It is not all pretty in the cacti land. Of course I show all the pretty blooming plants, because this is always the best time that every grower is waiting for. Without the flowers they are just balls of spines (most of them anyway).
But I do not show the failures (I think I did once only). Why brag about fuckups, right?
Today I picked two of those fuckups. This was some no ID cactus that I got from a seed mix, probably some echinopsis or lobivia, in the pot on the left, and Gymnocalycium baldianum on the right. The very last baldianum I had. The story of this cactus goes back to 2018 when I got one mature plant with seed pod, plus some extra seeds to sow. The mother plant bloomed for me beautifully! I also sowed the seeds and they sprouted very well and grew all nicely. I had over 100 little seedlings. But since I was just starting with cactus seeds, with time I managed to kill them all. Except one! The one that you see here.
It was growing happily in much harsher conditions than the others and yet it was the biggest. Cool - it likes abuse :p I can live with that!
Then earlier this year when spring was approaching I lost the mother plant. It was a combination of mealybugs attack that just hid in the roots and I didn't see them on time, and some heavier rains it got.
I thought that it's ok. I still have this one and it is growing just fine.
Well no more. Now I am left with zero.
And I do manage to kill some cacti here and there, but this one hurt.
Dammit!
I was fine until about a week or two ago. I saw it got a bit more yellow than normally. It should be nice, dark green when healthy. I thought it is the heat or sun he will be fine.
Today I picked it up and it was all brown and mushy. On top of that when I took it our from the pot I saw the damn mealybugs again!
The inside is just completely rotted. Mush like a rotten apple.
Healthy cactus looks like a cucumber.
Well. that went to the bin :(
It is so easy to say what they like or not, but in practice it all goes down the drain sometimes. I know some cacti go dormant for the hottest months of the summer. They don't need water then, since they do not grow. I am just not sure if this one was dormant and I watered it with the rest. Then during the hot day it just cooked, or rotted since the pot was wet and he didn't drink that water.
Who knows...
On the slightly brighter note - few weeks ago I sowed some seeds I picked from my own plants that bloomed this year. They did sprout nicely. And that means I will have more plants to kill in the years to come. eh..
Aren't those cute? Just a few weeks old. They will stay for a few months more, or until they get really tight. They will transplant them to new pots. The box they are in acts like a greenhouse. For 2-3 weeks from sowing they are closed completely with no humidity loss. After that I ventilate them during the day and close for the night again. They just get gently misted once in a while to maintain the high humidity.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother sowing.
My other blooming and more alive cacti:
Click on the image to view full post.
Chamaecereus hybrid | Sulcorebutia Canigueralii | Mammillaria camptotricha | Mammillaria Glassii |
Gymnocalycium baldianum | Mediolobivia mudanensis | Lobivia Arachnacantha | Rebutia hybrid |
Mammillaria Bombycina | Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap | Mammillaria haageana | Mammillaria backebergiana |
Chamaecereus silvestrii | Mammillaria prolifera | Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora | Lobivia Wrightiana |
Aylostera Flavistyla FR756 | Parodia concinna | Mammillaria Copper King | Gymnocalycium Brushii |
Mammillaria backebergiana | Gymnocalycium damsii | Echinopsis subdenudata | Rhipsalis pilocarpa |
Mammillaria Prolifera | Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis | Mediolobivia atrovirens | Mammillaria magnimamma |
Sulcorebutia langerii | Sulcorebutia frankiana | Chamaelobivia no ID | Rebutia Albiflora |
Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri | Gymnocalycium damsii var. tucavocense | Notocactus Ottonis | Gymnocalycium Friedrichii |
Turbinicarpus Viereckii |
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Shot with Sony a7
All photos and text are my own.
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