Quite the same

Aloha! Back again... One week later, but this time I won't post any photos, because they didn't increase much in size. That's normal... Cacti pop out of the ground, grow a little, get some spines and then take years to grow to their full size.

INDEX

1.  The beginning, sown at 1-4-2012 and one week later.
2. 15-4-2012, 2 weeks old.
3. 22-4-2012, 3 weeks old.
4. 29-4-2012, quite the same.
5. 20-5-2012, 7 weeks old.
6. 17-6-2012, 11 weeks old.
7. 20-5-2013, more than 1 year old.

Great... So there is not much to write about I guess! Actually, I would like to comment about my tephrocactus articulatus. As I've wrote last week, I've picked them out of the ground, left them to dry a bit, and Friday I've already given it a shot. Nothing up yet, but I have good hope! I'm planning to wait a bit before adding photos to my articles, because seeing every week more or less the same photos is kind of boring. This Blog is about progress, so I'll only post photos when I see some difference. For example, when the T. articulatus are born.

That's it for this week! Time to relax a bit... I've just helped my brother (yeah the one with the needles and the ink) out in his garden. What a hell of a job! Holy crap! I'll probably dream about hundreds of stones stuck between roots and me having to get them out... Pfff... But his place is finally starting to look like something. (and that was about time!) The only thing that has to be done is to add some nice soil to the sides of the garden and search for plants. I'm asked to check out what to put where and I'll do some research about that soon! In the end I'll also add a photo of that garden, because I think that it'll be a pretty one.

As you know, I'm kind of interested in green stuff and I really like the beauty of a nice peace of nature. All this garden work/planning/decorating-stuff is starting to inspire me and maybe I should do something more serious with that one day. I'm already having some plans, but it will take a while and I'll only talk about it when they're a little bit more concrete, because when it's 100% decided, I'll really go for it. Well... In the meantime, I'll just let this kind of stuff inspire me and become a bit wiser by absorbing more knowledge.

Time to sit back and have some beer... A couple of days in a garden has tired my 'lazy office-ass', so I think  I've earned it!

Till next time! Hopefully with some photos! Hmmm... Let me think...

Wolfgang and Korstaentje, our English budgerigars!

Just to add some more colour to this article!

3 weeks old

Hello fellow followers(s?) of my blog! How's life?! Here everything is al right!

This week I'll write down very few. I'm posting to show you the progress of this year's seedlings and I know that the first four to eight weeks are the most interesting. After that, they'll grow, but only very slow, so I'm planning to post an article every week during the first six weeks and after that, only once a month or even once in the three months, if there is really something to show.

INDEX

1.  The beginning, sown at 1-4-2012 and one week later.
2. 15-4-2012, 2 weeks old.
3. 22-4-2012, 3 weeks old.
4. 29-4-2012, quite the same.
5. 20-5-2012, 7 weeks old.
6. 17-6-2012, 11 weeks old.
7. 20-5-2013, more than 1 year old.

Blossfeldia liliputana and Aztekium ritteri

I really should mark them, for you to spot them easier, but if you look well, you can see one A. ritteri and about four B. liliputana. Probably there are more, but they're just too hard to spot.

Frailea asterioides 'castanea' and Epithelantha bokei

Both are getting spines already. Slowly they start looking more like cacti!

Tephrocactus articulatus

Last week I've already mentioned it and yesterday I've brought it in practice: I've picked the seeds out of the soil and will let them dry for a week. Next week I'll sow them again and hope for some results this time...

Echinopsis candicans

Twenty-three! Way too much if you ask me, but no big deal... yet.

Pachycereus pringlei

Not much to say... Only that they have more spines than last week...

LOPHOPHORA williamsii - v caespitosa, La Perdida

Quite similar compared to last week.

Selenicereus hondurensis

They're becomming a problem already! They're too high for the bucket and I almost can't close it anymore without harming them. I have no idea what to do. I just hope that they can survive like this till I take of the lid.

Selenicereus grandiflorus

They're still a little less tall than the S. hondurensis, so I don't have to worry too much about them.

Pilosocereus gounellei

They're slowly becoming a little bit fatter and spines are also appearing.

