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Cacti & Succulents

Cactus pic for Karyn/ID needed also

greenclaws UK, Zone 8a

16 years ago

Hi Karyn, thought I'd better post on here instead of the plumie forum as we seem to have got sidetracked somewhat from plumies>desert roses>cacti!!

Anyway, here's the somewhat prickly 15yr old 'whatever-it-is'.....it's around 20cms high and the spines are up to 8cms long!...it's a real painful creature as wherever I sem to put it, it seems to jump out and stab me.

The seed mix Claire sowed some 15yrs ago were bought by my dear late father (who she persuaded to buy them for her, he would do anything for his granchildren!)...me mumbling in the background that they would never germinate and all that! I'm sure every one did...we had tons, all shapes and sizes, she made a few Â£'s selling them to un-suspecting folks at our village car-boot sale! Now she has her own place, I have tried to pass 'Spikey' onto her, but to no avail, so he remains here.

Tried to get an ID earlier, reply was the 'Saguaro Cactus'?? not too sure about that, but I admit I'm no cactus expert so beg to be corrected....anyone else care to have a stab at an ID....no pun intended there! lol!

See you back on the plumie forum Karyn...am spending too much time on this comp being still off work!

Cheers 'n all that..

Gill.

{{gwi:526025}}

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Comments (5)

shrubs_n_bulbs
16 years ago
Carneiea gigantea, Saguaro. I'm pretty sure about that.
karyn1
16 years ago
Thanks for posting the pic. That definitely looks like something you want to avoid bumping into. Ouch!
Karyn
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greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
Original Author
16 years ago
So, I have a cactus that has the potential to grow to well over 80ft and out live me by well over 100 years??...you've gotta be pulling my leg for sure! I will keep this evil specimen confined in a small pot so it don't outgrow it's welcome!
Apologies to those who ID'd it as Saguaro before....the only reason I was questioning its type was because I was surprised to have it grow from a seed mix bought here in the UK. For some reason I imagined they would be seeds from the small easy specimens to grow such as Mammillarias etc not a giant like this! But, I have my much missed dad to thank for that one, he was always a joker! Nice one dad!!
Regards, Gill.
shrubs_n_bulbs
16 years ago
Saguaro is common in these seed mixes, people have heard of them. Opuntias and Ferocactus are also included because they come up big. Anything "small and choice", even if it was included, would be swamped by the big bruisers and you'd probably never see it. Most beginners are not likely to nurse along a plant that is the size of a pinhead after six months ;)

As you have already seen, Saguaros grow slow! 1cm per year means you should be able to give it house room for a while yet. Don't try to force it, the densely spined look on slow growing plants is very attractive.
hpersky
16 years ago
Does this look kind of like a stetsonia? Or is that way off?

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