Wooly Blue Cactus; First Flowers to 1300+ Cacti from two fruits, in 24 months.

April 24, 2020 /

Before April of 2018 my nursery was exclusively Madagascar lace plants for the aquarium trade. Then our ornamental cacti I’d been growing since 2012 unexpectedly flowered. An experiment with hand-pollination and germinating the resultant seeds changed everything, and the nursery shifted its focus to columnar cactus. Here is a pictorial journey from parent plant to flower, fruit, seed, germination, seedling and today’s 1300+ robust little Brazilian “wooly blue” Pilosocereus Pachycladus (tentative species name until I get an areole DNA test to find out if there is some hybridization with another species of that genus).

The first photo is of the only remaining original wooly blue cactus to move with us to Cactus Island from Estero; the other four were permanently planted and stayed there with the property. The last is one I photographed today. I had a blast going out late at night with a lantern and a sable brush to pollinate the nocturnal flowers, watching them develop into fruits that ripened after a few weeks. All of these came from just two cactus fruits (drupes). I sow my seeds on a mix of lava, peat moss and composted soil the consistency of coarse coffee grounds. Soil is wet but not soaked, heat- sterilized, planted in tupperware containers and sealed within Ziploc baggies. The seeds grow in stable moisture for 4-6 months of bright indirect light until their roots can withstand transplanting to nursery trays.

Pilosocereus is one of my favorite genuses of columnar tree cactus, with their distinctive wooly tops and gorgeous variety of green, blue and turquoise hues. They occur in the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Florida and other Latin American countries. In ideal outdoor conditions and open soil, many species will grow into a candelabriform shrub or tree and live at least 100 years. I am currently growing five species and plan on about fifteen eventually.

Before April of 2018 my nursery was exclusively Madagascar lace plants for the aquarium trade. Then our ornamental cacti I’d been growing since 2012 unexpectedly flowered. An experiment with hand-pollination and germinating the resultant seeds changed everything, and the nursery shifted its focus to columnar cactus. Here is a pictorial journey from parent plant to flower, fruit, seed, germination, seedling and today’s 1300+ robust little Brazilian “wooly blue” Pilosocereus Pachycladus (tentative species name until I get an areole DNA test to find out if there is some hybridization with another species of that genus).

The first photo is of the only remaining original wooly blue cactus to move with us to Cactus Island from Estero; the other four were permanently planted and stayed there with the property. The last is one I photographed today. I had a blast going out late at night with a lantern and a sable brush to pollinate the nocturnal flowers, watching them develop into fruits that ripened after a few weeks. All of these came from just two cactus fruits (drupes). I sow my seeds on a mix of lava, peat moss and composted soil the consistency of coarse coffee grounds. Soil is wet but not soaked, heat- sterilized, planted in tupperware containers and sealed within Ziploc baggies. The seeds grow in stable moisture for 4-6 months of bright indirect light until their roots can withstand transplanting to nursery trays.

Pilosocereus is one of my favorite genuses of columnar tree cactus, with their distinctive wooly tops and gorgeous variety of green, blue and turquoise hues. They occur in the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Florida and other Latin American countries. In ideal outdoor conditions and open soil, many species will grow into a candelabriform shrub or tree and live at least 100 years. I am currently growing five species and plan on about fifteen eventually.

jvfreeman

James V. Freeman is an established visual artist (oil painting) with a deep interest in natural history, plants and farming. He has had numerous solo shows, a solo museum show, an upcoming museum show and his work has been featured in many publications to date. He currently has a studio in Williston, Fl at the family farm and homestead, "Cactus Island", and as a farmer, specializes in growing columnar cacti of the Caribbean and Gulf countries as well as the aquatic Madegascar Lace Plant. James and his mom Sharon manage and develop the permaculture homestead.