop a hole in the bottom. My dad used to use copper pipe whacked into carborundum grit to do masonry holing - it might be difficult to keep enough grit embedded in the end of the pipe if one were drilling upside down, but it might work if you don't have a proper bit large enough (a couple of cm would do).

After that I'd chip away about a golfball size of the old soil above the hole, pack it with juicy compost, and plonk the pot onto a bed of compost with loads of worms in such that the soil in the pot is contiguous with the compost outside. Water the cactus from the top with a nice compost tea and the worms will work their way into the pot, bringing more compost with them.

This procedure would basically not involve anything more than minimal disturbance of the rootball, and it would save the pot, which I personally think has oodles of character, and suits the cactus admirably. The cactus is healthy - it's been in that pot for 40 years, and even another couple of years waiting isn't going to hurt it. And by that time the worms might have churned thorugh a fair proportion of the soil, refreshing it. If you move the rocks on the surface aside and replace the top layers with a good quality cactus mix, with just a little more organic matter than one would usually put in for cacti, the worms would be more inclined to visit the surface of the pot, and in so doing help to mix up the soil in the pot.

This approach has worked a treat for me with potted citrus, but I'll grant that a cactus's requirements might make it less succesful in this case. I doubt that it would be too much of a disater though, as long as you don't keep the cactus too much more wet than it is used to. The worms will tend to move out of the pot during drying periods, and into the compost below (if it's still moist), but this would only help to get some fresh material into the pot through the hole in the bottom.

And consider regular drinks of compost or manure tea, or the seasol that is causing a bit of a ruckus on the other thread - these sorts of soaking really help get the biological activity of the soil, and thus the nutrient availability, going well.

Anyway, that's what I would do!

[M S Smith]

I wouldn't do a thing with it at all. If its gone that long without a pot change, looks that good and flowers, then it is perfect. I can assure you, that soil was nutrient deficient decades ago and the plant seems supremely happy. If you repot with nutrients you may either shock it pretty bad, or else cause growth change that well, makes some imperfection in growth. Hell, you may even care for it too much and ruin the soil by making it tend towards retaining too much water. Leave it alone for another 40 years.

~Michael~

[bit]

I wouldn't leave it in the same pot. The scarring you see on the main stem is as a result of stress from being underpotted. The scarring will worsen over time till it spoils the look of the cactus.