a crazy Cactus !

[Hans J]

Rudi :

Is the name of this man from east germany maybe Steffen ?
...from him comes my plants too ....

[Paul T]

Rogan,

I'll have to remember the "home government" comment.  I like it!! 

[ruweiss]

Hi Hans, the name of the Cactus-man is Heinz,but I have no information where he lives.
He was not at our annual plant sale this spring, because he got seriously ill.
You can phone me, if you want more information.

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

today has now flowered the second plant 

enjoy
Hans

[Heinie]

Hans,
That plant and flower is really special. What a beauty. It is a first timer for me.

[Hans J]

Hi Heinie ,

thank you for your compliments 

all the best
Hans

[cohan]

it is a very nice plant
i have several cactus friends who are growing this--some prices have come down over several years, i could ask, but i dont think my friends paid more than around US$1 per seed, and i think they are all or mostly growing them on their own roots...
i'm going to ask one of them for an update...
btw, transferral to Astrophytum is still controversial for some people, and many consider it a 'theft' of sorts from the people who originally published the find..so many still call it Digitostema...( sp?)
of course, nothing unusual there, lots of disagreements about many names, certainly in cactaceae!

[Hans J]

I have before some days sent my pics to other cacti friends ...a good friend of mine wrote me back :

                          "oops -I did not know that it's possibly to graft tails of rats ...."

 

[cohan]

I have before some days sent my pics to other cacti friends ...a good friend of mine wrote me back :

                          "oops -I did not know that it's possibly to graft tails of rats ...."
 

lol--your friend clearly has no taste
i checked with one friend who is growing the seedlings: hers are in communal pots of 3 or 4 plants, on their own roots at 2 years old, and she has no intention of grafting;
she has the advantage of being in florida, and growing cacti in a greenhouse, warm(hot!) and sunny all year, and uses a very simple potting mix of commercial potting soil (soilless mix) with added perlite..
at 2 years old, they are making some kind of tufts--buds?

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

here is a short update from today :

first : my pollination was good ( I have stored pollen from the first flower for one week and than carefully pollinatet -it was succsessfull !!!

second : I have made a try with grafting - it looks also well

Greetings
Hans

[Paul T]

Congratulations, Hans, on both counts.  With the cost of seed you could start financing your gardening habit just by selling the seed.    Congratulations on the successful graft!

[Hans J]

Congratulations, Hans, on both counts.  With the cost of seed you could start financing your gardening habit just by selling the seed.    Congratulations on the successful graft!

Paul ,

those plants are not for me ....I have it only ordered for a friend in a other country !
.....so I'm also not interestet for those seeds ....
with the grafting it was just for fun - I found one broken 'arm' in the parcel and i dont know ....so I have made a test ( I have alsways a lot of Trichocereus schickendantzii for grafting )
My idea was to graft it horizontal ....to have a better chance with growing

[Gerdk]

Hi Hans,
Looking at your grafted cactus it seems to me you'll never stop to work
like in your former occupation - but remember: teeth are directed upwards!
 

Gerd

[Hans J]

Hi Gerd ,

the reason for this kind of grafting is there is a much better chance to meet the 'Leitbündel' ( sorry but I dont know the english word )
If I had a other cacti ( p.e. Peireskiopsis ) so I would try it vertical ...

But you are right : one time in this occupation -ever in this occupation 

[Rogan]

'Leitbündel' = vascular bundle / conductive tissue, i.e. the xylem and phloem.