eccles Posted February 3, 2002 Hi there... I am a bit worried about my bridgesii... when I got it I put it in the ground, but it looks like it is being attacked by something. in fact none of the cacti I put in the ground together look totally free of... damage from one thing or another. The ones I kept in pots are fine! can someone please give me their comments on the damage seen in this picture please? it is actually also wet from the rain... I read the other day in Trout's Notes on Sacred Cacti that bridgesii doesn't like water that much (I think), and I am not that happy being with it in the ground. so I guess what I am looking for is a good reason to pot it, and put it with my other potted cacti that seem nice and healthy! (it would also get to go in cactus mix, rather than dodgy soil with sand mixed in / I also took this pic, that shows some older damage of some kind that has scabbed over (I think): My pachanoi (not totally sure that this IS a pachanoi as the lady in the shop was hazy about that... it could be a peruvianus (although it is very short spined) or a Scopulicola (sp?)) is also damaged: so... I am hoping someone, on looking at these pics will see what my prob is, and be able to suggest a course of action! thanks in advance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted February 3, 2002 myguess snails! last pic looks like a scop 2 me ? t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eccles Posted February 3, 2002 REALLY??? well if it's that easy to tell the difference I'd love to know how you do it what are the main features to look for when differentiating between pachanoi and scopulicola (argh I can't even remember what it's called)??? snails huh... hmmmm... or slugs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted February 3, 2002 i'm no expert but i think,5 ribs,thicker & coarser skin,dark and thick spines all same length maybe a bit bigger than pach. what does everyone else think? t s t. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A480 Posted February 4, 2002 Don't know about scopulicolus having darker or bigger spines, but it looks more like a scop than a pachanoi to me, too... Actually, that cactus looks a lot like one of the Trich's Torsten was trying to ID a few months back...the thread is gone, but I think he decided it was Tr. cordobensis??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eccles Posted February 4, 2002 woah... ok - I'd *really* like to here Torsten's opinion on this then (I can post more pics too if needed (and I assume they would be)... so... any more ideas on what has attacked them and what I should do about it people? thanks (thanks for all your replies so far!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Dunkel Posted February 4, 2002 Correct me if I'm wrong but pachanoi spine pads point slightly up (along the stem ofcourse) like they are sitting on a little lump on the rib. From the one side pad shown in the picture it looks like it is sitting slightly in from flush with the rib and pointing outward. Could be a scop. I'll check mine tonight to confirm. Question to everyone. I once bought a cactus labled as T. peruvianus but it is looking more like a regular (non monstrose) T. bridgesii. It is not as fat as my pachanoi or scop. and seems to have the same spine colouring as my monstrose T. bridgesii. What are the mayor distinguising features of these two (bridgesii and preuvianus)? Cheers, E D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted February 5, 2002 was wrong about spine colour some of mine are light & some dark. sorry ed out of my depth as i dont own a bridgesii yet.trade anyone? t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A480 Posted February 5, 2002 Re: distinguishing bridgesii and peruvianus -- I don't think they look similar at all. Bridgesii rarely has more than five ribs (more often four) and the spines are in a sort of tripod formation, with the lowermost spine the longest (atleast on my plants). Or is there some other form of bridgesii that I'm not aware of (besides the two monstrose types and the "normal" one)? [This message has been edited by A480 (edited 05 February 2002).] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wira Posted February 5, 2002 Actually Torsten didn't decide it was cordobensis, MS Smith did, as he was the only person we know growing what he knew was cordobensis he gave us his opinion which seemed to be right - Torsten and I had been puzzling over those plants for a while. I agree that the third pic could be of a T. cordobensis. It certainly doesn't remind me of pachanoi or scopulicolus. Ed, I think I know the plants you mean. They have been circulating for a couple of years in Vic labelled as peruvianus and they do indeed appear to be bridgesii. Bear in mind that both species are very variable in the forms they can take. I'm not that good at describing differences in these cacti in words with no visual aids - so I wish I could help there, but I can't be sure of making sense. I did a piece on beginner's Trichocereus taxonomy a while back, to put up here, but had problems getting FTP stuff working and had no time to get it working on the web [it's over 30 web pages I think]. That would hopefully help but I can't really get it to anyone at the moment. I agree that scopulicolus rarely has bigger spines than pachanoi - it's usually the other way around. Spines on scop are also rarely dark like the ones in the bottom pic. They are sometimes a brownish tan but I've never seen any as dark as those in the pic appear to be. It looks like snail damage to me, too, followed by a bit of surface rot. You might want to make sure that stays dry and doesn't spread into the centres of the cacti, or cut off affected bits and dust the wounds with sulphur dust. You probably know this but if you cut them don't let them get rained on until they are well callussed over. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted February 5, 2002 because of the rain and the high water content of your plant it is a little hard to tell if it is a scop or pachanoi, or even a cordobensis. The single issue that always crops up again with IDing these species is that they readily hybridise both in the wild and in cultivation, so there is somewhat of a sliding scale or pachanoids, or bridgesioids etc. personally I can't tell the cordobensis from scopolicolus. I am merely accepting the advice given by Michael S Smith. However, as there was a lot of this material being sold through the wholesalers, it is probably everywhere. It has been sampled by someone (not me, but definitely reliable) and found to be satisfyingly active. As for the damage, I presume some physical trauma such as snail or rat etc. however the problem is that htere seems to be a fungus spreading in the wound. keeping your cactus undercover and only watering the soil will help to starve the fungus and you can also help by dusting with sulphur. Once the scabs dry and crack like in pic 2, there should be no further fungus danger as long as they stay somewhat dry on the top parts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woof woof woof Posted February 7, 2002 Funny thing.... I bought two Tr Patchanoi in holland a couple of years back.... I hAve thaken many cuttings from the two and replanted them.... Some of the cuttings have longer spines than the original cacti that they were taken from... most of my pachanoi spines are only a cm long or shorter... the mutated cuttings hace spines of almost 5 cm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
