Beccabud's Cactus Garden of Spiny Delight: Peruvian Torch aka Trichocereus Peruvianus

[BeccaBuds]

@Virgin Ground They are lovely. I had a Saguaro a few years ago, that and a Mammillaria, several Aloe species and a few others. Succulents are so easy and rewarding to grow, but, OMG, it really takes a lot of patience starting them from seed!
The Torches are ready for bigger pots. I think I'll use gallon pots for now.

 

[Virgin Ground]

@Virgin Ground They are lovely. I had a Saguaro a few years ago, that and a Mammillaria, several Aloe species and a few others. Succulents are so easy and rewarding to grow, but, OMG, it really takes a lot of patience starting them from seed!
The Torches are ready for bigger pots. I think I'll use gallon pots for now.

I've never started from seed. That will be educational,I'm sure.

I love almost all plants but succulents do have a special place in my heart.
I used to have a lot of them but most were stolen. I stopped growing them for a few years due to the frustration of losing them all.
I have recently started back up again.
A few of my plants I've had for over ten years but the majority are new.

I have been propagating leaves that I found on the ground at the hardware store.
Look at these little Burros tails...
View media item 1875624So cute.

 

[BeccaBuds]

I've propagated jade plants from a single leaf. Aloe, sempervivum, echeveria, a lot of them root at the drop of a pin. Started some cuttings of wild rosemary that grows hereabouts a few years ago. It's really easy to propagate too.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Temporarily moved the 10 gallon San Pedro colony to the Tiny Closet for some brighter light between cannabis grows, though I did fill another 10 gallon fabric pot with FFOF for an autoflower I want to try growing soon. Both pots are on Gro Pro pot elevators. That was a job getting those big pots in there but I wanted to confirm 2 of them fit! Sprinkled Mosquito Bits all over the surface of each pot to inoculate with BTI (Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis) for fungus gnat control since a few began to show up toward the end of the last grow in the closet.
Gave the big cactus pot almost 2 gallons of water- it was really dry. Next weekend a cup of Geoflora Veg and some more rainstorms are forecast...

 

[BeccaBuds]

Mischief managed... I blended a cup of Geoflora Veg with a gallon of FFOF and topped up the San Pedro colony's pot with it, then watered it in good with a gallon and a half of aqua.

​

Also gave all the Peruvian Torches and the Pedro cuttings a deep watering. I wanted to get them transplanted but that will have to wait till next weekend. The tallest Torch (a Collana Pichu) is now 5.5", the shortest (a Sharxx Blu OP) is 4".

​

 

[Phytoplankton]

Wow, those are looking so good! The ones I got from you are all still alive and growing but no where near that big. They have been outside since I got them, and it’s been a pretty cool summer, so far.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Yes, they've really taken off, Phytoplankton. I must have their environment dialed in! I just water them regularly (once a week) and they get 12 hours a day of light from my LED lamp. I gave them some Geoflora Veg but that was a while ago now.

 

[BeccaBuds]

@Phytoplankton It occurred to me the reason they are bigger is because I kept the 6 biggest, most vigorous sprouts.

They've grown more than a 1/4" since last Sunday!

They all got a nice drink of water and a shower today.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Mine are just really starting to take off, took a while to get good roots going. They’re in a cactus mix, and I just recently began feeding them, which really helped.

 

[Joe Brewster]

Hey Becca , you got any tips on transplanting my hook needle ball cactus. Also need a recipe for a soil mix Thanks

 

[BeccaBuds]

Hi @Brewsterman Watch out for the spines? Seriously though, I wrap the plant with newspapers, many layers to avoid getting poked. That and welders gloves. As far as recipes go, jees, I just got some Miracle Grow cactus mix at Home Depot and the Peruvian Torch seems to like it. The San Pedro are all growing in old potting soil that provided me several nice cannabis harvests. Works fine if ya flush it well, maybe add some extra perlite/vermiculite and a cup each of garden lime & Geoflora Grow for every 10 gallons of soil.

 

[Joe Brewster]

Yep I been meaning to transplant it for quit a while but have been poked a few time by it. It is about 12" tall in a 4" pot for 15+ years. Do the spines break fairly easy or are they as tough as they look. They are close to 1 " long & some almost black
Never ever had it bloom, but then I keep it in my veg room at 18 hours
Also a rat tail cactus that never has bloomed
Guess I have to cut the light cycle down

 

[BeccaBuds]

The worst cactus spines I've ever seen are the Cholla that grow in Joshua Tree National Park. They have barbs and the outer sheath of the spine comes off stuck in skin. Newsprint and leather gloves would not do much good against Cholla.
Maybe use a stove pipe or large pvc pipe to cover the cactus during repotting?

I have my lights on 14 hours/day right now. Haven't had flowers on any of San Pedro. Probably at least a couple years until the Peruvian Torches even think about it.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I swear the spines jump off chollas if you get close to them!!!

 

[BeccaBuds]

Sounds like you speak from experience. Ouch!!! What blows me away is the little birds that live among the branches. How they avoid getting skewered is beyond me.

 

[BeccaBuds]

The Peruvian Torches are 11 months old this weekend and I was amazed to see #9 Collana Pichu is now 7" tall. The San Pedro cuttings are going crazy too. Gave them each a nice drench with aqua.

​

The San Pedro colony in the 10-gallon bag are getting big. All adding girth and the tallest is 16". Gave it a gallon of purified pH 6.3 aqua.

 

[Phytoplankton]

The San Pedro's are in full flower, my neighbor about 50 yards away has several bee hives and there are probably 500 bees feeding on the the flowers. It's like a highway between my house and his hives, they're filling up for the winter!

 

[BeccaBuds]

Beautiful @Phytoplankton Looks like you have some happy plants there. Do you fertilize them? I've got mine in the closet with some mystery seeds that I sprouted. I wonder if they will flower when flip the cannabis to bloom hours. That would be super cool.

​

 

[Phytoplankton]

Beautiful @Phytoplankton Looks like you have some happy plants there. Do you fertilize them? I've got mine in the closet with some mystery seeds that I sprouted. I wonder if they will flower when flip the cannabis to bloom hours. That would be super cool.

​

No, never fertilized them, some have been growing for 25-30 years. The Peruvian torches I got from you are doing well, still pretty small, but they look real healthy. I did a little research and found the the San Pedros's and the Torches are closely related and will interbreed and produce hybrids. They don't do it in the wild because they grow in geographically separated locations.

 

[BeccaBuds]

It's also really easy to graft them onto each other. There's some good youtube videos by a guy down under that goes around grafting pedros to cacti he finds. Shoulda bookmarked it...
I used some Geoflora Veg on Pedros in the big pot and they getting fat and happy, growing very fast. The Peruvian Torches are overdue for transplant but still very healthy.