Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

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Geoff
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Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#1

Post by Geoff »

Acanthocereus Fairy 7-09.jpg
Acanthocereus Fairy 7-09.jpg (110.01 KiB) Viewed 11185 times
Acanthocereus update 10-09 (2).jpg
Acanthocereus update 10-09 (2).jpg (125.9 KiB) Viewed 11185 times
Acanthocereus with scale.jpg
Acanthocereus with scale.jpg (125.05 KiB) Viewed 11185 times
this is a miniature cultivar of a normally pretty tall, columnar bright green cactus with four sides. This is a fairly popular cultivar and makes a great potted plant if you can keep it free of bugs and from overwatering it (neither which I was able to do).
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#2

Post by Stan »

I had one..maybe the first cactus I ever bought,in the 70's and it died around 2012. It looked like the large one in Geoffs photo,had a nice trunk to it. THEN,it caught a virus. Nothing I did saved it..changed soils,even planted it out in the ground to see if that would invigorate it. Still died.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
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Geoff
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#3

Post by Geoff »

have not been able to keep one of these alive for more than a few years
anttisepp
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#4

Post by anttisepp »

Cultivar of Cereus peruvianus (or hildmannianus uruguayanus - depends on taste).
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mcvansoest
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#5

Post by mcvansoest »

anttisepp wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 4:47 am Cultivar of Cereus peruvianus (or hildmannianus uruguayanus - depends on taste).
No, that is not correct it is a cultivar of Acanthocereus tretragonus, which is a very different looking plant compared to the Fairy Castle cultivar.
It is what it is!
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#6

Post by anttisepp »

[/quote]No, that is not correct it is a cultivar of Acanthocereus tretragonus, which is a very different looking plant compared to the Fairy Castle cultivar. [/quote]
:)
Have you ever seen true Acanthocereus tetragonus? Forest cactus with long branches.
It's very easy to ID the original species of this cultivar if to cut one bigger branch, deleting all new branches at beginning, plant in bigger pot and give enough water, then it's grow will be faster and stem more thicker with bluish epidermis, at last it will not give any new branches at all and top of the stem will be 100% Cereus. :)
As me as my friends did it. I grow also 2 opuntias from "monstrose" cultivar same way and got at last O. ficus indica and Austrocylindropuntia subulata.
These cultivars are product of slow phytoplasma infection which cause prolific monstrose growth. In case when stem grow faster, infection hasn't time to spread and top tissue will be free of phytoplasma.
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#7

Post by mcvansoest »

I actually grow a short spined version of A. tetragonus and I would post pictures if it was in a photogenic phase, but it is still only just recovering from being moved two years ago. I have seen Fairy Castle starts on some branches that have eventually grown into the regular form or faded away, so I am pretty convinced that Fairy Castle does not just turn into a Cereus, which are also very large cacti at maturity.
It is what it is!
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#8

Post by anttisepp »

OK. Just for you and others who believe in "Fairy Tale of Acanthocereus" I'll show here what will grow from a small cutting. Right? ;)
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#9

Post by anttisepp »

Here's a small very young plant I 've got lasr spring. Upper growth above the neck is summer new growth. Some sprouts are cut off, some still on the stem. It was neglected in rooting pot with cat litter that's why growth is so poor. In future I'll repot it each year in bigger pot and cut all new branches to provide strong growth of the main stem. Usually these plants need 1-3 years to overgrow juvenile / phytoplasma-infected tissue and to get an appearance of common basic species.
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Re: Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'

#10

Post by anttisepp »

Sorry for technical problems. :)
So, first pic - young "Fairy Castle", dwarf cereus,
and second - "Paolina" superdwarf. Fresh cutting on the left I hold by pincete. I'll try to grow it also trying to get normal Cereus stem at last.
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Paolina.jpg
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