Blooming cactus - Arachnacantha is back from the dead

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(Edited)

Lobivia arachnacantha adrijana 2021 3.jpg

And so we continue with the firsts. First flower in this cactus opened today fully. I almost shot it yesterday, but it looked so shy. Luckily we got some sun today and it showed what it can.

Lobivia arachnacantha

It turns out that I have three of those from different sources. But I think the body and the flowers are slightly different, so I will keep them all.

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It is native to Bolivia and it's one tough cookie! It likes bright conditions and sun and, but it will also withstand freezing temperatures for short periods of time. It is a small cactus that will create nice clumps with multiple heads with time (and you can see that on my one).

The one I have here had some hard time with me in the past. I got it as a cutting and it rooted well, but then I think it was attacked by spider mites or mealybugs and it just looked so miserable for a long time. You can see the discolorations on the lower parts.

Last year I thought it just died and I almost threw it away. But knowing that cacti can almost come back from the dead, I decided to repot it, clean the roots, spray and put it in a few mineral soil. And voila... We have some flowers :)

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The flower is HUGE comparing to the cactus. Here is a shot with my hand. The plant is potted now in 5 cm pot and still has plenty of room on the sides.

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It is amazing how this tiny abuse cactus managed to grow such large flower. And it is just the first one. I think there is another bud, but I am not sure if it didn't blast. Or it is waiting for its turn since this one must have cost a lot of energy.

The name "arachnacantha" means "with spider web-shaped thorns" in Green and you can see why this name, though to me the spines look like skinny spider legs, not a web.

Lobivia arachnacantha adrijana 2021 12.jpg

And something weird:
The plant started to grow tons of little babies around. And that is perfectly normal. But look at them! They grow roots like mad even from the middle of the little body!

I can only guess it is a way to make sure the plant survives. In case the mother plant dies (and I guess that was close) the babies will survive and they do need roots for that.

I will probably remove some of the tops ones this year and plant them separately. The ones under will have no room to grow when they and their roots get bigger.
You can also see that the ones under are greener and bigger since the roots are growing in the soil and no in the air.

Imagine a field of those blooming in the same time... 😍

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My other blooming cacti:

Click on the image to view full post.


Chamaecereus hybrid

Sulcorebutia Canigueralii

Mammillaria camptotricha

Mammillaria Glassii

Gymnocalycium baldianum
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Mediolobivia mudanensis

Lobivia Arachnacantha

Rebutia hybrid

Mammillaria Bombycina

Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap

Mammillaria haageana

Mammillaria backebergiana

Chamaecereus silvestrii

Mammillaria prolifera

Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora

Lobivia Wrightiana
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Aylostera Flavistyla FR756

Parodia concinna

Mammillaria Copper King
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Gymnocalycium Bruchii

Mammillaria backebergiana

Gymnocalycium damsii

Echinopsis subdenudata
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Rhipsalis pilocarpa
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Mammillaria Prolifera
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Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis
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Mediolobivia atrovirens
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Mammillaria magnimamma
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Sulcorebutia langerii
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Sulcorebutia frankiana
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Chamaelobivia no ID
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Rebutia Albiflora
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Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri
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Gymnocalycium damsii var. tucavocense
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Notocactus Ottonis
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Gymnocalycium Friedrichii
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Turbinicarpus Viereckii
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Rebutia neocumingii
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Notocactus Rubrigemmatus
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Lobivia no ID
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Sulcorebutia albissima

»«
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.



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26 comments
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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 56 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
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It is amazing how this tiny abuse cactus managed to grow such large flower.

That was exactly the same I thought, tiny body of the cactus and huge flowers! How do you manage that :D They like you and your place.

And really, how strange those roots of the babies from the middle of them. Like some fingers (again me, playing the game what do we see 🤣 )
So the conclusion is: The fingers-root cacti has a lot of babies and can have some huge nice flowers. They like the place of #CactusQueen and could be a nice colourful carpet in a field, if they would grow all there and have flowers all at the same time. Resume done, good night ;D

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It wasn't me! I almost killed it :p
She did that on her own :D

Hahaha

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I have recently become really intrigued with cacti. I was given a small one as a gift but I have very little light in my place. I hope it survives.

The flowers on your cactus are just amazing. How incredible would it be to see a field full of these blooming!

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Ohhh cool! Please show what you got :)
Put it on the window sill and it should be ok.

Yeaaaa I saw some pictures of people growing them in large greenhouses and when they bloom they look like spring lawn.

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Que hermosa flor ,no la había visto un cactus florecer.

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Those picture have everything I like: plants, cactus, flower and spider-shaped things. It looks beautiful and the black background helps highlighting its features. You say it's from Bolivia. Well, that country is almost all high places. Plants like that are used to get weird reaction to more oxygen exposure.

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Maybe that's it...
But I have other plants from Bolivia too and they seem more normal. No weird growing habits.
Maybe this one is some mutant :D

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It certainly looks otherworldly🤣

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Lovely flower. Glad you waited a little while before you took the picture. I'm still hoping mine will eventually bloom too 🙏

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Yea.. sometimes I miss them completely due to bad weather and they never fully open.

Fingers crossed for yours :)

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Those babies look like little spiders just dying to run away hahaha
Seriously though, I think that they are the kind that can detach from the parent plant and roll around until they find a suitable spot and settle there. Some Haworthia can do that and it was probably a response to the stress the mother plant had. I love that red!

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Haha yeaa quite creepy :p

I think so too. The plant was really miserable for a long time. A survival mode made them grow the roots fster than they normally would.

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(Edited)

That red color is spectacular, and I understand the little kids, we all want to be independent at some point, I guess the time came for them.

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Haha their will will come true :)

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