Haageocereus Pseudomelanostele – Seed Grown

The other interesting point was this one was all by itself. Most of the other seed grown varieties there were in multiples, but for some reason there was only one of these. Maybe the last one left???

Anyway, despite not knowing much about this variety of cactus, I decided to take it home. A few weeks later I decided to pot it up into a larger container. It looked a little small for the 80mm punnet it was growing in. Once it was out of the punnet though, I discovered something I really wasn’t expecting.

It had recently been potted up and was extremely root bound. And the root ball was the size of a 55mm punnet. You can see the excess potting mix in the tray which filled it inside the 80mm punnet.

So now the back story was becoming obvious. I’m guessing this one was probably growing a lot quicker than the rest of the batch of seedlings. So it hastily got potted up so they could charge a little extra.

Therefore, the next consideration was what to do with the tangled root ball. Leave it as is or do something about it? After all, the nursery person mustn’t have thought it to be a issue. But then again, most gardeners know that to leave plant like this long term won’t end with a good outcome.

Plus I remember an issue my mother had with a “Pittosporum James Stirling”, many years ago. She had an advanced hedge of them growing in her front yard. One had unexpectantly died and she asked me to dig it out for her. When I dug out the rootball, it was exactly that, a “ball”. The roots had just coiled around each other and they looked like they’d just strangled themselves. It was obvious that’s what they were doing in the pot before it was planted. They hadn’t been teased out but nevertheless the plant did still continue to grow, for some years, until the plant eventually died.

It was a good lesson to learn.

Therefore it was clear what this little seed grown cactus needed. However, the rootball was quite hard. Those roots were really tightly wrapped and whole rootball was rock hard. I could now understand why the nursery person hadn’t attempted it.

So in the end I used a hose with some light pressure and gently loosened the potting mix. This then exposed the roots more, so I could very gently untangle the coiled roots.

Then there was another discovery.

The two pups were in fact two separate seedlings. So now the picture was becoming even clearer. The main seedling had outgrown the other two quite considerably. Plus it also had quite a developed rootball. It’s not easy to see but there is also a thick tap root in the centre which had some pretty sharp bends. In fact when I tried to pull the tap root straight it just wanted to recoil back, like a spring. They’d hit the bottom of the pot sometime ago and just coiled around and around!

I also gave the ends of the roots a trim. They were way too long to go back into another container!

Then it got potted up into a larger container so there would be plenty of space for the roots to grow.

It was then placed under a shelf to keep the rain off it as it was important to keep the roots dry as it was mid winter here in Melbourne.

So the next step was to wait for the weather to warm. It is going to be interesting to see how quickly this little Haageocereus grows. Good root development often means a fast grower. But in the end only time will tell.

So now this is where the story usually ends, for the time being anyway.

But then, I came across another Haageocereus pseudomelanostele in another store. Interesting! As this new one I had just found was either going to back up what I’d just written about or now discredit it . . . .

Looks different right! That’s what I thought when I first saw it. Then when I got it home it was definitely different.

But how so! Is it a case of mislabeling? or is it natural variation in seedlings? or was it a case of different seeds being accidentally mixed before germination? or maybe they are just a different sub species?

It’s hard to tell! But I suppose the real question is this!

Which one looks the most like the photo on the label?

But first, I had a curiosity I had to cure. The second Haageocereus pseudomelanostele was in 55mm punnet and was about the same size as the first one. Would it be root bound as well? Did it have a vigorous rootball like the first one?

So back to the question!

Which one looks the most like the photo on the label?

But to go back a step. You might notice the 2 seedlings either side of the original Haageocereus pseudomelanostele are different. Different to each other and also different to the larger one in the middle. The one on the right has the brown spines on the tip while the small one on the left doesn’t. So now there isn’t just 2 variations, there are 4 variations.

So if you look at all 4, the small seedling on the left probably looks the closest to the image on the label.

The larger second one certainly doesn’t and the arrangement of the spines and ribs on the larger first one look different to the photo as well.

But then this raises the question . . . . . how accurate is the image on the photo?

Well I decided to do a Google images search. And guess what? One image actually resembled the second one. Plus there were other variations as well.

Looking a little deeper, it appears as if the variations are actually sub species. Of which the common two appeared to be H. pseudomelanostele ssp aureispinus and H. pseudomelanostele subsp. carminiflorus

So, from Google images it appeared that the second one I bought was closer to ssp aureispinus. Same with the smaller seedling on the left. Maybe?

Whereas the first one I purchased didn’t really come up with a match.

So now you’re probably wondering, where the hell this is all going????????

Well I suppose the lesson is this. I’ve tried to identify cacti species online in the past. Occasionally it can be fruitless exercise, and I suppose the reason why is this . . . .

You can get variation in appearance even in sub species. The likely reasons being that different growing conditions can effect the appearance (spines and colour). The amount of light a cactus gets can have an effect as well.

Growers source cactus seed from different suppliers and then rely on the labels they come with to then identify them. Which may or may not be correct.

So you can see how the waters get muddied, in some instances.

So why does all of this matter?

Well in this instance it probably doesn’t matter. From my perspective I think the first one is a little unique, but then only time will really tell. Maybe its not even a Haageocereus pseudomelanostele at all. In the end the question is usually answered when the cactus eventually flowers.

In other instances it probably does matter. In my next article I’ll give an example of this.

Micranthocereus Purpureus – Variation or Mislabelled?

In the meantime, it’s fair to ask, what was the point of all this?

Cactus collecting is a fun pastime. You will find variation in seed grown cacti and searching and discovering something a little different can be fun as well. Especially if you are patient enough to grow them out and let them show you their true potential.

So treat it like fun, make it enjoyable and you’ll probably discover something just a little unique, or if you’re lucky, completely different !!!!!!!

FOOTNOTE: For those who are serious about identifying Cacti here’s an article about . . . . Micranthocereus Purpureus – Variation or Mislabelled?