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DancingWolf
FluffButt



Registered: 08/31/19
Posts: 797
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
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Cactus Identification, bought a huge specimen.
#26428213 - 01/11/20 02:19 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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So after a series of odd events, I found myself at a nursery today and they were getting ready for spring. Stopped there because my dad said they had cactus but I think he just wanted to stop. Anyhoo, the owner had a huge cactus she was trying to get rid of and accepted a $200 offer for it, I bought several other beautiful plants that I guess where leftovers from the previous year. Ferns, Aloe, etc.
Unfortunately it took a lot of cutting, lopping, sawing, and chopping to get it out and the largest piece of the plant is still around 80Lbs. I have dozens of logs from it that I'm going to grow as mothers for my own business.
I know its not an active trichocereus, but Id really like to know what it is. I have to hike the pieces up to my greenhouse now, small hill.

I'm guessing a nursery cactus got left there and it decided to grow into the ground. Is it frost / freeze tolerant?
Also picked up business cards, small talked, and acquainted myself with another nursery. Always nice to build business contacts.
Edited by DancingWolf (01/11/20 02:28 PM)
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Tangich


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 8,723
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Re: Cactus Identification, bought a huge specimen. [Re: DancingWolf] 1
#26428247 - 01/11/20 02:33 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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It's a very nice monstrose Myrtillocactus geometrizans. Awesome score for $200! It's not frost tollerant, they don't like to be cold at all.
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DancingWolf
FluffButt



Registered: 08/31/19
Posts: 797
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
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Re: Cactus Identification, bought a huge specimen. [Re: DancingWolf]
#26428466 - 01/11/20 04:27 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I'm probably going to catch a lot of flames for chopping up such an amazing specimen but it was the only way to get it out of the greenhouse. The plant in total is probably >300lbs. I had to selectively log it up, the truck was already full of wood, pallets, etc, and stopping was a moments notice / side thing. I kept the main plant as intact as possible, the big arms will have to become new mothers. One of them has incredible cresting on it. Greenhouse is heated so it should be fine for now, I dusted all the cuts I could see with sulfur.
  I intend to dig out another hole in my greenhouse and plant it in the ground. Its all hard packed clay so I kind of have to remove the clay, then refill the hole with cactus mix. It may be easier to just get a 100, 150 gallon root pouch. (Cloth pot / air prune)
Any advice on how to handle the strangled root ball? It really needs to be addressed.
Edited by DancingWolf (01/11/20 04:35 PM)
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta




Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Re: Cactus Identification, bought a huge specimen. [Re: DancingWolf]
#26428497 - 01/11/20 04:44 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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You can root prune the rootball. I'd take a third of it away. Then just allow it to air dry to heal the cuts for a couple of weeks.
Doing this will stimulate new root growth, which will grow outwards and help anchor the plant.
Sometimes you just need to cut up a specimen. Moving that without cutting any of it would be difficult.
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DancingWolf
FluffButt



Registered: 08/31/19
Posts: 797
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
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Re: Cactus Identification, bought a huge specimen. [Re: karode13]
#26428510 - 01/11/20 04:49 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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More than difficult, we would have had to rent a bobcat vehicle to lift it, or take part of the greenhouse down and I doubt the business owner was up for that. Its lame I had to chop it, but the core portion of the plant is intact and will grow beautifully. When I can no longer care for my plants, some other hotshot will come along all "ooo ahhh, how much for that?!" And dig it up out of my greenhouse... along with several bridgesii and trichocereus. It was quite a bit of work to free it from the ground.
My next greenhouse will probably have the full 5-6' vertical wall posts, just so I can plant trees and stuff inside without having them reach the top. Right now my plants would have to hit 12' to touch top.
This specimen, if it could be moved intact, was fit for a conservatory or botanical garden, which I hope to open one day as a side operation. Cactus also cost a bit of blood to move too. :P All the big pieces will become new mothers for my nursery if I can get them rooted.
Some people are saying the crests may be a bit ruined because when I root them, they will either grow crested or just grow new pups below the crest. This plant had multiple crests on it and seems to crest often so I'm sure it will grow new ones.
Update----------
I got the main plant in the ground. I should let the roots callous over but I generously dusted them in sulfur and the wood was so hard that I had to use a chainsaw to remove the roots. The root ball was basically a solid piece of wood. The plant is not actually IN the ground but the base is on the soil surface and its staked up / supported, will probably be like this for six months or until I ram a permanent pipe in the ground.
Smaller cuttings are palletized, several larger cuttings still on the ground. I got a LOT of work to do with this plant.
 
Edited by DancingWolf (01/12/20 06:47 PM)
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