I left a little Mammilaria prolifera in a Styrofoam cup (no soil) in the dark for 9 months before I discovered what I had done, and it revived. The lady I got it from had it for 50 years. It was the only plant she couldn't kill, she told me...

Drought tolerance is a weirdly elastic and powerful thing. All hail the survivors. I am a big fan of M. prolifera, which I am multiplying at the moment for the garden. It's also good for fruit, which is why I am also keeping a big one on the patio.

Steve, I might ask for names and pictures of those dichotomous Mammillarias down the road. They caught my eye, look quite mature.

[quote="Baja_Costero"
Steve, I might ask for names and pictures of those dichotomous Mammillarias down the road. They caught my eye, look quite mature. [/quote]
@Baja_Costero
@needrain
No problem I think most have labels because if they didn't I would be asking you and don what they were 😂😂
I was attracted to the dark lower spines . But I have since been told this is frost damage 😀 so it seems I am attracted to the near dead look .
Bet the other people there were thinking why is that guy picking up all the near dead plants 😂😂
Steve

Kaktus said: Try to see if you can find vitamin B1 Liquinox, it is known to br very good in treating stressed plants. Mix small amount of those in the spray. Hope all of them will be fine.
I like those with black spines and grey/bluish color cactus in the first photo.

@Kaktus
Thanks , I think most are copiapoa but there are some gymno and Corypantha which also have that look (which I love 👍)
Steve

Few closer shots of the rescue crew

I can not resist those..

They look like they can revive - although the one 10th from the top and 9th from the bottom (uploaded twice) isn't obviously alive from that photo. I let my M. prolifera soak for a day in sterile water, planted it in sterile sand and kept it at least damp until I saw signs of growth. Then I moved it to a pot with "cactus mix", and treated it with my usual benign neglect that cacti seem to love.

Welp, taken at dusk, finally ready for planting. Took 2 and a half wheelbarrows of sand/gravel that the previous owner left,a full 70litre bag of potting soil, and about 1/3rd bucket of manure just to temper the alkalinity.



Repotting session.

3 aloeids, 1 pepersomia 1 potential cotyledon orbiculata.
Stacked cinderblocks(carried up spiral staircase, yikes) to create a plateau to stack the plant crates

Most of my home plants are stacked there, all that remains are from grandpa's place. The crate and short large ones should be easy.... the tall ones...oof...
I shall cross that bridge when I get to it.
Anyway, planting on Wednesday, and likely also another move.
After that...vacation...

The new Rebutia minuscula really responded to the repot a couple of weeks ago. Lots of new buds forming and three tiny little offsets showing. It had really outgrown the little plastic container which had no room for even tiny offsets. I'll like this one if it makes a big clump. The blooms are fairly large in comparison to the little barrels and bright enough to show off.

ketsui73 said: so it seems I am attracted to the near dead look .
Bet the other people there were thinking why is that guy picking up all the near dead plants

Those cacti don't look that bad to me. Does this mean I also like the near dead look? 🤯 If I had been at that sale I would have been thinking darn that guy just bought the ones I wanted. 🙁😦

Donald, it is nice to have your efforts appreciated - eye catching bloom!

DraDiana said: They look like they can revive - although the one 10th from the top and 9th from the bottom (uploaded twice) isn't obviously alive from that photo. I let my M. prolifera soak for a day in sterile water, planted it in sterile sand and kept it at least damp until I saw signs of growth. Then I moved it to a pot with "cactus mix", and treated it with my usual benign neglect that cacti seem to love.

Thanks Diana
I did do a couple of duplicates . I find it hard to upload multiple images to these forums . When I try rhe save and edit trick it seems to take so long I might as well select individual pics ,
The plant you are referring to seems quite firm 🤞it usually has a dense spine coverage
It's marked up as neoporteria senilis but now classed as eriosyce



http://www.llifle.com/Encyclop...
Steve

tigerpaws said: Those cacti don't look that bad to me. Does this mean I also like the near dead look? 🤯 If I had been at that sale I would have been thinking darn that guy just bought the ones I wanted. 🙁😦

😂 glad to know it's not just me
I was advised to chop them at the top and reroot but unless the spines start to fall off I will probably leave most of them
Steve

I would leave them, and chop only if signs of basal rot develop.

They are already really stressed.

I might try cutting one as a last resort, but mostly they look like there's a good chance they will grow and be fine.

This cactus has died in the middle. If you can tell from the photo, it has died in two places, with a little bulb in the middle still alive. The top section of live growth has now put out a little white root. So I have some questions. At some point should I cut off the top section that has the root and plant it? If so, wait a while for more roots to grow? What to do with the small middle section? Cut it off, wait to see what happens? The bottom section - is it trying to die off, or might it continue to grow? What would have caused this to happen? Is it a normal thing t happen? Did I not water enough? Thanks.

Cut it and replant it. But maybe etiolated or something...

@DraDiana
@needrain
@Hamwild
Thanks I think I am minded to leave them alone as far as the knife is concerned. Nothing appears to be in major crisis yet (although things could change now I have actually watered ) a lot of the collection was also infested with mealy bug , some in quite an epic way . All have been treated but I need to be careful I don't introduce a problem into my own collection. Once they dry out from the watering I am going to unpot , treat again and repot into fresh soil . These next few weeks will be critical fingers crossed most get through it
Steve

@cwhitt I do not think you necessarily need to do anything, given the upper part remains healthy and is still growing. Two reasons you might cut the upper part off at the constriction in the stem: the plant becomes unsteady, or is starting to be so tall that the light it receives is constrained. I'm guessing neither is the case at the moment.

I do not recognize the plant but it most likely will be something you can propagate from a cutting, and the mother plant (stump left over after you make the cut) will most likely branch afterward. I would cut at the narrowest point in the stem. Pot it up without burying too much stem (new pot, new soil) and wait a couple of weeks to water for the first time. Be careful not to overwater in the beginning when the cutting has (essentially) no roots, because the only way that water leaves the container is through evaporation.

I don't know what would cause this constriction in the stem, whether some damage occurred as the plant was that height or developed later on. I wouldn't be too concerned really, the top part looks great.

@ketsui73 That Mammillaria perbella is kind of spectacular. It gives me inspiration for my own young ones. I hope you are successful in this rescue mission, at least with most plants.