Unknown... Echinopsis? Possibly picture heavy.

I appologise about the photos.

Had this in the garden for a few years and it didnt grow, from what i remember. It was covered by succulents and stuff and i was just looking in the garden and saw it. Few months ago i potted it up and it shot out some new branches, but theyre etilioted because of being where it was. Now it has a flower, on the outer edge of the petals is a really showy purple, really metalic in colour. A CV i guess then?

Hi Michael it's a Disocactus! (Aporocactus) this one is more like the old Aporocactus x mallisonii that I used to have than the one on Lachy's post...
See It Here! ...notice your areoles are much closer together than Lachy's... but that is most likely more to do with it's growing conditions/light/shade, etc.

Nice flower, I can see why you thought it's an echinopsis!

CP

on the upside its not etiolated.

Wow, way off. I should have known by the purple tinge in the flower
Certainly know your stuff CP, thanks.
Im not up with the Aporocactus family, do i treat them like any other cactus? Or have they special requirements? I wouldnt mind planting it in the new garden.

Actually Lewis, it is, the stem with the flower is the original stem, the other 2 are new, well the smallest one is the newest, but both are quite etiolated

maybe the new growth starts out thin? (heres hoping)
nice flower on that one in any case, and yeah i see the echinopsis-effect sorta looks like an epi flower too IMO

Nah it doesnt sadly, i remember when the 2nd biggest stem grew. Ohwell
Yeh i like the flower, probly my favourite so far

it looks quite happy in its pot... bet its glad to be free of those weedy succulents smothering it in the garden

Your plant looks very normal and healthy to me, the stems are usually only about 12-15mm thick.
One of the plants use in the hybridisation of this plant would possibly have been Heliocereus, hence the purple tinge in the flower.
Here's my Heliocereus speciosa not long before it was stolen from my front porch 26 or so years ago...


Here's a pic of X mallisonii I took in the greenhouse of John and Dinie Van Hees (Vic), in 1983


And just for comparison, Disocactus (Aporocactus) flagelliformis in my greenhouse yesterday.



These plants are epiphytic and lend themselves best to being planted in hanging pots, note that the stems on X mallisonii are stiffer and less pendulant than those of X mallisonii.

I have mine planted in usual cactus mix and treat them like most of my other cacti with winter dormancy.

CP

Awsome CP! I can see why it got nocked off though
I will pot it up in a hanging pot i think

Im 100% positive that the growth is etiolated because its only about 3mm thick, not just at the tips, i mean like half way through the stem.

MichaelCactus wrote:

Im 100% positive that the growth is etiolated because its only about 3mm thick, not just at the tips, i mean like half way through the stem.

Oh! well in that case, that bit will never "grow out", but good light will ensure good growth from here on in!

CP