I am perfectly aware that to most of you my cactus blah blah blah and the excitement is boring and incomprehensible. I do. Only cactus geeks and people that grow more unusual plants from seeds will get it (I hope).
But look! Look at this little thing! /insert jumping emoji here/
I have been trying, with some success, to grow cacti from seed. Why? Because why not? And I do have some that are 4 years old already and never bloomed. This year some started to grow buds, but they aborted them.
And then this little guy comes in, only 2 years old and bam! "I got a flower for ya Hooman!".
Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri
Such a fancy name for such a little thing :) I hope I managed to ID it correctly. I got a pack of mixed seeds without knowing what is in it and now it is all a guessing game.
It can also be called Rebutia ritteri and it is native to Argentina and Bolivia. A rather small cactus with short spines.
With time it should start producing ofshoots and create a nice clump. Basically what I like.
At the moment my one is the size of a small cherry tomato. It grows in those little 5.5 cm pots and you see how much space it still has.
I like how dark green the corpus is. I am guess it will change the colour a bit, to more purple when stressed or with more direct sun, but I will not risk it now. It is too young to handle the heat all day long. It is getting some morning sunshine, when it is not so aggressive and then light shade thought the day. Seems to be just right :)
The flowers... oh those flowers! I would like the petals to be more round, but just look at this colour. So bright orange it almost hurts! Imagine 10 of those in a pot :D
I didn't notice and fragranec on it.
Now that I write the post the flower is already faded - it lasted a few days, which is quite normla. I am waiting to see if it will form some fruits. I will sow more of those babies :)
And since I am showing a 2 year old with flowers, here is another one. From the same batch of mixed seeds. Also a 2 year old. But I didn't manage to catch the flower in full bloom due to shitty weather and now they are already fading.
It is some type of Chamaelobivia. No fancy name for this one - they is so many hybrids and apparently they mix easily that for me it is impossible to ID.
I have a few of this type, but not with this colour! Like a deep cherry red. Absolutely love it!.
I know this type can grow really fast, but again - I did not expect flowers. And on top of that it has tons of little ofshots already. This one will be much easier to propagate though cuttings very soon.
My other blooming cacti:
 Chamaecereus hybrid |  Sulcorebutia Canigueralii |  Mammillaria camptotricha |  Mammillaria Glassii |
 Gymnocalycium baldianum |  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 |
 Aylostera Flavistyla FR756 |  Parodia concinna |  Mammillaria Copper King |  Gymnocalycium Brushii |
 Mammillaria backebergiana |  Gymnocalycium damsii |  Echinopsis subdenudata |  Rhipsalis pilocarpa |
 Mammillaria Prolifera |  Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis |  Mediolobivia atrovirens |  Mammillaria magnimamma |
 Sulcorebutia langerii |  Sulcorebutia frankiana |  Chamaelobivia no ID |  Rebutia Albiflora |
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
Beautiful color of flowers!
The beauty of cacti can only be understood by a lover of cacti :-)))
Are never many cacti, the main thing is that there should be enough space for them :-)))
There is always space for one more cactus.
That's my rule :D
And yes - cactus growers understand each other. I hope she starts producing some babies soon. Love that orange colour.
I also like this color!
it blooms at night, those pollens needs a bee.
Some bloom at night and those are pollinated by moths (bees don't fly at night). But most bloom during the day and need sun to open. They will close the flowers for the night.
Wow that is amazing fact.
Look at all those flowers! I think this a very cool hobby.
Thanks! It is very engaging but also rewarding when you finally see a tiny little flower after few years.
Teaches some patience too :p
Wow, these are very beautiful. One thing I have observed here is, almost all the cactus flowers have multiple petals. When I read about them, it says for it's own protection from blowing winds in deserts. Such a cool creation.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful flowers and their story 😊
Hmm.. I never though of that, but when I look at the photos of mine, I guess it is true :)
They often grow in side of mountains and rocks, in dry environment. So I bet it can get windy there with lots of sand and dust blowing.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Thank you very much :)
These flowers look so magical and beautiful. A contrast to the green plants with sharp needles!
And the petals are so delicate you can almost hardly feel them!