Waiting for tomorrow

[Mal H]

Genetic similarity and day length would be a likely answer for flowering together.

[Ali Baba]

I suspect that the range of species that gave rise to the hybrids is rather restricted and will naturally tend to consist of species and their hybrids that flower simultaneously. Then day length is the primary trigger for flower bud initiation in many plants

[ralphrmartin]

Can one enquire why you dislike grafting? There's no hidden agenda, merely curiosity.

Firstly, many plants don't grow typically on grafts - the stock being far too vigorous for the scion. Grafted blossfeldias spring to mind as an example, but many other plants offset like crazy and / or pump up far too much.

Secondly, at least the way I grow plants, many grafts I have had have ended up after 2 or 3 years with the stock rotting. The scion, supposedly a harder plant to grow is just fine, and the "easy" stock is the plant that failed. Maybe that's just the way I grow plants.

Thirdly, it just does not look aesthetically pleasing in my eyes. And I want to be able to say "I can grow such and such" without "cheating".

Now, I'm not always against it - for example, it can be a way to rapidly propagate up an interesting new clone, or to save a scrap of a plant when that's all you have left. But much grafting seems to be unnecessary, E.g. I have bought Austrocacti on grafts - yet ones I have grown from seed grew much more quickly.

So, in the end it's a personal preference.

[ralphrmartin]

Well, they didn't all flower quite together anyway. Two are open today, the rest just have even bigger buds. The two open are

Killian

Manor Farm Starlight

Not the best hybrids I have ever seen, but not that bad I'd turn them into grafting stock, either.

[ralphrmartin]

Cant' wait to see the next photo, Ralph...
Also out of curiosity a lot of those plants look rather yellow. Is that just the photo or do they maybe need a balanced feed?
Mike

Well, they are all getting weekly feeding with Ericaceous Miracle Grow. I think they are yellowed because of the excessive temperatures, rather than a lack of nutrient.

They were quite a bit greener a few weeks ago.

[Phil_SK]

I suspect that the range of species that gave rise to the hybrids is rather restricted and will naturally tend to consist of species and their hybrids that flower simultaneously.

Cactus breeding is a relatively slow process and even when done by professional nurserymen it has been done amateurishly. The early named hybrids betray their parentage readily and seem often to be little more than f1 crossings of oxygona and something coloured - aurea, haematantha.
Brian Fearn, in his Plant Heritage book, writes that he has named over 130 plants (from 150 000 seedlings) yet his list of original parents (omitting the trichocerei) and counting species he has twice under different names comes to about 10 species and 7 hybrids (Johnson, Martin), themselves probably parented by the same pool.
A fair number of those still working on Echinopsis hybrids will have started off with this same pallette, which explains why so many plants behave and look so similar.

[Ali Baba]

That’s really interesting thanks
I’ve always been fascinated by the chamaelobivia hybrids (produced by is it Southfields?) apparently being solely produced by random crosses by bees. I wonder what the hybrid potential would be if a systematic approach was taken...

[Phil_SK]

I enjoy playing with chamaelobivia hybrids as the results are a bit faster. But if I was doing it properly I don't know what I'd be aiming for - colour? no, all feasible colours exist. flower size? probably not, as this seems fairly fixed. rufflyness? maybe. bicolours? maybe. All the usual things - disease resistance, hardiness, size, plant shape/form, weatherproofness don't really apply to flowering cacti!

[Ali Baba]

Size and number of perianth segments probably has quite a scope for improvement. Look what has happened in orchid breeding. Colour especially depth can be improved. Longevity of flowering could be improved. And where’s the blue flowered one?

[edds]

I enjoy playing with chamaelobivia hybrids as the results are a bit faster. But if I was doing it properly I don't know what I'd be aiming for - colour? no, all feasible colours exist. flower size? probably not, as this seems fairly fixed. rufflyness? maybe. bicolours? maybe. All the usual things - disease resistance, hardiness, size, plant shape/form, weatherproofness don't really apply to flowering cacti!

I'm hoping to try and work on the size of flowers in a pendant form, preferably with the soft spined of coledomonis. Should keep me busy for a few years!

Southfields seem to be having some success with flower longevity on their newer hybrids - some apparently last 3-5 days in good conditions.