Browningia candelaris

Spines are also appearing on them. I'm a little bit disappointed about the quantity of this specie... On the other hand, if they'll end up as full-grown plants, this is already too much!

And that's about it for this week! Well... I also changed the lay-out of my Blog and added a guestbook. I mean... I just wanted to give the possibility to give opinions or ask questions. It seems to work, but don't feel obligated to use it!

What can I tell more? Well... I hope you guys don't think that I spend all my free time here with my little green friends! It's just that when I have a hobby, I'm fanatic. Nothing wrong with that, but... Then you start writing Blogs about stuff that most people don't want to know and... Hmmm.. It's kind of funny. I've convinced my brother to also start a Blog about his Tattoo Art (on the left side of my page you can find the link to it) some time ago and once in a while he posts something, but mostly of the time I have to kick his ass to get him at it. And this Blog I'm talking about, already has twice as much views as mine! I guess I just have to accept that I'm a bit weird (or maybe different is a better word), having this kind of hobbies. =P But no problemo! I'm enjoying myself and for me this is just a way to relax my spirit a little.

Next to my many cacti, the rest of my life is also going great. My beautiful wife that is always at my side just keeps on making me happy everyday and we're living in a (for us right now) perfect place! Nothing to complain! Next year we'll visit our family in Brazil and we're really looking forward to it! It probably won't be a vacation to relax, because we'll have to visit all our family and friends and... well... A LOT of people! But that's alright! We've been missing all of them!

Till next time and have a nice week!

2 weeks old

Hello again! Only one week later and I'm writing a blog again. I'm thinking about writing each week about the progress of this year's cacti. For those who just ended up here googling, I've just made an index on top of each blog. Something like this:

INDEX

1.  The beginning, sown at 1-4-2012 and one week later.
2. 15-4-2012, 2 weeks old.
3. 22-4-2012, 3 weeks old.
4. 29-4-2012, quite the same.
5. 20-5-2012, 7 weeks old.
6. 17-6-2012, 11 weeks old.
7. 20-5-2013, more than 1 year old.

Okay! I've just decided to add this to all the articles about this year's seedlings. At the 'end' I'll maybe write a separate article about each specie that I'm growing this year, because it might be useful for someone who's interested in that exact specie. Not that I'm some kind of PRO here, but even if I make some mistakes, it might be a lesson for myself in the future and maybe for the person that is reading this blog right now. See for yourself.

So where was I... Ah! One week later... Let's put the species in the same order as in my last article:

Blossfeldia liliputana and Aztekium ritteri

I realize that they're hard to spot, but I can see one of each specie, VERY tiny! I really hope to have some more success on these little dwarfs, because last year I've sown 40 A. ritteri-s, 8 came up and right now I only have 6 of them. The case is that this year I've changed the substrate a bit and didn't scan it on less than 1mm as I've done last year. Then it wasn't a huge success, so let's just wait a little. They might be hidden between the perlite, stones and cocopeat... 

Frailea asterioides 'castanea' and Epithelantha bokei.

Nothing to complain over here! Almost all of them are up and they all seem to be healthy. No further comment. Let's hope they're strong enough to survive the first couple of months.

Tephrocactus articulatus.

Still nothing. On the forum at Cactiguide.com, they've told me that if I don't see nothing within 3 weeks, I can just pick them out (these are large seeds, as you can see), leave them to dry a little and try it all over again. Sometimes this seems to work.

Echinopsis candicans.

Now this is something weird! I've ordered 20 seeds and if you count them right, you can see 23 seedlings! (where the @#$% will I keep all those plants?!) What more can I say about them? Columnar cacti, as you can see and... Yep, also healthy.

Pachycereus pringlei.

I don't know where I've read it, but where I've done it, I've read that these are sometimes called 'fake Saguaros'. (no idea if this is correct English! Mail me if not. I'm open for critics!)  I'm trying to find a photo of my Carnegiea gigantea, which I've sown last year. But the first few photos aren't that clear, so you can't compare it that well. From what I can remember is that they look quite similar. Only on top, the P. pringlei looks a little bit fatter. Like it's blown up a bit more. Later I'll add some better pictures, for you to compare them.

