BCSS - Forum

I grew these from Mesa Garden seed a couple of years ago, now it is time to pot on. However none of them looks hairy! Is that normal at this age?

Hahniana does vary in "hairyness" and you may have seed from a less hairy specimen. See what happens over the next couple of years when they are growing on their own.

They came with collection number ML496 and described as 'woolly stem' in the seed list so I am hoping they will turn out to be a nice hairy form...I guess time will tell.

This was my Hahniana in 1984, at 9 years old. I grew it from seed and, although it's a long time ago, I'm pretty sure it wasn't this hairy when small. I think patience is the name of the game. Good luck.

The plants of M. hahniana are quite variable in the degree of hairiness, and some forms, such as ssp. woodsii will never have a mass of hairs though it is a very nice species in its own right, having stronger darker spines and axils with a lot of wool and some hairy bristles, though these vary in number and length, and generally will increase as the plant ages. I'm not surprised that your seedlings are not yet showing this.

According to one source I have ML496 is ssp. woodsii though there are other sources which don't use the subspecies name of ML496. To look at some photos of both habitat plants and plants in collection, of hahniana and hahniana ssp. woodsii look at Mammillaria Forum

Thanks, I guess it wont be a long haired one then, but as you say still a very attractive plant

Ali Baba wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 7:05 pm Thanks, I guess it wont be a long haired one then, but as you say still a very attractive plant

I agree that they look like the seedlings of woodsii that I have grown in the past.

Tony R wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 7:37 pm

Ali Baba wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 7:05 pm Thanks, I guess it wont be a long haired one then, but as you say still a very attractive plant

I agree that they look like the seedlings of woodsii that I have grown in the past.

Yes definitely, I do find they get slightly more fuzzy when exposed to brighter conditions.

Ali Baba wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 8:58 am seed a couple of years ago, now it is time to pot on.

A nice little nest of baby ones

An interesting topic, caused me to have a closer look at mine and I see a have big hairy one, a little not very hairy one and an inbetween one.
I had assumed it was a plant with offsets, I had not thought about it much but on closer inspection I think it might be 4 individuals.
This is what it looked like 2 months ago.