Surprising new sprouts on my Opuntia
bleusblue2
2 years ago
I've been keeping this opuntia alive since my husband died six years ago. I mean it IS alive. It has done fairly well but at the end of this winter it seemed to have regressed. I think it's because I seldom left home and the apartment was ALWAYS warm even though it was by a cool window.
I decided on drastic action and planned on repotting. I had commercial cactus mix and I also ordered a very expensive mix from a fellow who was bragging about it on etsy. I repotted this.
Suddenly I am seeing these red sprouts that I have never ever seen in all the years it's lived here. There is the big one you see in the bottom of the photo but there are more -- everywhere, even on the woody parts of the plant. You can see a tiny one right next to the big "flower" one. I know my cacti don't look beautiful and thriving like all the ones I see here and in green houses. They are struggling and I'm just trying to keep up with them. I have started potting some tabs from them too.
Well, that's the history -- is my cactus trying to bloom? I'm taking these little growths as a positive sign.
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bleusblue2
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Will my trees sprout new leaves?
Comments (4)The pear I planted last year had maybe 25 or 30 leaves. It also looked like half the buds were dead, as they looked brown or black. To my surprise, this year every single bud poped, and there are about 10 flower buds! It may have something to do with the root:leaf ratio. If the tree has more top growth, then it does root mass, the top growth will slow as the roots catch up. I take a look at the roots before planting and decide how much to prune the top then. This is also what happened to my pear (as well as a super, super wet spring). The root mass was maybe a foot wide, and under a foot long, where as the tree was over 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide. It seems to have caught up now, after an initial pruning, and proper shaping this year!...See MoreMy WS sprouts..so far
Comments (17)Jodie, I'm planning to build a raised portion in a new bed I'm going to eventually build whenever this rain stops, to add in top soil mixed with sand and maybe a little bit of fine gravel for the plants I've winter sown that like poor soil, including the lupine (which I'm very disappointed in, I only got two sprouts out of twelve seeds!). My yard is clay and holds water like a sponge, so a raised bed for these plants is the only way to go for me. I have a forty by ten foot area on the south side of our new garage which I'm going to plant, and I think about a quarter of it, maybe a little more, is going to be a raised bed about a foot or so high. I was going to use landscape stone to build it, but that would cost me an arm and a leg, so I may build it using railroad ties, if I can find some. The RR ties will give it a rustic look, I think. If I can't find any, then I'll use landscape timbers. That's what I'm going to attempt to do. Don't know if it'll work, but we'll see. Karen...See MoreMy X-Mas Papilios, And A Surprise.....
Comments (5)You cant tell to much from my pics.,sorry, except the size of the Papilio flower scape. And that the bulbs are big. I forgot the Lemon Sorbet bulb. I just planted the lemon Sorbet, and the Papilios, the one that has the bulblets and the BIG bulb under the one scale, turns out it has leaves wrapped part way around the bulb. I peeled off the brown paper layer over the big bulblet,and found 2 leaves on the bulb! So it is going to put out a second bulb pretty soon. I planted them only like 10% deep,the rest above the soil. Since it was splitting the scales, I figured I would keep them all planted as shallow as the rest. Where the 'split' shows on the bulb,is where the big bulb is under the scale on the bigger of the 2 Papilios. It is so big, it is splitting the scales. And yet 2 it also has bulblets on the basal root top. THANK YOU DONNA!!! For posting these. I will have pretty red Lions open in a few days. They are nice and red now, just have to get bigger and open. I might actually have amaryllis for Christmas!! Instead of like a month after or before....See MoreSurprise surprise!
Comments (14)BP, So sorry to hear about your Butterfly Bush and Lupines. I'm sure you'll see them again in your gardens being the green thumb you are. :O) I'm happy with quite a few things this year. The plants which made me jump the highest were the Blue Himalayan Poppies. Looks like they perennialized and have returned for a 4rth year. Last year was their first year flowering and they were spectacular! Another happy-joy-joy moment was when I saw the Lynchis Lumina Red Shades peeking up. These were winter sown last year. They appeared to struggle in the containers all summer long, but in the fall, I took a chance and planted them. Looked pitiful! Figured they were compost, but the other day I noticed these bright burgundy/wine/red things poking out of the ground and realized that the buggers had made it. Party!!!! I'm anxious to see some second and third year perennials flower for the first time. Amsonia, Baptisia Australis, Meadowsweet and a few new-to-me Digitalis. My biggest disappointment so far has been the deers. The population is exploding on the Prospect Peninsula and there is no hunting allowed due to the proximity to homes. Usually, 40% of the herds die in the winter, but we had such a mild winter with no snow that biologists are saying there was virtually no deaths this winter... They are already coming by every night and devouring what has simply grown during the day. Not good for a gardener. And so, I am starting to discover what is deer resistant and planting LOTS of those!! :O)...See Morebleusblue2
2 years ago
Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
2 years agoPlease do I ❤️ love cactus flowers. I have an Opuntia azurea pad I’m rooting and it bloomed like crazy.
bleusblue2 thanked Kara 9b SF Bay Area CAbleusblue2
2 years agobleusblue2
2 years agoLatest news -- unfortunately no flowers but I am still stunned -- here you see the new sprouts coming out on this very old woody stem.
Here's a topper on a different plant.
Looks like a happy tab!
This is amazing to me -- these are two tabs that I hope will root and look -- they have sprouts also!
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