I have a large cactus, a Mammillaria. It's about 2 ft long and 4 inches
diameter, and, typically of its type, it has keeled over and is
sprawling across the greenhouse bench.

My cactus collection is mainly of well behaved species sitting neatly in
pots, so this crawly thing spiralling around across the bench does not
fit in!

It's got three or four offsets near the base, and I could easily remove
these and grow them on, and get rid of the original.

On the other hand, the plant is probably about 40 years old and I might
feel rather sad if I did get rid of it.

So I don't really know what to do. I know it's my decision in the end,
but any thoughts?
--
Kay

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:20:05 +0000, K wrote:

I have a large cactus, a Mammillaria. It's about 2 ft long and 4 inches
diameter, and, typically of its type, it has keeled over and is
sprawling across the greenhouse bench.

My cactus collection is mainly of well behaved species sitting neatly in
pots, so this crawly thing spiralling around across the bench does not
fit in!

It's got three or four offsets near the base, and I could easily remove
these and grow them on, and get rid of the original.

On the other hand, the plant is probably about 40 years old and I might
feel rather sad if I did get rid of it.

So I don't really know what to do. I know it's my decision in the end,
but any thoughts?

Myself, I should rear the babbies


--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:20:05 +0000, K wrote:

I have a large cactus, a Mammillaria. It's about 2 ft long and 4 inches
diameter, and, typically of its type, it has keeled over and is
sprawling across the greenhouse bench.

My cactus collection is mainly of well behaved species sitting neatly in
pots, so this crawly thing spiralling around across the bench does not
fit in!

It's got three or four offsets near the base, and I could easily remove
these and grow them on, and get rid of the original.

On the other hand, the plant is probably about 40 years old and I might
feel rather sad if I did get rid of it.

So I don't really know what to do. I know it's my decision in the end,
but any thoughts?

Myself, I should rear the babbies

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹


Yes, so would I. However, if you're worried about missing this grand
parent, do everything you can to save it. I'm not a cactus expert, but I do
wonder why it's collapsed. Maybe it's just top-heavy and has keeled over.
If so, pot it up in a weighted pot (pebbles in the base of the pot) and
perhaps give it some support. If it's over-watered, can you repot it in dry
compost and give it another chance? .. or has it succumbed to something
nasty, which could simply be frost?

Either way, I would rescue the offsets as soon as possible.

Spider

K writes:

I have a large cactus, a Mammillaria. It's about 2 ft long and 4
inches diameter, and, typically of its type, it has keeled over and is
sprawling across the greenhouse bench.

I've got one that has reached 18" or so and tilts towards the light
when it's been watered. I've got it staked and turn it round when it
starts to tip. Needs to be in a fairly heavy pot to stop it
overbalancing.

Mine flowers regularly and I've grown a lot of little ones from the
seed pods that appear a year or two after the flowers.

Anthony