MOON CACTUS!

[AlysonJoy]

I have a really nice moon cactus. I have had it over 3 years, its one of the first plants I bought for my new conservatory. I realise its grafted. I read they have short lives, but this one is really healthy and was bought from a garden centre that sells good quality plants.

I have made two picture attachments, first time, not sure it worked. So I will describe it. It has a red spherical top with lots of spherical pups on. I was told I cant propagate the pups separately as they lack chlorophyll. attIs this true?

[anders]

I was told I cant propagate the pups separately as they lack chlorophyll. attIs this true?

You can propagate them by grafting them on another cactus, but they can not grow on their own roots.

[Stuart]

There's a bit on 'cactus snobbery' about this species in that hardly anyone admits to having one. Out of about 120 cactus nurseries at ELK or 20 or so cactus nurseries at a UK cactus mart, there's hardly any for sale. If a plant with a collection number and habitat data is at one end of a scale, this species is probably at the other end. After all that - I like it - and I'm very tempted by the mixture of colours available in the Netherlands including pink, yellow, red and mottled red/black. Greenhouses full of these look quite similar to the Dutch tulip fields. A mix of these colours, regrafted onto Trichocereus wouldn't look out of place in my collection. They're short lived when grafted on Hylocereus as in the photo as Hylocereus likes warm, humid conditions which we don't have over the winter in a UK greenhouse. Keeping one alive for three years isn't too bad an achievement so keep on looking after it in the same way. They will flower eventually but don't usually survive as long as the one in the photo.

Stuart

[AlysonJoy]

I thought people might be snobbish about them, but I really like this one. This and a few others were almost the start of my cactus obsession but not my oldest cactus, thats an echinopsis I was given 17 years ago. I draw the line at painted succulents and fake flowers!

One day maybe I will create a few more, but there is a huge temptation to buy a pink and yellow! I have something that looks like the rootstock. I thought I was buying an orchid cactus, but someone said its a dragon fruit. It has rooted, no sign of growth though!

[babytoes1956]

What happens if a moon cactus is grafted onto a non-mutant gymnocalycium mihanovicii? Will the mutant revert to a regular green form, or will the green form try to reject the graft? I tried to find something about this on the web, but thought someone in our forums had tried this already.

[Stuart]

Don't know where this 'moon cactus' name came from. If it's grafted on to a normal Gymno Mihanovichii, it will just continue as a red graft, same as if it was grafted on to Trichocereus. It might grow better in the long run if grafted to the same species. Stock can affect the growth form by causing offsets as in the case of Hylocereus but won't change the colour of the plant grafted.
Stuart

[AlysonJoy]

I can now see how much my first one grew, I acquired some more. Hopefully they will do as well as my first. If I like a particular plant I tend to buy more, Im a bit of a collector.

[Tina]

my son had a Jym for several years & used to wander in & give it the odd water.

Im a bit of a collector

we all are, Nice selection of colours.

[BarbusBarbus]

Hi Alyson,

Thanks for showing us your moon cactus. I have a similar type of 'moon' cactus, although believe it is a grafted chamaecereus rather than your gymnocalycium mihanovicii. It was my first purchase that started me off collecting cacti about 4 or so years ago - I didnt realise at the time it was grafted, and thought that was how it naturally grew! After a bit of research when I got home I figured out it was grafted, and as I've gained experience I have to say I've really come to dislike grafted plants...they look a bit too freaky for my liking! That being said, I havent had the heart to get rid of it, & after all, its the reason I started collecting! Remarkably its survived & thrived given the awful non-draining garden soil and overwatering I gave it for the first year or two! It grows fairly slowly & has largely been ignored in the corner of my conservatory, except....this year it surprised me and managed to push out a single, solitary flower for the first time! I do not have much in depth knowledge about how cacti flower colour is determined, but I was amazed to see a perfectly contrasting bright red flower - I was expecting the flower to lack pigment also. I guess it must have retained some of its original genetics. Anyway, this event has re-ignited my interest in this plant & I'm hoping next year it might manage a flush of red flowers, that really would be an interesting looking plant! (...I still wish it wasnt grafted though!) Photos attached of after initial purchase (when in garden soil and a pot without holes!! ), & of the flower.

[AlysonJoy]

Oh thats beautiful. I want one! I will be on the look out for one of those now. If anyone sees any for sale, let me know. I love the colour.