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Monday, July 7, 2008

Random plant event: Gymnocalycium graft blooming

I suppose this probably happens all the time, but I'd never seen it until the last month or so: grafted Gymnocalycium cacti can bloom. I've only rarely seen the non-grafted ones flower, so this was kind of doubly cool for me.


Or even triply cool: all the plants with purple grafts (but none of the other ones) were setting buds, but until last Monday, they always sold right before I got to see the flowers open. (Sometimes it works like that.) So it was nice to get the chance to see it at all. That it also happened to be pretty is a bonus.


I'm still not a fan of grafted cacti, and I still feel like the Hylocereus are getting screwed in the deal, but this was still pretty neat.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 7, 2008 at 8:39 AM

    It is cool. I think it is probably because the purple ones actually have enough chlorophyll to be self-supporting. (I have a non-grafted one, which is also about to bloom). I wouldn't be surprised to find that the red and yellow grafts, which rely totally on their host, are sterile.

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  2. AiyanaJuly 8, 2008 at 9:50 PM

    This is great! I'm surprised you haven't seen many Gymnocalucium in bloom--I have many that bloom prolifically, especially G. baldianum, that blooms from April to September. But then, it could be the climate.
    Aiyana

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