I have 7 of them right now and to be honest: I don't really want much more of them, because they can get... Large. If you look well, you can see the unopened seeds laying next to them. They look kind of swollen and will maybe burst open any moment. 

LOPHOPHORA williamsii - v caespitosa, La Perdida.

What to say about them... I've grown Peyote a couple of times now and they're not that hard to grow. Just give them real sunlight at the right moment (not to much in the first year, or they'll burn) and feed them just a little, once in a while. This isn't the regular L. williamsii and that might be the reason for their different appearance. It's that they look a little bit tall, but thinner that I'm used to. I don't think that this is a big deal and I'm sure that it's not the lack of sunlight which make them look thin. They have a healthy green colour and I'm not really worried about them. That's all I can say right now.

Selenicereus hondurensis

From the same family as the ones below (S. grandiflorus). See for yourself, they don't really look like cacti at this moment. More like plants. Hmm... Have they sold me sweet pepper instead?! It's probably right that they look like this...

If I ever grow this specie again, which I probably won't, because they grow like hell and people normally give away parts of them for free, then I'll leave a little more space on top for them to grow. They're HIGH and I almost can't close the bucket anymore... Not a big problem, but ok.

By the way: they're larger than S. grandiflorus at the same age. No idea if they will always be.

Selenicereus grandiflorus

'Queen of the night', doing well, nothing more to add. A little bit smaller than S. hondurensis at the same age.

Pilosocereus gounellei

I think I have about 19 of them. Columnar, fat enough and healthy green.

Browningia candelaris

Also doing well, though at this moment I can see only 5 of them. Let's compare it to the old photo's of my B. microsperma. Hmff. I only have one photo from 1 week after sowing and the next one is taken one month later. My memory is telling me that B. microsperma was larger in number, but a little less fat.

Enough for now. Let's see if I'm disciplined enough to write another one next week! LATER!

Cactolândia 2012!

Hiya! Welcome back on my blog and... Well.. It's only about cacti this time, so see for yourself if you really want to read it all. =)

First I would like to comment that the seedlings of last year are doing really well, but that I won't put any photo's of them in this blog, because it's not about them this time.

(edit: I've decided to add an index to my blog, just about this year's seedlings, just for those who've ended up here googling)

INDEX

1.  The beginning, sown at 1-4-2012 and one week later.
2. 15-4-2012, 2 weeks old.
3. 22-4-2012, 3 weeks old.
4. 29-4-2012, quite the same.
5. 20-5-2012, 7 weeks old.
6. 17-6-2012, 11 weeks old.
7. 20-5-2013, more than 1 year old.

April the 1st is always THE day in the year to sow for me. This year didn't differ from the last, so in October last year, I already started to check the internet for seeds. What species I'll grow this time? Hmm... This one looks nice! -CHECK- And this one is cool! - CHECK- And then you end up with a large list that looks like this:

• AZTEKIUM ritteri
• BLOSSFELDIA liliputana
• FRAILEA asterioides 'castanea'
• EPITHELANTHA bokei
• TEPHROCACTUS articulatus
• BROWNINGIA candelaris
• TRICHOCEREUS aff. candicans
• PACHYCEREUS pringlei
• LOPHOPHORA williamsii - v caespitosa, La Perdida ( Peyote )
• SELENICEREUS grandiflorus
• SELENICEREUS hondurensis
• PILOSOCEREUS gounellei

Yeah... I know! That's a large list and I've ordered 20 seeds of each! Holy crap! But this isn't the time to worry... 10 years later I'll have enough time for that kind of "stress". Hmmfff....

Okay! Where was I..... Yes, I've ordered these seeds and did that on the following websites:

ADBLPS from France and Koehres-Kaktus from Germany, both of them seem to be very professional in what they do. (just check out their sites and see for yourself)

ADBLPS - Check out the differences between A. ritteri and T. articulatus (first row on the right and last row on the left).

Koehres-Kaktus

Now let me tell you something boring about the substrate I use. If you don't grow cacti or never will grow, I suggest you to skip this part and... Well... Actually you should already have skipped a lot! Maybe you're really reading the wrong blog! Anyway... To continue...

