Another one :/

Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:25 pm

Got another one..

This is a cutting from a different friend of mine. His "mother" plant is very strange for a succulent! It is like a small bush of branches and leaves like what you see in my picture.

What ever this is, it hurts to touch. Tiny, invisible thorns like cactus thorns get stuck on the outer dermis of your fingers.. you only discover they are stuck there when you touch other things.. and they are next to impossible to get out with a tweezers!

Though this was a cutting, it must have taken root, because the top new growth has happened in about 3 weeks.

Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:38 pm

I'm sorry I don't have time to research the ID of your plant, but to get those thorns out -- they may be what are called glochidia -- just coat the affected finger(s) with rubber cement, let it set, then peel it off. The thorns will be embedded in the rubber cement.

Thu Jun 23, 2011 6:33 pm

Great Tip!!

Sat Jun 25, 2011 3:59 am

Kisal, That's a GREAT idea!!!! I sure learn a lot on here!!!

Thank you.

Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:35 am

Still no idea? If needed, I will take a picture of the mother plant. It is truly strange...

Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:37 am

I think that would be the best idea!!! Then you can hopefully find out?

Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:09 pm

Hopefully someone will see this:

THis is the mother plant from which I obtained my cutting

Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:25 pm

Still don't know what it is, but it sure is tall! Wow!!!
Must be somebody on here that can help you?????

Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:12 am

Apparently last summer, each branch grew about a foot (12 inches).. so.. I can look forward to my cutting getting quite big very soon!

Mon Jul 04, 2011 3:31 am

Fascinating (in my best Mr Spock voice)

Can you get a close up photo of the leaves, topside, underside and where it attaches to the plant stem?

It's a mystery that's itching to be solved! I think I've seen it somewhere before in my travels ... but the name escapes me for the moment.

Mon Jul 04, 2011 3:44 am

Next time I see my friend, I will take better pictures of the mother plant.

Also, I apologize for the poor quality of my digital camera (2005)

It is night time, so I couldn't get an underside photo properly. I wanted to show how the new growth has very visible hairs (or perhaps thorns??).. and the older leaves are just odd!!

Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:08 pm

!!!! I think I found the name of my plant!!!!

It's in the cactus family, with the name Pereskiopsis spathulata

Most of the photos are very similar.. It just seems that my cutting and my friend's plant is not doing as well as it could be!!

Anyone have tips for care??

Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:44 pm

Well done, you! Super-sleuth!

It's a cactus, eventhough it looks like a succulent. I would guess normal *cactus care* should apply, although having lots of leaves would mean it looses more water more quickly.

Interestingly, a lot of people have successfully grafter other types of cacti to it! Grafting cactus onto Pereskiopsis

Hey tinypixiexoxo, once you have the plant all settled nicely and flourishing under your careful ministrations, can I have a small cutting? I've got lots of Gymnocalysium mihanovichii "Hibotan" (moon cactus)pups that I'm dying to graft onto a suitable host and share out! I'll even send one to you if I know it can survive the post.

Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:12 am

FistulinaHepatica wrote:Well done, you! Super-sleuth!

It's a cactus, eventhough it looks like a succulent. I would guess normal *cactus care* should apply, although having lots of leaves would mean it looses more water more quickly.

Interestingly, a lot of people have successfully grafter other types of cacti to it! Grafting cactus onto Pereskiopsis

Hey tinypixiexoxo, once you have the plant all settled nicely and flourishing under your careful ministrations, can I have a small cutting? I've got lots of Gymnocalysium mihanovichii "Hibotan" (moon cactus)pups that I'm dying to graft onto a suitable host and share out! I'll even send one to you if I know it can survive the post.

Holy Moly where to start!

First, that explains the odd photos on the internet.. And now I get it!!! Grafting a moon cactus onto my.. plant (for short :roll:

)

I will do one of two things depending on the outcome of the first: I will see if my friend would be willing to part with another cutting. If this would please you, about how big would you want it?

If not, when do you think I should take a cutting from mine (and again, how big?)

The one I have has already doubled in length, and August is apparently the month where it will really grow. Depending on how long you want to wait, or how large of a cutting.

Let me know! :shock:

Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:21 am

The diameter of the stalk is probably important.. mine is.. not very big :shock:

Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:41 am

Oh, I'm a very patient fungus... if I have to wait till next year, that's fine too! :lol:

A cutting with at least 4 leaves is good enough for me

it's a cactus, it should be fine! I'm more than happy to offer your friend with the mother plant a moonie grafted once I get the method right.

Moon cacti are weird creatures, aren't they? All the moon cacti that are popular with collectors now originally came from a Japanese cacti lover (Hibotan) who managed to germinate 2 mutants who doesn't have chlorophyll, out of several thousands of Gymnocalecium seeds that he sown. He promptly grafted the little devils onto other hosts knowing that they could never survive to make their own food for the lack of greenstuff.

Sat Jul 09, 2011 2:55 am

I well def. see if he (my friend) can part with another cutting, but if not, I shall keep a patient fungus updated, and hopefully with photos, we can decide together when to make a cutting! :lol:

Then of course, we can figure out how to deal with the Post. I'm not too worried though. Is the Post for all of Canada? My father has connections in Ontario, so I'm sure I can get you the cutting one way or another.

Also I wonder, do I have to declare the contents of the package? I was hoping, in addition to the pereskiopsis cutting, to send you some other cuttings from other succulents??

This will be fun!!!!!!

Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:13 am

I did not know that about moon cacti, and Now I am more intrigued about them.. They cannot exist without a host?!??

Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:23 am

The fully red/orange ones cannot live long without being grafted onto another host cactus. The original non-mutant Gymnocalycium cacti can be magenta-purple (green chlorophyll + red pigment) or green with streaks of red. They are also known as "Plaid Cacti". The purple/plaid ones can live without graft host as they do have chlorophyll:

Purple Cactus!
(Pic tribute to cactus art)

Plaid Cactus!

Fully mutant Hibotan strain lacks chlorophyll that makes it all red -- and also requires *life support* from another cactus, even Pereskiopsis, like my Moonie "Ernie". I'm keen to graft Ernie's pups because he's not fully red or fully orange, but has kinda neat streaky and variegated colouration.

Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:43 am

If that is your ernie in the bottom photo, he is beautiful

That is a really unusual colour. These cactus sure can look different, size, shape and colour. No wonder they are so popular. :wink:

Tue Jul 26, 2011 11:06 pm

My friend who has the mother pereskiopsis has "caught on" to the potential of his large plant, and has cut all possible cuttings... He won't let me have another one for free as he, too, has promised cuttings to others...

He is going to try putting cacti ontop as he has a vast collection of cacti!! Hopefully I get get in on that action :lol:

I've attached a more recent shot of my cutting, Perhaps we can marvel at how fast it has grown! It truly is the "weed" cactus!

My friend from Alberta, let me know when you think I can clip for you!