What would you like to know about Melocactus?

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DaveW
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by DaveW »

Marlon,

"The seedlings enjoy warmth and lots of water - you can almost cultivate them hydroponically, if temperatures are high enough."

Strange you should say that, as I grew some from seeds years ago in 2" square pots in normal compost. The bottom of the propagator was covered with fine damp building sand which the pots stood on. One of the pots tipped over and I got far better germination and growth on the seemingly non-nutritious wet sand, than those left in the compost in the pot!

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Marlon Machado
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Marlon Machado »

Hi Ernie,

Thanks for your message. I think that your cultivation methods are very good, Melocactus tend to lose their roots if kept dry for too long, and old, mature plants can be quite difficult to re-root. Keeping these plants at a minimum of 10?C (50?F) and giving them a light watering now and then during the winter is a good practice to keep these plants. The use of a very open soil mix, with over 50% coarse sand or grit, is also advisable for growing them, as is the use of shallow pans instead of tall pots. If the weather is warm Melocactus enjoy being soaked regularly.

Dave,

I think your seedlings grew better in the moist sand than in the pots because the sand probably never dried up completely, whereas the soil mix in the pots would dry in between waterings. My experience with cultivating Melocactus seedlings is that using a shallow pan and an open soil mix, you can flood the seedlings and let them soaked all the time, they will grow very fast this way.

Cheers,
Marlon Machado.

Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Marlon Machado »

Just a pic of one of the most enjoyable things to observe when visiting populations of Melocactus. Here is Melocactus ernestii being visited by the Glittering-bellied Emerald hummingbird, Chlorostilbon aureoventris.

Cheers,
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Marlon Machado.

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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Cactus Jack »

Great photo , Marlon (tu)
Stephen.. Bangor. N. Ireland.
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Maria J »

Stunning bird & photo Marlon!!!
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Tending more towards cacti :D, particularly Gymnocalyciums, Rebutias, Sulcorebutias, Echinopses, Thelos, Feros and Mamms (and anything else I like the look of!) all in an 8 x 6 polycarb greenhouse and a few windowsills!
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Julie »

Beautiful photo, Marlon. (tu)

How awful that the poor farmers can be exploited by these plant thieves. :( They probably gave a fraction of what they could get for them on Ebay or similar. :angre:

I wonder if education would help, as it has in the case of Euphorbia obesa... now the farmers know they have a special rare plant on their land, and are proud of their plants and will protect them from the cattle by covering them with spiny branches.

So.. it's impossible to rot the roots off a seedling? This sounds something for me to try when I have more space. :D
Happy carrier of Forby Disorder - an obsession with Euphorbia obesa.

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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Trevor »

Hello again Marlon,

Thanks for the info in your reply. Yes, Rudolf is one of the good guys, maybe you two should get together again and do a sequel to the Uebelmannia book like he has with Copiapoa 2006 - Uebelmannia 2010 or something ;-)

I'll be travelling with Paul Klaassen and I'm sure he'll take me to the "must see's", but I'll take your list with me just in case he tries to skip one ;-)

Great hummingbird photo. I'm still pretty amazed at the sand/gravel that some of those Melocactus are growing in, almost looks like beach sand.

Thanks for offering to try and ID my unknown plant - here's a photo of it - good luck ! Maybe the single upward pointing central spine coming from near the top of the areole could mean something to you ?

Thanks again,
[attachment 7562 UglyDuckling.jpg]
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Marlon Machado »

Hi Trevor,

If your Melocactus is from Brazil, my guess would be M. salvadorensis due to the dark green, shiny epidermis, few ribs with a sharp edge, slightly curved spines which are gray but dark towards the tips, and the central spine pointing upwards. It is a nice plant anyway!

Regarding the substrate where some of the Melocactus grow, in at least one case it [size=large]IS[/size] beach sand - Melocactus violaceus is a coastal species and grows with a stone's throw of the sea. Other species which also grows in sand are Melocactus paucispinus and Melocactus glaucescens.

Julie,

Education for sure helps, but the truth is that Melocactus are widespread in these regions, and the farmers do not distinguish the different species - well, even us that like these plants have sometimes a hard time to tell them apart! Thus, the plants are perceived by the farmers as growing everywhere and very common, hence the indifference about the fate of the plants.

Cheers,
Marlon Machado.

Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
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Julie
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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Julie »

Aaaah, I see, Marlon. I guess you can't really mistake obesa for something else. ;)
Happy carrier of Forby Disorder - an obsession with Euphorbia obesa.

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Re: What would you like to know about Melocactus?

Post by Stuart Estell »

Julie, you mention having a go at Melos when you have more space... something like M. matanzanus (one of only two species I've tried) develops its cephalium and stops growing when really pretty small - the plants I've had of that species have been no more than about 4" across with cephalia. So they may not be tiny, but they're still pretty compact (tu)

Marlon, thanks for your insights so far, it's fascinating. I have one question - if M. violaceus grows in beach sand, presumably the plants must be very salt-tolerant? Do they respond differently in cultivation without salt in their diet?
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