Tricho flowering

[saguaro]

Certain Tricho species and hybrids like grandiflorus and Zelly's flower readily, but I was always curious what triggered flowering in bridgesii, pach and peruvianus.

 

I have grown bridg, pach and peru from seed, in the ground, for years. Some are 12+ years old and meters tall. Still none of my seed grown mother plants have ever flowered.

 

Where I live is coastal and doesn't get below about 10 degrees. Having seen plants flower in colder climates with frost, I originally thought it was a crucial trigger for flowering in these species. Coincidentally I took a cutting from one of my mother plants, rooted it in a pot, and after two years in a climate with winters down to zero, the cutting flowered! This added to my suspicion that cold triggered flowering.

 

But, last year I gave a rooted cutting from one of my mother plants to a friend who lives about 5km away in effectively the same coastal climate, and their plant flowered! This was with warm(ish) winters never going lower than about 10/11 Celsius.

 

I have also seen unrooted logs in a pile flowering.

 

This is a mystery to me. How can my old mother plants not flower while rooted cuttings flower in a year? What triggers flowering in these species?

 

I've searched for info, I don't think anyone knows for sure

[fyzygy]

1 hour ago, saguaro said:

What triggers flowering in these species?

Desperation, sometimes. I had a San Pedro chunk around four inches long, it opted to throw a flower rather than produce roots or pups. Why, though, is probably anybody's guess. 

[saguaro]

1 hour ago, fyzygy said:

Desperation, sometimes. I had a San Pedro chunk around four inches long, it opted to throw a flower rather than produce roots or pups. Why, though, is probably anybody's guess. 

 

I think you're right, lack of water possibly pushes them to flower. cuttings with smaller root systems / logs would be more susceptible to that.

[Wood Chuck]

Not sure about this and have wondered myself, as you said you plants are 12 years old. I always thought it was about that age that they started flowering, maybe not.  I have some Schickendantzii that never flowered for about 30 years, until I shifted them to a place that got full sunshine and they flowered straight away.

[Ishmael Fleishman]

I just was happened to watching Garden States Microdose Webcast - Episode 23 - Cactus Talk with Patrick Noll (AKA Cactus Jerk) and their is section discussion about flowering and I remembered people were talking about flowers here.

 

Patrick Noll believes that Trichos need cold hibernation to flower and Australia just not get cold enough to induce lots of flowering. Also stress and neglect causes flowering - if the plants feels that might die, from poor soil, cold, or being cut, it will force it to flower in an attempt flowering for reproduction. Also using a plant fertilizers with LOW N and HIGH PK values. Helps flowering.

 

 

[fyzygy]

Coconut water. Something I heard recently, somewhere. I think it was in a book by Patrick Noll?

Edited February 5 by fyzygy

[saguaro]

15 hours ago, fyzygy said:

Coconut water. Something I heard recently, somewhere. I think it was in a book by Patrick Noll?

 

It's possible the phytohormones the coconut water could induce flowering. I've heard it induces pupping too.

 

15 hours ago, Ishmael Fleishman said:

I just was happened to watching Garden States Microdose Webcast - Episode 23 - Cactus Talk with Patrick Noll (AKA Cactus Jerk) and their is section discussion about flowering and I remembered people were talking about flowers here.

 

Patrick Noll believes that Trichos need cold hibernation to flower and Australia just not get cold enough to induce lots of flowering. Also stress and neglect causes flowering - if the plants feels that might die, from poor soil, cold, or being cut, it will force it to flower in an attempt flowering for reproduction.

 

This is what I always believed, they need a cold winter to flower.

 

In the case of my friend's cutting from my mother plant flowering in a climate with warm winters, his plant was likely stressed. He claims he barely watered it. Possibly cold winters are a similar stressor and induce this kind of abundant flowering:

 

 

That we associate with healthy plants.

As far as I'm aware bridges, pachs and perus tend to flower in early summer and this is consistent whether they've stressed by cutting, by planting in a small plant pot with trash soil and underwatered, or overwintered in a cold environment consistent with their endemic conditions.

[fyzygy]

A dry winter could be the ticket: https://herbalistics.com.au/determining-flowering-requirements-trichocereus-cacti/