Cactus / dasyacantha

When winter has come, spring has been just around corner.
A grafted Mammilaria lauii v dasyacantha has started to be in flower.
I bought 20 seeds and sowed on 31/08/2006.
2 young seedlings were grafted. The photo is one of them.

Cactus / grafted cauliflower

I collected seeds of Ariocarpus retusus v furfuraceus cv Suguri cauliflower from my plants and sowed on 23/09/2010. I grafted 24 of young seedlings in January this year onto Pereskiopsis stocks.
Some of scions have shown cauliflower characters already.
The photo is one of them, 35 mm diameter.

Cactus / alonsoi

It is in winter and out of season for cactus flowering but a Turbinicarpus alonsoi is in flower.
I bought seeds and sowed on 31/08/2006 and grafted very young seedlings.
12 grafted alonsois were degrafted in August 2010 with short stocks.
Since this one was grafted once, the body size is quite large, 12 cm diameter.

Cactus / asterias seedlings

The temperature in my greenhouse went down to less than 3 C' in this morning.
I have stopped watering to my cacti a while except seedlings.
You have to keep pottingmix as wet for seedlings through a year.
The photo is one year and nine months old Astrophytum asterias cv miracle kabuto seedlings in a 10 cm square pot.
They do not stop growing in winter.

Cactus / mexicana

This is a grafted pup of Geohintonia mexicana PP223.
I have 4 possible mature grafted plants, sown seeds in 2006 and grafted young seedlings.
Body sizes of these plants are large enough but I have never seen any flowers yet unfortunately.
They have plenty pups. I grafted 12 pups onto Pereskiopsis. The photo is one of them.

Cactus / Ariocarpus seedlings

Ariocarpus are generally growing very slowly but if you could give a good condition, they will grow a reasonable speed.
I think the initial 3 years from germination may be critical time.
I do 1st repotting 1 year after the germination. You will lose some seedlings at that time but the growing speed will be accelerated after the repotting.
The photo is Ariocarpus retusus v elongatus, sown seed on 23/09/2011, in a 10 cm square pot.
I will repot them next September.

Cactus / furfuraceus

I collected seeds of Ariocarpus retusus v furfuraceus cv cauliflower and sowed on 02/10/2010.
24 of young seedlings were grafted on Pereskiopsis stocks.
Some of them, one and  a half yeres old scions were in flower yesterday.

Pereskiopsis stock loses leaves in second winter in my environment and reduced growing speed of the scion significantly. I will degraft all of then next September.

Cactus / kotschoubeyanus

It is hard to make a lump of body from seedlings of Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus but it is possible to make by grafting.
I grafted a very young seedling of kotschoubeyanus Rio Verde in 2004 onto a Hylocereus stock.
I degrafted the scion with a short vascular bandle of the Hylocereus in 2005.
As shown on the attached photo, the cactus has been a good lump of body, 12 cm diameter.