Saturday, June 04, 2011

Cacti Seedlings 2011 (close-ups) plus some new housemates!

Good-day to all of you and nice that you're reading my blog. Probably you're bored as hell and have nothing better to do, but that's okay! I'm in the same position, typing this blog. ;-)

I was a little bit bored, so when I was watering and feeding (feeding?! Yes! But don't worry. I'm not trying to make them eat hamburgers or something like that! It's just some sort of liquid that I add to the water. It contains some stuff that they need to grow healthy.) the seedlings that I've sown at April 1st this year (2011), I've decided to give it a chance and make some cool close-ups.

Probably none of you (well... Maybe one of you have, so that would be 50% of my blog-readers!) have ever seen a cactus-seedling in his life, so now I'm giving you the possibility to be "one of the chosen ones". Blablabla...  Okay, here we go!


INDEX


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


Aztekium ritteri
One of the smallest cacti in the world! (They grow VERY slowly, so in about 15 year, their diameter will actually reach the size of 10 centimeter!  

Their rocky appearance, the color and form of the ribs are said to appear in the sculptures of the early Aztec Indians
 (full-grown one which isn't mine. HERE)


Carnegiea gigantea (the famous Saguaro!)
  These little friends are seedlings of biggest bad-ass cactus in the world, the symbol of Arizona, THE cactus that appears in any western movie: the Saguaro! Like I've said before (see the stuff I've posted some months ago) it will take about hundred years till they'll get their first branches, so probably I won't be around anymore. But besides that: it will be a nice present to our grandchildren! (I guess I should have kids myself first... Stephanie?! Ah! Well... We're not in a hurry, but if this guy here will have kids in the future, I'm hundred percent sure that there is no greater mother in the world than my wife Stephanie! (and of course every guy is saying that about his wife, but I'm sure about it!)


Echinopsis terscheckii (Cardon Grande)
Not as huge as the Saguaro, but these spiky balls that are famous under the name "Cardon Grande" will reach a height of 12 meters! And then I have some good news for my wife: they won't take 150 year to reach that height, but they'll be there a lot faster! I don't know where we're going to keep them, but I'm sure that Stephanie already has a place in mind: the trashcan!


 PEYOTE NEWS - Take II

Lophophora Williamsii (the Peyote)
 Right! More Peyote! 
The biggest fans of my blog will probably remember the tragic end of PEYOTE NEWS - Take I... This time I'm taking better care and like I've written on the end of "Take I": the ones I'm growing right now, already are twice as big! At the moment 45 are up! (I'm planning to sow more next year)

(HERE you can find a photo of a full-grown Peyote. The plant is not mine!)

Lophophora williamsii v. La Popa Nuevo Leon ( Peyote )
 This is just another variety: the same cactus, but with a different appearance. (and another photo of this plan when it is full-grown you can find HERE)


Lophophora williamsii v. Nuevo Yucatan ( Peyote )
 And another variety of the Peyote. Again: it's the same family and the same sub-specie. The difference is that it grows on another location which give a little bit of a different shape to it. (HERE another photo of the full-grown version)

I would also like to show you a photo taken outside that I've found on the internet. Just for you to understand why I think spineless cactus is so damn pretty. CLICK

 THE END of PEYOTE NEWS - Take II!
___________________________________________________


Echinopsis bridgesii
Family of the San Pedro: also consumable! Right now you're probably thinking: Stan is going crazy! Within 10 to 20 years he'll turn up as a mescaline-junky! Don't worry! I'm not really planning to eat them... I just think they're pretty and when I'm older, balder and bored I'll decide again what to do!



Astrophytum asterias
Another spineless cactus and a very pretty one if you ask me. (HERE blablabla)



Browningia microsperma
 This one seems to be kind of rare in collections... I was actually just surfing the internet to find "the-most-pretty cactus around" and I ended up to chose this one. Probably my taste is kind of weird. Not that I'm trying to be different in purpose and to be honest: sometimes I rather to keep things quiet instead of bragging around (not that there is something to brag about... Accept my beautiful wife of course!).

HERE you can find another photo of a full-grown plant. This one is taken (not by me!) in it's natural habitat.

Uhhmmm... This was it for today and the upcoming weeks! Time to spend the rest of the weekend outside in the sun with my lovely wife, a pipe and a beer... Life can be great! =D