Fruit of Cereus monstrosa

[mutant]

was gets commonly called Cereus peruvianus mosnstrosa, in fact

unfortunately I didn't get a shot of it on the plant.

it was pretty tasty , with an kind of exotic flavour and sweet in fact

Edited January 11, 2011 by mutant

[Auxin]

What the.. I thought they didnt ever flower!

Was it short kind:

Or tall kind:

Come to think of it, it was only short kind that I've heard people say never flowers

[bit]

I have both kinds, both flower. My tall one is in flower at the moment, but have nothing to cross it with to get fruit. My short one is a cutting of a much larger plant which flowered a month ago.

[tripsis]

I had the impression the fruits were purple.

[Moses]

I have both kinds, both flower. My tall one is in flower at the moment.

 

me too..

nice fruit i've had them but half the size.

[paradox]

they don't call them a Peruvian Apple for nothing btw sexy finger you got there bro... did you save some seed? gonna germinate & see if the mutant gene is stable?

[mutant]

Well I don't really think its of big importance - tall or short form - if those forms are really valid forms - I think plants in the ground will become very tall in time and they will flower. I think even the more cresty forms will eventually throw a column or two and will maintain it.

and yep them fruits are indeed darker purply red in the parts they're more mature and become even darker if not picked.

For what it's worth, there was only one plant to my attention in the area, these cacti are pretty common in my area, but I have no idea how/why it fruited. I keep telling myself to take some shots of some of the largest specimens we got over here, they're impressive!

last but not least

did you save some seed? gonna germinate & see if the mutant gene is stable?

hell yeah, I did, that's why I picked it - I actually used a stick to bring it down

and that's why I didn't eat the fucker despite it was a very interesting experience.

Seeds are larger than any trichocereus I have seen

[Moses]

Well I don't really think its of big importance - tall or short form - if those forms are really valid forms - I think plants in the ground will become very tall in time and they will flower. I think even the more cresty forms will eventually throw a column or two and will maintain it.

 

i think what auxin meant by tall or short(apoligies if wrong) is the short(melted wax)which can become a tall plant but it's growth habits are stumpy/short

or the tall(knobbly form)

which i've only seen pup from the base forming knobbly coloumns

[mutant]

Yeah I think I got it right. You call short form plants that tend to crest more rather than throw monstrosa columns.

[mutant]

Here are some of the seedlings

some seem normal - some seem to carry the monster along

Edited July 1, 2011 by mutant

[Philocacti]

very interesting

are you thinking of grafting any of these crest seedlings?

[mutant]

nah, to be honest grafting fast growing columnars doesn't really do it for me. And they seem pretty fast.

now grafting fatty tricho species or slow growing columns is another thing

besides this cactus is disturbingly common in greece. I think I will let them grow on their own roots

[cactuscarl]

I have lots of seed if anybody is interested in a trade short and tall but they're mixed together. I think there self fertile nearly ever flower turned into fruit

[Foo]

There is a hair on that fruit

[mutant]

update.

would you up-pot now? we have little time till winter now here

[2Deep2Handle]

if its gonna be easier to keep em warm and lit over winter in that pot then leave them be, but id plant em out, other wise you might have a hard time seperating the roots without damage next season?

Just make sure you keep em from going dormant for atleast 2 weeks after you repot, so they can have at least 1 or 2 more waterings before dormant.

[mutant]

thanks

I decided to let them be and repot next season

[2Deep2Handle]

mutant how did you get it to fruit the first time? I swear none of my cacti auto pollinate

[mutant]

I picked it from an old plant. there are a couple of impressive old ones in my area

[2Deep2Handle]

Are you in Greece mutant? i think i remember seeing some pictures of some wild Cereus peruvianus of yours in Greece, but don't recall seeing any monstrose in amongst em.

On a side note I found this Next to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary the other day when i was taking an injured blue tongue in.

Serious Cereus?

All the black things scattered at my feet are old dead flowers....hundreds of em literally. Excuse my ugly bare chest, but i'm 178cm tall, so it gives you an idea of how freaking huge this thing was.

 

[mutant]

That's a huge one alright

they were indeed monstrosas

here is the thread

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26650&hl=cereus&fromsearch=1

you can even see a fruit

[mutant]

update:

[2Deep2Handle]

Yay! The genes of montrusa were very much carried across...looks like chances of monstrose are indeed increased when both parents are of the monstrose variety! Ill have to update my thread on my CPM i crossed with the help of Moses too. Splendid work Mutant

[mutant]

upload photos

note how the two seedling on the right are cresty, while the mid one being rather columnarish, also root size. , bigger for the columnarish monster as opposed to the crests. all outpotted from the same single pot seen

the same, re potted individually

photo hosting sites

and some older transplanted specimens

photo storage

Edited January 7, 2013 by mutant