This KK339 Blue Clone is a fast growing cactus and one of the fastest in my garden. But first, what exactly does “KK339” mean, and what is it’s relevance when identifying a particular type of cactus? To put it simply, KK339 refers to the Chan Chan area in Ecuador. It means the seed that this…
Grafting Cacti Part 4
Grafting Cacti to Rapidly increase your Collection There are lots of reasons for Grafting Cacti. This article is about how to use grafting to quickly increase the quantity of a particular cactus or clone. I’m going to use Trichocereus Bridgesii clone, “True Blue” as the subject/scion. It’s one of my favourites! It has a nice…
Grafting Cacti to isolate variegation Part 3
The grafts in this post were actually performed before the grafts in the previous article, part 2 the Wedge Graft. However I wrote them in this order because I thought part 2 followed part 1 from a continuity perspective. In this post I initially used 2 areole grafts and 2 slab grafts making sure I…
Grafting Cacti to isolate variegation Part 2 -The Wedge Graft
The initial Wedge Graft method was used in Grafting Cacti to isolate variegation Part 1. In that instance it wasn’t entirely a success, because the contact between the scion and rootstock wasn’t ideal and it was difficult to cut the scion to include a piece of the vascular ring. Therefore the Wedge Graft method had…
Grafting Cacti to isolate variegation Part 1
From time to time you might notice some variegation has appeared on the new growth of your cactus. In this instance my Trichocereus KK339 Pachanoi clone threw out a new pup with some variegation along one of the ribs. Therefore, if you wish to isolate the variegation and produce a pup, with even more variegation,…
Micranthocereus Purpureus – Variation or Mislabelling?
About 12 months ago there were Micranthocereus Purpureus seedlings available in some nurseries. It’s quite an attractive cactus with its yellow spines against the blue. Here’s one I purchased last year. The problem is it looks a lot like a Pilosocereus Azureus. However, I was curious and over time I purchased a couple of other…
Haageocereus Pseudomelanostele – Seed Grown
I came across this seed grown Haageocereus Pseudomelanostele at a well known specialist cactus nursery in Melbourne’s South East. It makes for an interesting story about purchasing seed grown cacti. So I thought it was worth writing about. But then where the story was nearly told . . . . . an interesting twist! So…
Grafting Cacti Part 3
Grafting Cactus Seedlings Pereskiopsis is often used as a rootstock for grafting cactus seedlings. It is a commonly used method, but this article is not about that (there’s lots of videos on YouTube) . It’s about an alternative method which I came up with after writing the previous article about grafting cacti. If you haven’t…
Buying Seed Grown Cacti
Whether you’re new to growing Cacti or been at it for a while there are many factors to consider when making a choice on your next purchase. Many of which are quite obvious. However, there are a couple of considerations I’ve discovered over time that I now use. So read on because hopefully I can…
Pilosocereus Azureus – Blue Torch Cactus
Pilosocereus Azureus aka the Blue Torch Cactus is one of my favourites. They are fairly hardy in Melbourne’s climate and are quite an attractive, Blue Cactus. They’re also readily available in retail nurseries that carry cactus around Australia (and probably elsewhere worldwide) and usually seed grown, so you will find some variation in appearance, hardiness…
Trichocereus Peruvianus “Sharxx Blue”
If you like big blue cacti then Sharxx Blue is one of a group of very similar blue Peruvianus clones that are freely available in Australia. It is one of the most sort after Trichocereus clones and despite having been around for some time it still commands a top price on online auctions. In this…
Grafting Cacti Part 2
I decided to write this article about grafting cacti after writing about my Trichocereus Peruvianus clone, “Ferret”. So if you haven’t read about Ferret then follow the link as it will put the following more into context. But first here is a quick refresher. Both these photos were taken on the same day. The graft…
Trichocereus Huascha hybrid
This is the story of an Ugly Duckling cactus. At face value it had little appeal, but as it turned out, it had some really nice properties which made it very worthwhile in the end. I purchased it on an online auction and I was the only bidder. It was listed as Trichocereus Tarijensis. From…
Trichocereus Bridgesii “True Blue”
I have a few Bridgesiis but True Blue is definitely my favourite. Not only because it looks great but it’s also a really good grower. Amazingly this clone doesn’t appear to be very popular. You rarely see it for sale online. I purchased this cutting in February 2022. You can see it started to developed…
Trichocereus Peruvianus “Ferret”
Trichocereus Peruvianus “Ferret” is definitely one of my favourite blue cacti. It’s a darker blue than alot of the more popular blue Peruvianus clones which makes it a little unique and of course a little bit special. It’s reputedly a fast grower. However, I’ve had mixed results which I suppose adds to the intrigue of…
Grafting Cacti Part 1
There’s a stack of info on the internet about grafting cacti. So rather than turn this into another tutorial with alot info you possibly already know, I thought I’d cover just few points that sometimes get overlooked or possibly aren’t commonly known. Then at the end there’s a link to a tutorial which I reckon…
Cereus hybrid
The first time I saw this Cereus it caught my attention from about 50 metres away. It’s blue epidermis and thick orange spines were a stand out. It was growing in Cactus Country and looked quite unique. I was lucky enough to purchase a cutting as the moment I saw it, I could see it…
Cereus Forbesii
Cereus Forbesii is a great choice if you’re after a really spikey cactus that grows tall and fast. However I will add a caveat to the word “fast”. I’ve purchased a few of these over the last few years as they are readily available from Bunnings from time to time. The first one I purchased…