I was wondering if any one could id this volunteer Cactus I found yesterday growing between and kind of under two large border rocks. I dug it up and potted it and later in the afternoon the beautiful flowers opened. My yard seems to get lots of volunteer Cactus though I am not a particular fan of Cactus. However, this one has really pretty flowers. Thanks for any info.

Can't help you but it's pretty!!

Hetty

It looks like a Mammillaria of some sort with that halo of flowers. I would love to have volunteer cacti like that! So pretty.

very much for that info Kate. I will look that up.

could be a Mammillaria blossfeldiana or the Mammillaria grahamii, which grows wild in Arizona

Wolfgang for that info.

What about mamillaria microcarpia?
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/s...

M. microcarpa is synonym to grahamii.

Thanks, Turini. I can't keep up with all the ID changes. Most of my plants need new labels!

My vote also goes to M. grahamii.

Thanks to all for the information!

Pretty little volunteer, that's awesome. You may want to reconsider the soil you potted it up in... Mammillarias as a group like a well draining mix (like half rock), and don't like to stay wet for too long. You can mix regular potting soil with perlite or pumice (or lava rock or whatever you have around) and arrive at a very cactus-friendly mix.

Otherwise I would advise caution to avoid overwatering (and keep the pot under cover to avoid excess rain). The rule of thumb with these plants is to wait until the soil is dry, then water well. They are probably going to be more finicky in a pot then they would be in the ground, for what it's worth.

I have some outside in Scottsdale, AZ. I let the winter rains water them, and water maybe 3 times during the hot summer and they all bloom and are happy. They don't need much water, for sure. When we planted them in the ground, we dug out our clay soil and amended it with a cactus type mix with extra pumice and perlite. Even when we get flooding rains, the cactus are happy.

Baja_Costero said:Pretty little volunteer, that's awesome. You may want to reconsider the soil you potted it up in... Mammillarias as a group like a well draining mix (like half rock), and don't like to stay wet for too long. You can mix regular potting soil with perlite or pumice (or lava rock or whatever you have around) and arrive at a very cactus-friendly mix.

Otherwise I would advise caution to avoid overwatering (and keep the pot under cover to avoid excess rain). The rule of thumb with these plants is to wait until the soil is dry, then water well. They are probably going to be more finicky in a pot then they would be in the ground, for what it's worth.

Baja for that information. When I found it I potted it using a Cactus Mix. Seems to be happy so far.

Karen for telling me about your experiences with this Cactus. I have learned so much here.