Identification: Can you please ID my baby cacti?

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by AlexandraNS, Jan 30, 2009.

  1. AlexandraNS

    AlexandraNS Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Stockholm Sweden
    Can you please ID my baby cacti so that I can give them proper care? Also, do you have any suggestions on my idea of putting them all together in a big round pot along with a few Hawortheas?
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Lila Pereszke

    Lila Pereszke Well-Known Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    1,536
    Likes Received:
    94
    Location:
    Budapest, Hungary
    1. ... + Notocactus/syn. Parodia magnifica + Oreocereus sp.
    2. Mammillaria gracilis
    3. Mammillaria spinosissima 'Un Pico'
     
  3. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Awwww they're all adorable!

    Good idea! Might be an idea to keep them in their original plastic pots or put them in peat pots and then plant them in a big bowl, makes it easier to move them around, should you need to. Good luck with your project:)
     
  4. AlexandraNS

    AlexandraNS Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Stockholm Sweden
    Yeah JenRi this is what I did with Hewy Lewy and Dewy (the 3 cacti in the same pot) I think it is best to keep them in the original pots so that you move them around but then I was wondering ... doesn’t that interfere with the growth of the plant? :s

    Thank you Lila Pereszke for id ing my cacti!!! :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 15, 2010
  5. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Ha great names.....who are they named after? I was going to say the chipmunks but then I remembered they were Alvin, Simon and Theodore!

    Possibly because I guess they can still get root bound within their individual pots within the bigger bowl but the roots can escape through the drainage holes and into the soil below, having said that if this happens its quite hard to move them around without damaging the roots as you won't know how far they've gone past the pot! Perhaps you could insert a false floor underneath the pots to stop the roots escaping then just check regularly for rootbound-ness and re-pot when necessary.

    Or.....you could segment the bowl somehow and get rid of the pots.....it wouldn't make them that much easier to move but at least you wouldn't have to untangle the roots from the three different cacti.

    hope that helps
     
  6. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    729
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Sweden
    Personally I never put different species in the same pot. Experienced collectors rarely do that (if ever), and there are good reasons for it. As JenRi mentioned they can be difficult to separate again (I have done that with a friend's cactus pot once, that was not fun). If the roots of one plant has a root disease or root mealies it can spread to the other plants. It is also more difficult to remove bugs from the plants if they are sitting close to each other. A fourth reason is that cacti (and Haworthia) have different needs/tolerances when it comes to soil, light, water, temperature and repotting frequency. The root systems of some species are large and fast-growing and need big pots, others are small, sensitive and need to be underpotted to survive. Some have thick tap roots that require deep pots, and some have networks of thin roots that spread sideways, a bonsai pot is more suitable for them.
    Your plants seem to be relatively similar and might grow well together for some time, but you will soon have to separate them anyway, so why plant them together now?
     
  7. AlexandraNS

    AlexandraNS Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Stockholm Sweden
    JenRi & mandarin thank you for your input. I will take both your tips under consideration.

    JenRi I thought you were joking but you are not aren’t you? You should be blushing for not knowing who Hewy Lewy and Dewy are, man you must be really really young or I am really really old ... hehe. Hewy Lewy and Dewy are Donald Duck’s nephews mate :p

    mandarin I love small dish gardens!!! I was suspecting that it will be hard to separate them when they grow so that is why I’m not planning to have them together for a long time. Now I don’t know about experienced collectors,(I surely am not one hehe) but I have seen many many cacti vivariums and cacti dish-gardens online and in garden houses. (see attachment)
    I love cacti and have a big collection and I like changing my environment often. I like changing their outer pots a lot. This time I decided to make something more challenging. I have seen many beautiful cacti dish-gardens along with succulents, such as Haworthia, and I really want to make one of my own. But yes I am not going to let them grow together. Thank you for the tips :)
     

    Attached Files:

  8. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Well half, the names sounded familar I just couldn't remember who they referred to, thanks for refreshing my memory (which shouldn't be needed.....I'm really not that old)!
     
  9. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    729
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Sweden
    Many plants can be grown together, but it requires some knowledge and skill to do it well. A comment on the commercially available dish-gardens: those who make them rarely care about what the plants they use, I have even seen a Rhipsalis mesembryanthemoides planted together with Sedum and an Opuntia. Not an ideal combination ...
     
  10. AlexandraNS

    AlexandraNS Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Stockholm Sweden
    mandarin You are absolutely right; it requires some knowledge and skill to do it well. And it also requires caring. But if you don’t try you never learn :)
    Now, I’m not that skilled but I know enough not to mix Rhipsalis with Sedum I’m not a barbarian ;) heh
     
  11. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Dare I ask what would happen if you did that.....?
     
  12. AlexandraNS

    AlexandraNS Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Stockholm Sweden
    Rhipsalis is a cactusand itlikes more water and less sun than most cacti. It really likes its shade.
    Rhipsalis species require rather high levels of humidity. They need water once or twice a week and a little fertilizer once a month. But, if it´s placed in the sun, they will require more water.

    Sedum on the other hand is a succulent that LOVES the sun. They particularly like those dry hot spots that bake all day long. Some people don’t water them at all (well that depends on where you live and if you have them in your garden or in a pot I guess)
    Low growing Sedums need at least 6 hours of direct light a day. Fertilizing will cause flopping, you don't fertilize Sedums.

    So as you see, if you plant them together in a dish-garden, one of them is destined to suffer a horrid death :s






    (Some people like to combine some Rhipsalis species with some Aloe species since they have similar needs and they look good together)
     
  13. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Why thankyou! I actually know shockingly little about cacti I just know that if your neglectful with watering most are rather hard to kill!
     

Share This Page