An Obsession Was Born
Never sure exactly where it started, maybe it was seeing someone's collection and thought hmm, that looks pretty cool I bet they're really complicated to grow! (How wrong I was, they couldn't be simpler). Then at some point, I notice how so many little shops here in Thailand had them out on the sidewalk as a 'sideline' to the shops main product/service. It could be a convenience store, a salon, a pet shop, or more traditionally as a section of a garden center. There's one pictured below which is literally just a retired persons house that is right opposite the Veterinarian, convenient to collect another whenever the cats go for jabs! They're cheap also, typically under $2 sometimes less. Larger or more mature go for more money, so they actually increase in value as you grow them. Who said money doesn't grow on ... Cacti?
Multiplication Curve
An obsession, a new collection, another hobby, was born. As we'll see through these pictures and descriptions, they are actually rather easy to take of and even cloning themselves, some at alarming rates. Perhaps I'll end up having to place a table out front with an honesty box if this keeps on. Ah-ha! That must be how all the locals end up selling them curbside!
Will I end up like this if I carry on? Elder lady opposite my Vet has a great range available.
Cactus Have Personalities Too
Bits fall off and then get stuck in their own bit of soil, and proceed to grow into new pieces. Bits perform growth spurts and then promptly fall flat on their face with the weight. Small twigs from around the garden prop them up, like scaffolding in miniature. Some sprout beautiful flowers which die after just 24 hours. In fact all are still quite miniature for now, time will tell if some of our specimens will grow large in years to follow. A few have been re-potted and shown growth spurts afterwards. This really is an intriguing hobby, as curious as a tank of fish with far less cost and maintenance.
Portable Garden
Another run of unforeseen circumstances in 2022 sees that NewtonClassics moved 3 times, yet never to complain as now we have peace and quiet and lots more growing to do. Yet, yes. This whole lot was able to move with us easily just by securing it carefully and allowing it a 'rest' after the moving stresses. All is in good form and can go to another location if need arises! That's the best part of a 'tabletop garden'. It can be indoor/outdoor, and it can move with you as required.
"BEFORE AND AFTER (NOW)"
Here's numerous shots both of when they arrived, the past few months and right up until today. The comments will try to point out the differences as we go along. Some have been transplanted to larger pots and shown excellent growth this way. I'm due to do some more re-potting soon, so now was the ideal time before I completely change all the pots, and set some new seedlings into their own pots.
This guy is now over 2 feet tall, starting from just a few inches - and also has reproduced many many babies. The light is from the late afternoon sun.
As above, in a moment we'll see what this looks like just a few months later.
one of the '24 hour' flowers, which sprout bloom and die in as much time. A lovely surprise everytime they appear.
This variety looks like a baby or 'bonsai' kind of palm tree, with it's thorny protection on the upper part of the trunk. A really cool looking plant, it grew well in a new pot. I'm debating to put it in a larger pot and see if it gets much bigger, or keep it the size it is now.
That little tiny guy in the first 2 shots above was repotted and staked, and shot up into this huge monster! If you look on the leaves you can see the little pods, these fall down and grow into new ones.
This flower came out a few days ago and has stuck around. There isn't much coloration, of which I'm not sure why. Still very attractive. I have recently added some cheap plant lights, LED kind with infra-red and UV to see how the cactus react to it. So far, they are looking bright and healthy from it.
He will give us a flower, at some point. Meanwhile the symmetry is something to behold.
Grow lights, $15 from Lazada are doing a great job of adding some sparkle.
The top of the beast, those pods fall right off ... see next shot below for babies ...
These all fell from the guy above, I think I'm just going to see if I can grow a little mini forest of them.
Early days shots and you can spot how they look now in the following pics.
Again this is a few months ago when these were 'new' and now most are in different pots/arrangements.
That hairy thing sticking up is what the flower in the previous shot looks like closed.
The flower showing how it comes out from the Cactus pore, and behind you can see this one has many little white frosty looking nodes all over it now.
Lighting rig, and you can see the taller ones are more advanced babies of the previous.
Lifestyle, Hobby, Passion, Sideline
Conclusion & Ethos of this Blog
It doesn't matter where or what you start with, cactus for a dollar model cars for 40 or a real motorbike for thousands. What matters is the spirit of enjoying / loving what you do, and letting the rest find its way to you - as in living your life with sustainability and letting your activities self-fund. Build the classic car or the pool table or just grow a lot of cool cacti - breed some cats? Restore a Playstation or a Nintendo. They all fit in the category of sh1t we love @NewtonClassics.
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @lxsxl ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
oh wow nice UI ... i'm making next post there thx :)
Congratulations @newtonclassics! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next payout target is 4000 HP.
The unit is Hive Power equivalent because post and comment rewards can be split into HP and HBD
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Seeing all those cactus like that was cool. Beautiful pics too. I wish I could do cactus in my office at work but I don’t have any windows. 😢
look into a small cheap LED lamp, just a simple grow lamp (maybe USB powered) is enough that could go on your desk, the great thing about these mini cactus is they don't need much sun as you'd imagine.
Every one of the cacti is amazing and they look so beautiful but none of them are as cute as me! lol.
I absolutely agree with this sentence.