Author Topic: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!  (Read 2149 times)

Offline bonneyman

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The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« on: April 24, 2021, 03:12:15 PM »
The totally cut back night blooming cactus has sprouted a ton of buds, and the prickly pear corner cluster has sprouted a bunch of flowers. Never saw two different colored flowers from the same bud at one time before! And our one remaining bouganvilla looks beautiful trimmed and not taking over - with purple flowers.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2021, 05:36:16 PM by bonneyman »

Offline bonneyman

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2021, 03:13:09 PM »
Here's a close-up of one arm of the night bloomer. Lots of buds!

Offline slip knot

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2021, 03:26:53 PM »
Nice, I think my night bloomer is toast along with a lot of others. That February freeze was pretty rough on my plants. The only ones that didn't get hammered were the plumerias. They seem to be ok.

Offline DeadNutz

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2021, 03:43:50 PM »
It can be amazing what a little water can do for thirsty plants. The snow we got a couple of weeks ago and now warmer weather has made the weeds explode.

Offline skfarmer

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2021, 05:26:35 PM »
good for you. giving nature just a little boost sometimes gives  huge results.
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline bonneyman

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2021, 05:35:30 PM »
I know it probably sounds trivial but it just made me wonder if cactus (which are created to withstand arid conditions) are dying then what the heck are all the other plants doing? They're predicting water restrictions in the western half of the US, and I can't imagine you farmers in the center of the country are doing great either.

I forgot to mention we eat the night blooming fruit if we can beat the birds to them. And the olive tree is also doing better with some water. Putting out a bunch of suckers (we call them) which - given a few years - should fill in the half we had to chop off.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2021, 05:38:02 PM by bonneyman »

Offline skfarmer

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2021, 05:38:18 PM »
are they really dying or just going totally dormant?
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline bonneyman

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Re: The cacti have responded to my drip watering!
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2021, 06:12:09 PM »
are they really dying or just going totally dormant?

During times of stress the paddles on the prickly pear cactus will get thin and shriveled. We were past that point. Things lost their green color and turning tan, and if you dared squeezing them they were brittle like potato chips. The night bloomer stalks got that same tan color and brittle, so we cut them off below that point to try and spare the plant form keeping so much material going. Then the watering and the buds appeared.

I think I heard the Saguaro National Monument was also bad as well. I don't know where this series of pictures was taken in the park but the diminishing cactus is astonding.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2019/11/counting-cacti-saguaro-national-park