Home depot cacti ID

[Reyes Vargas]

Hello I went to home depot and bought 3 small cacti and of course they don't say what they are, hope someone can help me.  One other thing is how do I remove that ultra fake plastic flower that they glue on top without harming the cacti?  Why do they do that in the first place.  Thanks.

[aabell]

Mammilaria, Parodia, and Echinopsis for a start. Those are three large and confusing genera so may be difficult to narrow down from there. Cactiguide.com is a good resource. Should be able to figure out the Mammilaria from those nice flowers. As for the hot glue, I've never found a good way to remove it unfortunately. Just keep in mind the apical meristem from which all future growth will happen is right on top under that glue and if it is damaged while you're ripping off the glue the cactus will be forced to produce an arm or offsets instead of normal growth. 

[Fusca]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:49 PM, Reyes Vargas said:

One other thing is how do I remove that ultra fake plastic flower that they glue on top without harming the cacti?  Why do they do that in the first place.

Can't help you there, but agree that is pretty dumb for them to use glue.  They could've just as easily used a color-coded ribbon or container to indicate the bloom color.  I do like the idea of them doing something to show bloom color, just not that!  I don't know how many times I've looked at hibiscus or bougainvillea in garden centers not having a clue to the color of the flower which would influence my buying decision.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Can't help you there, but agree that is pretty dumb for them to use glue.  They could've just as easily used a color-coded ribbon or container to indicate the bloom color.  I do like the idea of them doing something to show bloom color, just not that!  I don't know how many times I've looked at hibiscus or bougainvillea in garden centers not having a clue to the color of the flower which would influence my buying decision.

Like the multi colored Succulents, this is another totally dumb marketing idea.. and for those that don't realize it, can ruin any new found enthusiasm for growing Cacti. Someone on another forum managed to find a couple AZ Rainbows ( Echinocereus rigidissimus v. rubispinus ) which have tiny spines.. Pulled off the fake flower attached to them and likely damaged the growing tip of one of them.. I'd be furious, lol

The other issue is likely a result of what i call " lazy labeling " Most places/ people who work at X place often only provide the most general info.. ignoring other important aspects many people also want to/ need to know.. A good nursery will have such plants labeled by variety/ color of the flowers.. or as close to it as possible, on the label/ standing sign in front of X plants..  I myself would like to see digital touch signs where you can scroll over info/ pictures of a particular variety.

[amh]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:49 PM, Reyes Vargas said:

Hello I went to home depot and bought 3 small cacti and of course they don't say what they are, hope someone can help me.  One other thing is how do I remove that ultra fake plastic flower that they glue on top without harming the cacti?  Why do they do that in the first place.  Thanks.

The summer sun may help in removal, but dont just rip the phony flowers off until you know it wont damage the plant.

On a side note; who starts these stupid trends?

[Silas_Sancona]

7 minutes ago, amh said:

 

On a side note; who starts these stupid trends?

Martha Stewart wanna -bees

[Reyes Vargas]

Well I was able to remove the fake flowers from the cacti.  I used a blow dryer on the low setting but unfortunately it was still a little to hot and I damaged the mammillaria.  The good thing is that the growing point was not damaged.  I've learned my lesson no more buying cactus with fake flowers glued on.

Here is my mammillaria in bloom despite being almost cooked to death.

Here you can kinda see where the cactus has shrunk a little where it got heated a little to much.  It's a little discolored as well.

[Merlyn]

If they used hot glue, rubbing alcohol will dissolve it...sorta.  It makes hot glue "crumbly" and it loses any adhesion to any surface.  Squirt some rubbing alcohol in there, wait a few minutes, and then give it a little tug.  If it's hot glue then it should come loose really easily, and you can remove any leftover pieces of glue with tweezers.

[Reyes Vargas]

Hello guys instead of starting a new thread I'm just going to post it here. Do opuntia seedling start off red and then lose that coloring?

I found this little cactus and dug it up and planted it in a small pot.  As you can see it has a nice red color.  A month or so later it has lost all the red and turned all green.

Any input is appreciated.  When I found this I thought I had something special.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Hello guys instead of starting a new thread I'm just going to post it here. Do opuntia seedling start off red and then lose that coloring?

I found this little cactus and dug it up and planted it in a small pot.  As you can see it has a nice red color.  A month or so later it has lost all the red and turned all green.

Any input is appreciated.  When I found this I thought I had something special.

Yes, they can start out red/ reddish before assuming normal coloration. This may not be an Opuntia however.. All Prickly Pear i've started from seed have two succulent Cotyledon- type leaves before producing the usual growth.

Here's a couple Opuntia seedling examples from last year. Unfortunately i ended up cooking 98% of the seedlings i'd started last year.   Have plenty of seed, and Cactus seed retains viability for years.. so no worries on loosing last years batches.





Yours could be something like Acanthocereus ( Barbed Wire/ Triangle Cactus ) or, if really lucky, maybe one of your local Hedgehogs ( Echinocereus sp. ) All start out w/ out the fleshy " leaves " / are cylindrical / columnar as babies.

[Reyes Vargas]

Here are a few more pictures of what it looks like now.  Pretty sure it's a plain old prickly pear cactus.

[Silas_Sancona]

17 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Here are a few more pictures of what it looks like now.  Pretty sure it's a plain old prickly pear cactus.

Opuntia for sure.

[Kitty01]

does anyone know where I can find or purchase these plastic flowers that are on the cactus