I just got a new fun one this week. I am really excited to watch this one grow out. The pictures I have seen of others online are really beautiful the way the lines of red waves form.
Mammillaria spinosissima crestata


My Mammillaria pilcayensis is getting more curvy by the day.

A crested Red Headed Irishman? So cool!

They're both looking great, Audrey!

Thanks Karen and Hamwild. Check out the pics on this link :hearts:
http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia...
I wonder how long it will take before mine look like those?

Here is a Mexican blanket flower in the garden this week that is mutated. Just for kicks.

Audrey, it looks like your crested spinosissima is a 2-in-1, with a normal head growing out one side. Nice!

Thanks Baja, it looks that way to me also. They are really packed in together so I do not know how to remove it and put the normal growth in it's own pot. I figured I would let it grow out some more and get a bigger root system before a surgery. Is that a good or bad idea to wait? I just got it in the mail a few days ago and have not watered it in yet. I like the idea of having a normal form and a crested in separate pots and do not want them growing like that long term. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated

I think waiting is a fine idea. Let the plant get used to its new home first. It will be difficult to fully excise the normal growth, being on the side and a bit underneath like it is. It would be ideal to not have the scar at ground level where it might come in contact with wet soil.

Hmmm...good point about the scar being by the soil. When I use to cut up my euphorbias I intentionally did that to hide the scar. I can see how perhaps that could be a bad idea. I will wait a while and see how the crest starts forming more. Hopefully that will open up some opportunities to see how maybe I could position it where it would not touch the soil but not be seen as an obvious cut mark either. I had to bring in all my cactus because of the rain we are getting and possible hail all week. It sounds like there is not any good reasons to try it now.

SOOOOO happy to see this thread. I've come to the realization that the genetic mutations are the cacti and succulents I truly adore. I just found a totem pole cactus that is 20 inches tall (just the cactus part) and it makes me smile every time I see it.

Baja_Costero said:Audrey, it looks like your crested spinosissima is a 2-in-1, with a normal head growing out one side. Nice!

What will happen to her plant if she does not cut off the normal head? I've read that people generally do that so the plant stays a true mutant but I think it would be sort of cool to have a mutant and normal form in the same pot to show what happens when there is a genetic error.

There is typically a growth advantage for normal stems compared to crested ones, and (depending on the plant) they may end up dominating over time, unless there is some intervention.

Baja_Costero said:There is typically a growth advantage for normal stems compared to crested ones, and (depending on the plant) they may end up dominating over time, unless there is some intervention.

I guess that is why people take the normal stems off! So maybe a pot of crested and a pot of normal side by side to show the difference! I have a couple of crested plants that seem the same BUT one stays blue and the other goes colorful under sun. I got the blue one first and then the colored one because it makes such an interesting contrast. I turned the pots in the second photo so you can see two different angles on the plants.

I think the colorful one is Crested Myrtillocactus geometrizans "elite", aka dinosaur back cactus and the other is the same but the cristata version. Am I right?

The normal Myrtillocactus looks like this



and grows much larger in advanced age.

You have 2 crested plants (on each, the growth point is not a point but a wavy line) but I could not know what to call them. The difference in color may be related to stress (sun, cold, drought, incipient rot).

Baja_Costero said:The normal Myrtillocactus looks like this

• Garambullo (Myrtillocactus geometrizans)
• Uploaded by Baja_Costero

and grows much larger in advanced age.

You have 2 crested plants (on each, the growth point is not a point but a wavy line) but I could not know what to call them. The difference in color may be related to stress (sun, cold, drought, incipient rot).

Yes. I have one of the regular kind too. I have had the blue crested myrtillocactus under lights for six months now with no color change (I got it in the summer before I knew I could put them outdoors) and just got the colored one even though I knew it was either the same plant or a close relative. I put it under the same lights a few days ago and it has actually faded in that amount of time. Very curious what will happen once I put them outdoors when the weather is warm enough. If they BOTH grow colors I may be thrilled enough to invest in really good grow lights!

I'm trying to acquire a cristata or montrose G. Mihanovichii but they all are too expensive for me to afford ☹️