Not-Blooming Yet Night Blooming Cactus

Well, let's see which of the forum enablers I can blame this one on? How about Indigoez with the 29(30) Blooms At Once or Don with his wonderful first try at growing cactus AND getting flowers to boot or perhaps Xenomorf with his vast knowledge and ID skills. I think in fact they should all take responsibility for this purchase. :-)

It was a great deal that begged to be taken home (it's been languishing at the nursery for a very long time) and I just happened to have a pot that matched that lovely turquoisey color perfectly. The tag said Cereus peruvianus and I have included a closeup of the spines, but I suppose the real test will be when (IF) it blooms. Perhaps I can paste some Epi blooms on it next year to help it get in the mood.

Thanks for the inspiration you guys! I've never had a "cactus" collection, although over the years a very few examples have crept in.....I think this one puts me over the edge into the Cactus camp.

Candy, congratulations on your new baby! :-) And hey, you're in California....you HAVE to have a few cacti LOL. I've got my token cacti too (2 of them in fact). :-) I can't wait to see yours bloom! Now if I could ever get mine positively ID'd I might be able to prod them into blooming too LOL

-Julie

LOL Julie.....I'm not holding my breath for buds or flowers, but wouldn't it be a nice surprise if it happened sometime soon?

Welcome New Camper! You're official now. I'm still trying to branch OUT of the cactus camp!

Great pot, too!

Yes, just about everywhere the C. hildmannianus is being passed off as C. peruvianus, because of at least 2 reasons. They look alot alike and, at one time in the past C. peruvianus was considered a synonym of C. hildmannianus, but that was decidedly deemed to be misapplied as a synonym as of the 2001 reclassifications. So now it is a synonym of C. repandus. And the "Peruvian Apple Cactus" name has been associated with most of these type of plants.
My vote on your cactus is for C. hildmannianus subsp. hildmannianus, because the areoles are not as notched as C. repandus (peruvianus). But we'll see soon about the flowers.

Thanks Jen.....glad to be in the cactus camp! I get a terrible allergic reaction when the spines get me, but I think this just might make me learn to wear gloves. You should have seen me in three layers of clothes and gloves with towels wrapped around this guy to wrestle it out of the plastic container. And it was about 85F outside.....ridiculous gardener, thank goodness I was hidden from public view.

Xenomorf - thanks so much for the info on the ID.....and I hope you are correct about the flowers coming sooner rather than later. I'd be happy with next season. :-)