zelly Posted July 12, 2015 what did you pollinate them with Michael? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) Last year those two plants flowered at the same time and cross pollinated with the help of a huge moth my son and I saw at dusk, but I didn't care for the pods and they rotted. I didn't do anything with these new flowers, but have more still to come and got a PC preparing to open and may help with the pollination. ~Michael~ Edited July 12, 2015 by M S Smith 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted July 14, 2015 More from tonight. I'll try to grab a couple more in the morning. ~Michael~ 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted July 19, 2015 The last of them. Caught a nice sunset I think, followed by some rain. ~Michael~ 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted July 19, 2015 Beautiful Michael. That first shot is a stunner, the photo is great, but the columns presence in the landscape is perfect, the morphology and surrounding ecology just works. It's a real shame we can't landscape like that down here, plants would be hacked then backyard collection would disappear during the night. Your photo is liberating and succinctly communicates my despair/stress of living in an untrustworthy society! Thanks for sharing! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted July 19, 2015 You'd probably not be surprised to hear that I consider everything in the frame as important as the plant itself. That's really the key to a good photo. As for the neighborhood, well it's very modest and a bit on the old side, but perfect for someone like me. I've been at the current address for some 15 years and haven't had a single plant stolen. Hard to believe when in the spring I acclimatize my entire collection in the driveway and we're often not home. Then of course I have a whole series of plants on the front walk all year long. No issue with the cactus, but all's not good when your cars been egged three times and you've had a rock thrown through the back window of your car. ~Michael~ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zed240 Posted September 13, 2015 It appears my first flower buds of 2015 have arrived a day or two ago! This is a seed grown scop, very fat and quite top heavy. (pics from when it fell over a few weeks ago) http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29996&p=507313 - I'm glad I didn't cut it back then. I have plenty of pollen in the freezer from last year still if nothing else is ready in time. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mysubtleascention Posted September 13, 2015 I have plenty of pollen in the freezer from last year still if nothing else is ready in time. make the 'scopulicola x psycho0' already 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Master B Posted September 27, 2015 The scops are coming to life 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2XB Posted October 2, 2015 I have this grandiflorus and a yowie starting too, will try to cross :-) 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted October 3, 2015 hey I wanna know why is it that scops always seem to flower first of the pack of columnars, well along with spachianus & arboricolas, which are dwarf columnars I guess. Every year my scop is the the first to flower & the only available pollen is usually grandiflorus. The one upside i suppose is the grandi is variegated, which seems to be a very dominant trait in hybridization..... 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinegapcontrol Posted October 6, 2015 nothing new since last season, scop and fields pach so far, the fields pach is flowering from a new branch. scop, or should i say, my one scop, is always the first to show for me too. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zed240 Posted October 7, 2015 Scop is pumping along Another scop that didn't flower last year but did in 2013/2014 is flowering again this year. So some more true, spineless scop seeds should be available in a few months. Chilensis has at least 10 flower buds forming. The last 2 years this has flowered very early, even earlier than my scops, but this year it seems to be taking it's time a bit more. Very hopeful I can successfully pollinate it this year. Candicans?? from the Secret Garden has a few buds forming And this seed grown bridgesii that I call "single spine bridgesii" is flowering for the first time! Woot! 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinegapcontrol Posted October 7, 2015 can i expect bridgesii to flower in pots? I suppose it will depend on which bridgesii.. ive read that they take longer than others but how long, if at all?, ive got four plants (2 strains, 2 of each), 3 are over 2m tall, never had a flower. i Also know of larger plants of one strain planted in the ground that have never had a flower. people obviously have them flowering as there are a fair amount of bridgesii crosses, are these plants in pots or in the ground? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zed240 Posted October 7, 2015 can i expect bridgesii to flower in pots? I suppose it will depend on which bridgesii.. ive read that they take longer than others but how long, if at all?, ive got four plants (2 strains, 2 of each), 3 are over 2m tall, never had a flower. i Also know of larger plants of one strain planted in the ground that have never had a flower. people obviously have them flowering as there are a fair amount of bridgesii crosses, are these plants in pots or in the ground? That "single spine bridgesii" I posted above is growing in a 30cm pot. Is just a single column about 70cm high. My psycho0 that flowered last year was in a small pot about 20cm and had been in there for 1 season before flowering the next season. It was about 80cm when it flowered. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinegapcontrol Posted October 7, 2015 yes that single spine is what got me thinking, i also have a bridge i call single spine. you say seed grown so my thinking is its crossed with something thats helping it flower, psycho0 is also a bridgesii cross so same scenario. of course my thinking could be completely wrong. one of my bridgesii i can trace back approx 40 years, (going on info from the owner), the other is seed grown, i received it about 50cm tall in 2007. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zed240 Posted October 7, 2015 As far as I was aware it has been theorized by some that Psycho0 is a "cross" but no one knows for sure. It seems to fit the description for bridgesii pretty well... I would think some bridgesii's will flower when smaller and some not until much more mature like Eileen's apparent reluctance to flower. But they're still bridgesii's, just a bit different to each other. I have seen a number of other bridgesii's flowering in pots when about the 80cm - 1m height. Could also be amount of sun they get, nutrients or other factors that have made them flower more readily that others have, of course. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Change Posted October 7, 2015 Ive got one that flowers in a pot, it took 3 years before it first bloomed, its supposed to be super pedro, but who really knows 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TommyChesnutt Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Icaros, Scop x Psycho0. Edit - i can store pollen in the freezer if one flowers before the other, right? I'm super excited to cross these guys. Edited October 14, 2015 by TommyChesnutt 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mysubtleascention Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) i can store pollen in the freezer if one flowers before the other, right? .. make sure it's completely desiccated before storage / silica gel desiccator / Edited October 14, 2015 by mysubtleascention 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mysubtleascention Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Wondering what's the right way to safely take the already freezed pollen out of the freezer, and avoiding the condensation .. .. before sending it to other keen pollinators The new formed condensation inside the baggie will most likely cause rapid decrease in pollinating ability.. Probably best to freeze the pollen along with a fresh dry silica gel baggie Edited October 15, 2015 by mysubtleascention Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted October 16, 2015 The answer: have no moisture in the container ;) Load the pollen into a 0.5 or 1.5 ml centrifuge tube or a simple small 3 or 4 mil thick zip bag. Desiccate in a jar with silica [found in hobby stores with the flower drying gear]. When dry reach in and quickly close the container. Store those pollen packets in a jar with desiccant in the freezer. To hold open the zip bag while the pollens drying I use plant tags I cut from pop cans bent into a wedge shape. A bent paper clip, etc. will also work. The zip bags are good enough, but the tubes give you the opportunity to look like you have an amateur sperm bank in your freezer. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted October 16, 2015 before sending it to other keen pollinators you'd be amazed how quickly previously frozen pollen goes bad in transit thru the mail system, most especially traveling internationally. consider sending next day air... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites