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Need help Identifying Opuntia Subulata Monstrose Before Buying


Raver Buddy

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Hi guys,

I'm really want to buy just a small cutting of Opuntia Subulata Mostrose after reading that it may have properties to cause the scion on grafts to branch like crazy. This is after reading these threads where they made strange chimearas with them. http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=9172 and also http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8235.

 

So far I've found a couple of ebay listings. Can anyone help me with this, is "Optuntia Subulata Monstrose" the same as "Austrocylindropuntia Subulata" or just "Optuntia Subulata" with no mention of "Monstrose"?!? Here is an example of a listing called Eve's Needles "Austrocylindropuntia Subulata" that I'm looking at buying. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Cactus-Eves-Needle-established-healthy-plant-over-10cm-tall/233003762952?hash=item36401b4508:g:aN4AAOSwaiBb6lpU I'm just not sure if it needs to have listed "Mostrose" or not as I've heard a rumor that these are not real Montrose anyway so are they all the same?

 

Here is another listing where the word "Mostrose" is listed and I honestly can't really see much if any difference in groth pattern. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Opuntia-Subulata-Monstrose-Xmas-tree-Cactus/392274225986?hash=item5b555dab42:g:IW4AAOSwBRlchNFO

So is O. Subulata the same as O. Subulata Monstrose?

 

Image for one sold as "Monstrose"

s-l1600.jpg

 

Image for one sold without mention of "Mostrose"

s-l1600.jpg

 

Are they Same-same ?!?

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I would expect that the monstrose is just a form of the species. Same species but with monstrose growth tendencies. 

Neither photo looks like the plants are showing monstrose growth, but this can be deceptive. Plenty of monstrose plants alternate between regular and monstrose growth. You could take a punt I suppose, depending on how much you want to gamble.

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That’s cool, I’m glad I read those articles, it’s helped me identify an opuntia crest I always wondered about... my phone camera isn’t working, but I’ll get some photos of the plant sometime and upload them...

Ill be sure to try grafting to it. However, the created form is not a fast grower like other opuntia species...

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Okay so what exactly are the "Monstrose growth tendancies". I've had a look around at some photos online for both O. Subulata and O. Subulata Monstrose and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be looking for. Any chance you might be able to post a pic from the net and give any pointers?

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Okay thanks for the pic & info.

 

I've ordered some O. Subulata Monstrose seeds for 2 bucks + GST from China so will see if I can get them going through the winter with one of those cheap Chinesium USB camo heating mats (listed "for pets") and a warm white LED bulb on a timer. Seems to do the trick so far for most other cacti seeds. Hopefully customs don't have a hissy and hopfully the seeds are real deal. Funny if you read the stories on Ali Express about the so called glow plant seeds. The few people that actually got em to grow said they were just some garbarge random plant. I guess what do you expect for a buck when it comes to Chinesium seeds eh? (Those who might have read more into the experimental genetically engi-nerd-ed glow plant might have realised that it seems to have gone under after the crowd funder and all the hype surrounding it a few years back. I'm sure the anti gen-mod, tree hugging hippies will be releaved but I really want a glow plant to go with my long life radio-active glow sticks :P).

 

This is the pic the seller posted for the seeds:

s-l1600.jpg

 

In the mean time I ordered some plain old Peskys to play with for grafting (Pereskiopsis Spathulata) and am looking to play around with grafting onto some weird (varieg/monstro/cresty), or possibly just sickly & diseased Opuntias to see what happens. Pics are as follows for the weird prickly pears (Opuntias):

s-l1600.jpg s-l1600.jpg

 

Please lemme know if you have any luck getting weird growth from the scion after doing grafting. For some reason I wanna try a tripple banger graft like shown in those links I posted earlier on the chimeras. Maybe having two small slices banged on to a root stock can trick it into getting them both to grow stuff from each of them?!? Ultimate goal would be any fancy stuff from an Ortegocactus... Like this chimera in the pic below. I love the colour and weirdness of Ortegocactus so anything related is drool worthy IMHO. Here's the chimera I'm talking about. Old mate Percy for short (+ Ortegopuntia cv. PERCY) : Ortegopuntia_cv_percy_big.jpg

 

 

Edited by Raver Buddy
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Hey guys looks like I finally have an answer to the question of the thread regarding O. Subulata. I made an account & asked the same question on CactiGuide.com and have gotten this answer from ElieEstephane :

 

Quote

both plants you posted are not monstrose. The monstrose version is a dwarf. The stems are smooth and not tuberculate (see photos of normal) and the leaves are shorter and smaller. The monstrose will produce pups from almost all the areoles except the top. Mine are a bit hardgrown so they don't show these characteristics much

 

Here is the normal:

file.php?id=66910&sid=160cfcf95aff733eca

 

Here is the monstrose:

file.php?id=66911&sid=160cfcf95aff733eca

 

So it seems I can't get the monstrose version easily from ebay in Australia as they are actually the normal version. Now that I know what I'm looking for fingers crossed the plant seller at the next EGA might be able to sell me the right cutting. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Care to post a pic MountainGoat? I haven't seen O. Subulata with crested formation before. Sounds quite interesting!

 

I just came back to this thead to post that just the other day I found some O. Subulata Monstrose while at the shops. It was out the front of a small Asian grocery. The small ones were only 4 bucks so I couldn't pass it up and bought two. No labels and dodgey looking pots suggesting someone at the store is growing them and their other cacti rather than the usual Collectors Corner/Paradisa branded stuff you see supplied to Bunnings & Garden world. I've posted a pic below. Love how one of em I bought was not even in a real pot, just a dodgey hacked up plastic water bottle with dirt. :P Great! Less wastage for me as I re-pot everything in my prefered black glazed ceramic pots anyway.

 

If anyone else is interested the small Asian grocery where I got them was in Hawthorn, Glenferrie Rd. Same side of the road as Coles but just up the road north a bit. They didn't have heaps of cacti but still interesting if you're in the area. You'll see em out the front on the street. They had a few other varieties of regular Opuntias too if you're into them or multi-grafting such as for a buch of seedlings.

 

Opuntia Subulata Monstrose - Bought 24-Apr-2019.jpg

699988329_OpuntiaSubulataMonstrose-Bought24-Apr-2019.thumb.jpg.7f57fdb5defb44dbe57b281c575e8805.jpg

699988329_OpuntiaSubulataMonstrose-Bought24-Apr-2019.thumb.jpg.7f57fdb5defb44dbe57b281c575e8805.jpg

699988329_OpuntiaSubulataMonstrose-Bought24-Apr-2019.thumb.jpg.7f57fdb5defb44dbe57b281c575e8805.jpg

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  • 10 months later...

Sorry for dragging this up..

 

But I have an Austrocylindropuntia subalata f. monstrose that i am using for this purpose, and it seems to be working, although it hasn't grown hard yet because I have put it in quarantine first elsewhere to make sure that the supposed phytoplasma is not too infectious.
It's still picking up from that (it wasn't really getting significant light - its winter here and it was in a pretty dark room, basically neglected by the babysitter), probably still making some decent roots so that it can actually do some serious growing under better lighting.

20200318_204918.thumb.jpg.0ce9ca9dabc148817570d40a1fe7794e.jpg

 

Well now, pretty sure that's not normal :lol:

(I probably don't need to help answer the question in the OP anymore but i just bought this on Ebay from a nearby country. I wouldn't really mind producing some shoots for trading if ppl are interested.)

20200318_204918.thumb.jpg.0ce9ca9dabc148817570d40a1fe7794e.jpg

20200318_204918.thumb.jpg.0ce9ca9dabc148817570d40a1fe7794e.jpg

20200318_204918.thumb.jpg.0ce9ca9dabc148817570d40a1fe7794e.jpg

Edited by Solipsis
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