Blooming cactus - 5 year old Lobivia
I was waiting for almost 5 years to see this flower.
And now that the time has finally come, the weather sucks and it doesn't want to open fully. It has been trying for the past 3 days and today I finally decided to shoot it. I don't expect it to last much longer, so I didn't want to miss the chance.
I don't have a name for it as I got a mix of seeds with no cactus ID on it. I am guessing it is a Lobivia. And that is as far as I will go.
Lobivia no ID
Let's start from the start :)
Almost 5 years ago on one of the FB cactus forums someone wanted to give away cactus seeds. I had absolutely no experience sowing them, and not much experience growing them either. But what the hell! I want some!
Quick agreement and the pack of seeds was sent to my address. I was told it is a mix with all kinds of type (that is true). But nothing specific.
I sowed some of them in summer 2016 and the long waiting begun.
Since that was also my first time growing cacti from seeds I killed so many of them! Some were already 2-3 years old and had different corpuses... so that is a bummer. I will never know what they were.
This is how sprouting cacti look like. Those little buttons are about 2mm across. It will take them about a year to reach a pea size.
Two years ago it was still growing in one of those little 5cm orange pots.
Later it was moved to the larger black one.
Until this year :)
This year some of them FINALLY decided to bloom! To be honest I am a little bit disappointed with the flower as I like more pronounced colours (this one seem a bit washed out), but it still a very special one.
Maybe if it opened properly I would also like it more.
There is another tiny bud that I hope will develop well and maybe then the flower will show its full glory.
My other blooming cacti:
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
Oh, so this one!! :) It IS special if you had to wait so many years for it, and the flower colour, although not the brighter one, is lovely.
Wow, so tiny ones 💚
I am surprised I didn't kill it in that 5 years :D
There are those that are this old and will not bloom. Maybe next year...
Cute, eh? :)
Cute, sí :)
This one wanted to bloom to come to show itself here 🤩
After reading 5 years, I think I better avoid planting the seeds haha, although where I live the temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius, I guess that must help its growth, but after waiting so long I wouldn't be disappointed by the flower, it is still beautiful and photogenic, you know I love your pictures.
Hahaha Don't be discouraged! Some types bloom in their second year. I have those too :)
(some need 40+ years 😂). I enjoy the plants even without flowers. Some have interesting forms and spines. But I will not bore everyone with millions of spines shots. So I wait for flowers :)
Also depends. If they don't get direct sun in this temperatures, it might help. Seedlings should be protected from the sun for at least a year.
But when it gets too hot and dry, some types might go dormant. It is to prevent losing more moisture, since they are not getting any.
Sow them! :)
Damn, I thought I had some good pictures of spines haha, I'd better stop talking or I'll run out of ideas for posts.
Haha noooo show yours!
But you know.. I could shoot my 100 cacti over and over. And all the tiniest details between them. I can imagine it can be boring for most people :)
Even though they are all very photogenic!
I don't think so, I don't get tired of seeing pictures, I probably get tired of reading fake stories, but not when it's about real experiences that come with delicious pictures.
Not fair. Not fair at all. How is it you can afford to be disappointed with such a lovely bloom when I will give up all my wife's plants for just one cactus to bloom regardless of color? Not fair. Not fair. 😩
But in truth I've seen the other blooms you have and they are really beautiful. But so is this one too. Lovely post, as usual.
I am just a little disappointed with the colour. Then again.. it could skip blooming :p
Lovely colour! I couldn’t wait this long!! LoL
But these flowers are worth the time and patience.
Thanks! They are there anyway :) Just growing... year after year...