Just bought my first cactus, and unfortunately, it had no identifying information save which greenhouse it was raised in. Any help identifying it would be great. Also, any advice would be greatly appreciated. For instance, is that pot too small? If it is, I can transplant it. If I do, what's the best way to go about doing this?
it looks like it's a graft. that's one cactus grafted onto another that's used as rootstock. i don't know what the top piece is and i can't remember the name of the part that's used as the rootstock. sorry! basic thing for these types of desert cactus is that they like very well-draining soil. what that is in is probably peat and that's not going to be good. so, i'd repot it. go with an unglazed clay pot and you could go a little bigger than that one. use a mix of cactus soil and small pebbles. i went to an aquarium store and got some untreated (uncolored, unglazed and completely natural) stones in small sized pebbles to use for my cacti. i mix it about half-half with the cactus soil. these graft things can survive very well for a while. from what i understand, the rootstock piece can start to rot. from what i've been told, the rootstock piece does not need watering too often and almost none during the winter months. i got a graft thing at halloween - it's the same base as what you have with a different type on the top. it's doing okay so far - i've only watered it once since i've had it. and it'll get another bit again in another month. after that, the warm weather will (hopefully) be starting and then it'll become more frequent with watering - still, will only be about once a month; even in the heat of summer.
Thanks for the info! I'll go out and get a pot for it. I'll also have to find some cactus soil. I have some gravel from a bamboo that died, I can use that. I didn't know it was possible to graft cacti together! Learn something new every day! And for that purpose, I will become a regular on this forum. n.n
you're welcome!! besides doing these grafts - which is mainly done because the top plant doesn't have a sufficient root system to be grown under the less than ideal conditions like what we have in our houses, they also do stupid things like using glue to attach flowers to cacti! such a silly thing to do to sell a plant!! granted, most cactus don't bloom too often and/or can take a long time to be mature enough to bloom, still, they DO bloom, so there's no need to be gluing flowers onto them!! this site is a wonderful resource; you'll learn a lot here!
I already have learned a lot! And I know about the gluing, I've seen it done so often...Stop and Shop and Walmart have several plants with glued-on flowers. It's particularly obvious when the flower falls off, and there's no sign of it being there on the cactus. Kinda a dead giveaway.
The top cactus looks like a cactus I had called a golden star.You might try Altman they grow cactus for sale in the stores.Go easy on the water as the root stock will definetly rot if to wet.You can also use perilite or vermiculite to help your soils drain.The golden star cactus will get little yellow flowers.I can't remember the name of the graft,as I had them in california years ago.I have pics Of what they turn in to,if i can find them. Goodluck!
Thank you! And I hope it flowers! That would be beautiful! I've never had a cactus, let alone a flowering cactus! EDIT: If it does flower, I'll be sure to post pictures!
