Chef Posted January 12, 2012 It was labeled a williamsii when i got it.. Are they normaly this pale? Cheers, Chef. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambient Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Seems fine to me, my Caespitosa look the the same & their growing nicely. Edit: Here's an example for colour reference. Edited January 12, 2012 by Ambient Forest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 Cheers ambient, up until a few minutes ago i didnt know that it was a caespitosa, as it was just simply labeled as a williamsii I thought mine was sick or something because i see others on here that are almost bottle green, different sp obviously. Cheers again Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 How old is that Ambient? Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted January 12, 2012 Hi Chef, Caespitosas are grey. Looks totally normal to me. They grow very fast and if you graft them, they can grow like this in less than a year. bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 Cheers EG, I've only got the above species for grafting, should i use the big green Cereus or the spiker smaller blue-ish one? Aaand would i use the small button on the side or the bigger main button? I've been thinking about grafting it for some time now and it was very hard for me to get my hands one one young one let alone enough to play around with (am worried to lose the only one i have in a graft) so im being extra cautious. Hmmmm Thanks for all your input guys! Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted January 12, 2012 if it was mine i would only graft the pup on the side no point in risking the whole thing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 woops wrong thread, but yeah ive got a big cereus and a small blue cereus to use for it, the small one isnt very thick so maybe the bigger one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambient Posted January 12, 2012 How old is that Ambient? Chef I've had the buttons rooting in for a bit over a year, they were originally cut from a huge 20+ yro, but came with their own roots when I got them. Now their relatively well established, I'm starting to use some of the bigger buttons for grafting. Either of the two buttons would be suitable to graft, just choose whichever is going to fit the rootstock best. Using the small button will put less loph at risk, but the bigger button will survive for longer off its own roots (incase you don't align their Vascular Cambiums properly, you can re-graft them together more easily). Also the loph rootstock will be more likely to pup if you remove the larger button & I don't think you will be putting the rest of the cacti at risk by taking this one as long as it's already had a chance to root in properly. How long has the LW been in that pot/soil for? & do you have any pics of the cereus stock to get a better idea of size? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I've had the buttons rooting in for a bit over a year, they were originally cut from a huge 20+ yro, but came with their own roots when I got them. Now their relatively well established, I'm starting to use some of the bigger buttons for grafting. Either of the two buttons would be suitable to graft, just choose whichever is going to fit the rootstock best. Using the small button will put less loph at risk, but the bigger button will survive for longer off its own roots (incase you don't align their Vascular Cambiums properly, you can re-graft them together more easily). Also the loph rootstock will be more likely to pup if you remove the larger button & I don't think you will be putting the rest of the cacti at risk by taking this one as long as it's already had a chance to root in properly. How long has the LW been in that pot/soil for? & do you have any pics of the cereus stock to get a better idea of size? well put Ambient Forest hehehe I forgot the roots still throw pups even if you cut the button off Edited January 12, 2012 by jwerta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niggles Posted January 12, 2012 The only strange colours i see in that pic are the rocks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 @ Niggles. Dont ask lol. @ Ambient. The LW has been in that pot for maybe 6 months or so and has never been grafted and i've had it for over 2 years i think now. They are about my only options at the moment Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambient Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) the first one would be the best size, but I like the second just because its a nicer looking stock (this is only my personal taste though, I'm a bit of a neat freak & generally prefer smaller spined cacti) Also the second is bigger than what you really need, but still usable. As for the small one I would wait until its a little bigger first, but even with that said, I'm experimenting with some pretty small stock at the moment, it could still work, just you will get slower grafted growth (faster than on its own roots though). I was debating with myself on weather or not to use this stock yet & would have maybe preferred it to be a little bigger, but figured it would take the rest of this season to get to the size I wanted, so I decided to graft now rather than wait until next summer. You could use any of them, the first will probably be easiest. I mostly just choose my stock on what I think will look the coolest Edited January 12, 2012 by Ambient Forest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 12, 2012 there is a pup on the other side of the button not in the picture thats pretty small, maybe ill try with that first as a "tester" i just know if say i lose the whole thing after trying and trying theres no way i can get another loph other then seeds, might see if i can find something easy to work with at big w or bunnings for the time being.. Does it matter if say hypertheticaly the button is alot smaller then the stock? Cheers for ya help and patience mate. Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambient Posted January 12, 2012 No worries, I'm happy to help & don't stress too much, worst comes to worst you'll be able to pick something up in Seed & Plant Exchange, good sized & well priced lophs pop up more often than you might think. I used to stress a bit when I had less in my collection & I've even had some rather expensive cacti die on me, but I learnt a few things in the process & the rest of my cacti wouldn't be as healthy as they are now if I hadn't made a few mistakes along the way. Just do you're research, like you are & go for it, cacti are born survivors.... most of the time haha ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bit Posted January 13, 2012 Cactus looks fine to me, the pebbles however, are not growing well. The colour the pebbles are turning says it all. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 14, 2012 I honestly expected alot more comments regarding the pebbles, my way little brother insisted that they looked boring so i told him to pick a couple of cacti and he had to choose some of my fav, meh they will disapear when i re-pot. Makes me giggle and think of my bro everytime i look at em Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted January 14, 2012 hi Chef_ Not to burst any bubbles, but it sure doesn't look like a caespitosa to me, looks more like a solitary button with a pup emerging from an aerole. As for coloration, I've dark green caes plants & light grey caes plants. They both have pink flowers & that's all i really care about. I myself dont have a problem with the color of your rocks as much as I do for the color of your font. It's too damn hard to read for my tired old eyes so i just skip right over it. You should remember some people may be color blind or have difficulties reading a light colored font on a white background & most people wont even say something. Another thing I think you should re-think is the size of pot you have your loph planted in, its waaaaaaay too big. My rule of thumb is no more than 2-3 cm between the plant & the edge of the pot. The more root bound they are, the faster they grow. I transplant only when they overgrow the pot. I want my soil to dry out between waterings, and especially be dry during cold freezing weather and over sized pots vs plant size just leads to problems. With a rock top dressing, the only way the soil can dry out is for your plant to consume all the water in the soil and thats not going to happen with that size of plant. The result, your plant has 'wet feet' most of the year, plus you have no idea how moist the soil may or may not be. Well anyway I didnt mean to be ragging on you. Here's a pic or two of what a mature caes will look like, especially the root structure. Caes plantsoftenpup at the aeroles, but mostly they pup from root offsets. If you're plant isnt producing root offsets, it's not a caespitosa. Pot size for both pics is 10 cm to give you an idea... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 14, 2012 Any Idea of what it may be then? I'l be sure to keep my font a normal colour ;) It came with one pup (the one you can see in the picture) and over 2 years it has thrown one other at the base of it which is maybe 5mm? basically only the main button has grown and almost only in height.. Maybe time to change to a smaller pot Cheers! Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 14, 2012 Maybe just a stander L.W? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted January 14, 2012 yes, It looks like it's a standard lw, although the real determining factor will be it's flower. I've had buttons the same size as yours flower so with optimum growing conditions yours could flower soon as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambient Posted January 14, 2012 The more root bound they are, the faster they grow. Why is this so? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted January 14, 2012 this is just a theory, but i think the plant spends most of its energy developing it's root system until it reaches the borders of its containment pot and once that happens then it directs the bulk of its energy into new growth. lophs in general dont need or have huge root systems, like a columnar trich would have. some of my caes plants are in standard size (depth wise) 20 cm pots, and when they overgrow the edges of the pot & I go to re-pot them, I notice the roots havent penetrated to the full depth of the pot. So I upsize to a 25 or 30 cm pot that is much shallower. Remember caes have a much different root structure than singles, that's just my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 15, 2012 Sounds possible i guess? Im a still learnin! Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Posted January 16, 2012 Being a "standard" L. Williamsii do they just grow one main head? Chef Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