On the website Cactiguide I've really found a lot of information! Huge articles about any subject and of course the biggest on-line cacti-encyclopedia. And then there is also a forum connected to the site, where you can ask anything cacti-related. A MUST-READ for anyone that has read my blog till here, because... Seriously, you are doing this to yourself!

The ingredients that I use:

• Cocopeat (50%)
• Perlite (30%)
• Gravel (20%)

I've just mixed it up and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes to be sure that anything living is now dead and then added some water. (use something to put it all in, otherwise your oven will be a big mess and... How the hell do you think to get it all out?!)

This year I'm using plastic buckets to grow them in. Simply dessert-buckets from the supermarket, how cheap can it be. =)

I always just throw the seed on top of the substrate and then gently mix it just a little bit with my fingers. I've read somewhere that the seeds need moisture, substrate, sunshine and about 25 degrees Celsius. Since last year, I use a bottom-heater and I am satisfied about the results. By the way: my bottom-heater is an old heater used for a water-bed. It works perfect for me and I got it for free!

6 days later (which is actually today for me), I've made some photos of each bucket. It's amazing to see how quick these slow growers pop out of the ground! I've always been fascinated about cacti. Already when I was a little kid. Plants and animals always have triggered my interest, but cacti in special, because of their simplicity and their slow growth. Any other plant will change every week, but a cacti is like a piece of art that slowly develops itself into a bigger piece of art. =) Another reason for liking these plants is that they really don't ask much. six months a year you give them once in the two weeks water and once in the 2 or 3 (older cacti even 5) years you have to re-pot them. That's it! Well... I guess everyone has something that fascinates him, don't you? Some people like soccer and spend their entire Sunday watching television, others spend thousands of €'s on cars, so I guess the few time, money and energy I spend on this hobby is kind of justified when you compare it to other hobbies ;-).

Here I am, promising photos and all I do is travelling through my mind... Here they are:

Blossfeldia liliputana and Aztekium ritteri - Can you see them? I can't! They might be out there, but then they're really small.

In the front you can see Frailea asterioides 'castanea'. These ones popped up only two days after I've sown them. On top of the photo you see Epithelantha bokei.

Nothing yet... Check out those seeds. For cacti this isn't the regular size and I've read that this one takes a while till it germinates...

Echinopsis candicans

Pachycereus pringlei - Also popped up kind of quick (three days). I can't forget about the size of his uncle in the wild... Pfff...

LOPHOPHORA williamsii - v caespitosa, La Perdida - Similar to the normal Peyote and actually it's the same specie. They just look a bit different.

Selenicereus hondurensis

Selenicereus grandiflorus, also named 'Queen of the Night', because of the huge flowers.

Pilosocereus gounellei

Browningia candelaris - One at the moment, but my experience with B. microsperma tells me that within 3 weeks the rest will pop up.

The buckets will become more crowded during the upcoming three weeks, because normally cacti seeds germinates within four weeks and sometimes you can find a new one even after one year.

This is it for now... Time to sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee and smoke a pipe. Life's sooooo sad.....

A short photo-blog about the seedlings of last year

Good day to you! Just another blog... This time without all the bullshit talk. (don't worry! Next time I'll write crap again. ;-) )

April the 1st, 2012

 The photo's below are made on 11-3-2012. All the seedlings that you see here were sown at 1-4-2011, so they're almost 1 year old. Here they all have just been re-potted. (all, accept Aztekium ritteri, because they're soooo small!)

INDEX

1. The plan
2. 2 months after sowing
3. 1 year after sowing

Aztekium ritteri - Almost 2mm!

Browningia microsperma

Astrophytum asterias

Lophophora williamsii ( Peyote )

Lophophora williamsii - La Popa, Nuevo Leon ( Peyote )

Lophophora williamsii - Nuevo Yucatan ( Peyote )

Carnegiea gigantea ( Saguaro )

Echinopsis terscheckii ( Cardon grande )

Trichocereus bridgesii

At April the 1st this year, I've sown a loooot more! I guess I'll write a blog about that project during the upcoming week. Cya! CHEERS!