4 July 2008
Pterocactus kuntzei
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti .
Pterocacti are fascinating things indeed.
Here is my plant of Pterocactus kuntzei resuming growth after flowering.
You can see that the new stems are forming around the edges of the end of the terminal flower stem. Whether or not these too will flower remains to be seen.
Following the advice in Michael Kießling’s Tephrocactus und andere Fiegenkakteen I’ve been watering my pterocacti more as well, and they’re certainly responding. I’m growing a much smaller plant of P. tuberosus (now considered synonymous with P. kuntzei) in just a 2″ pot at the moment; it started this growing season with very little by way of tuber, so I’ve been watering fairly generously to see just how much root growth it can put on in a year. I suspect I may well be in for a surprise.
In other opuntioid news, I discovered last night that my Opuntia arenaria, which grows outdoors, has a flower bud on it. Not bad for a plant that consists of a single pad!