Cactus Nursery
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Eleven Months from First Flower
Last year’s seed project from my Caribbean tree cactus from Puerto Rico was wildly successful. All those germination trays with tiny green plants kept growing and have been up-potted to plug trays where they’re quickly gaining size and white wool. Some seeds made it around the world and even into a botanical museum in Thailand. With that success and joy comes the challenge and stress of keeping crop pests from eating them. Spring has been all about watering and frequently misting with Bacillus Thuringiensis Kurstakii to control army worms. The loss count is only about 20 out of at least 10,000 so far but still too high for my comfort.…
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The Cactus Tents – Three Videos
Three years since sowing the first seeds and I have a lot to show for the effort. Growth is accelerating after up-potting into 1-3 gallon containers, and I’m finding myself at the edge of being able to walk into a forest of cacti fairly soon. I’d better get some new tunes and audio books because I’m facing three months of straight potting of large and small plants. A mix of Mozart and Motley Crue blasting away under the Hard Nursery will kick things off. I have yet another armada of tropical Caribbean, Mexican, Brazilian and South American seedlings to be decanted from the baggie rigs this week, as I did…
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An Adventure of Growing Madagascar Lace
One of the most exotic and unbelievably beautiful plants in all of Plantae is the Madagascar lace plant. Conspicuous for its lacy, or fenestrated leaf appearance (Latin base word for window – fenestra), Aponogeton Madagascariensis is a fully aquatic bulb plant that is endemic to shallow, cool and shady streams of Madagascar. These monocots begin life as tiny green seeds that form on double flower spikes emerging above water to attract pollinators, dropping into the water and taking hold in the streambed where they slowly grow into bulbs, or more specifically rhizoming corms. If given a chance these eventually form large rosettes of leaves that undulate in the natural current.…
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The Big Freeze
We’d experienced several frosts and a hard freeze even before Winter formally began, with Nov. 30th changing us out from extended Summer conditions to plant-killing anomalous cold blasts. But the last few nights have been a straight dive into the low to mid 20’s with dangerous wind speeds and potential for freezing rain. I wasted no time and went on an expensive shopping spree at Lowes to get a huge roll of 6mil plastic, spring clamps, two more 1500 watt electric milk house heaters, a second Cat 6500 watt generator and a remote temperature sensor. My mom was right out there with me to put up the thick and heavy…
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Growing Bigger
Approaching Winter Solstice and the lowest light levels of the year I did not expect to still be seeing such noticeable growth in a short time on all the cacti, and where I had repotted the largest of each species, even more stunning thickness and height in just three weeks. The warm Fall helped. It is at this size each species that I’ve grown from seed here really takes on its characteristic features and beauty with a stunning variety of spination, color and shape. I’m particularly enjoying the different hues of green, turquoise and blue in the wooly torch cacti that are the genus Pilosocereus. Some have grown so heavy…
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Indian River Prickly Apple, from Bud to Fruit
This time the flower stuck around instead of falling off early, as did the first one this Spring on the East pasture. It bloomed spectacularly; now if the fruit will just finish ripening already. I think it has taken a month just to turn burgundy and I hope it doesn’t take another month to fully swell into a smooth, bright red ball for seed collection (and final photograph). Not sure if my brush pollination or a large hawk moth did the deed, but we like the results. It will be interesting to learn how many seeds this species has per fruit. Harrisia Fragrans, the Indian River prickly apple, is an…
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Three Basal Pups Forming in Ten Photo Slideshow
I’ve never seen the eight-rib variety of wooly blue cactus generate pups, so this was the surprise awaiting me as I weeded around the base of this plant late this Summer. Basal pups sometimes form on stressed cacti but he main stem on this one is extremely healthy and still putting on height. We’re looking forward to a beautiful candelabra shape by late next year.
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Cactitude
We’re up in arms at Cactus Island….way up as various cactus mature and put out pups that are growing into gorgeous arms, mostly blue ones at the moment in several species of columnar Pilosocereus from Brazil. Mom’s favorite is the fuzzy dark turquoise Pilosocereus Flexibilispinus trio with lots of arms. It will end up in its own raised stone cairn bed next year in a place of honor at the edge of The Oasis she designed. We’re also up on seedlings with over 14,000 tiny green Caribbean Royen’s tree cactus from this Summer’s yield of eight fruits. Two Fall bloomers are now forming for potential fruits #9 and #10. I’ve…
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The Rest of the Blooming Royens Photos, Images 18-40.
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Open for Business, One Nite Only!
I feel like I’m 16 again! I think I’m in love, or at least drooling at the prospect of seeds. I went ahead and hand-pollinated the first round of a self-fertilization attempt tonight and will go out later at 3am for the second round. Hoping I don’t step on a diamondback or end up a snack for the oversize pack of coyotes patrolling the area lately for our chickens. These will be clones if the flower goes into fruit and germinated seeds result, and it will be a game changer for the nursery if they give us an armada of seedlings. If not, there’s always next year and the continued…
