CACTUS GROWING AS HOBBY
45 Years the Same Hobby!
A story of patience, beauty, pain and pleasure, and new hope!
I have had the same hobby for 45 years. I don’t know exactly when it started, but as a teenager, I found my passion for cacti.
It was during a trip to Copenhagen where I visited my aunt and cousin. We went to the large cactus greenhouse in the botanical garden. It was very fascinating.
When I came home, I naturally had to start acquiring some of these special and enduring plants.
I borrowed books about cacti from the library, and I also bought myself a book about cacti with my pocket money. It was my bible. Those beautiful pictures of flowering cacti in their many stunning colors fascinated me.
One Wednesday, when I came home from school, I read the local weekly newspaper. There was an article about a woman in the neighboring town who had a “Queen of the Night — Selenicereus Grandiflorus” that was blooming. I was ecstatic. A Night-blooming cereus here in Denmark? I had to get a cutting of that plant!
It was fortunate that the woman was married to a hairdresser. A men’s hairdresser. So, in my budding puberty, I thought it was time to find a hairdresser and not just be cut by my mother or father at home.
Since I was earning money by delivering newspapers myself, I could afford that luxury.
I hopped on my bike and cycled the 6 km to the neighboring town, entering the hair salon. The friendly hairdresser cut and styled my hair.
Of course, as it often happens during visits to the hairdresser, we chatted. I mentioned that I had seen the article about his wife’s Beautiful Blooming Cactus.
He proudly talked about this plant and its beautiful flowers. It didn’t take long for him to realize that I was very interested in cacti, especially this Queen of the Night.
I was lucky that he asked if I wanted to see it. I did!
I was invited into their private area and approached the window where the large plant stood.
His wife joined us and proudly reported about the brief but intense large flower and how exciting it had been.
I told them about my trip to Copenhagen and my fascination with cacti, and luckily it wasn’t long before she asked, ‘Would you like a cutting?’ And I gladly accepted.
She gave me instructions on how to let the stems dry for a few days before planting them, at least a week later.
I cycled home with my precious cargo. It was so exciting, and the week-long wait to plant them felt like an eternity.
The years went by, and I moved away from home, and of course, my Queen of the Night moved with me.
Finally — Flowering Time
She continued to accompany me through several relocations, and when she was about 10 years old, I succeeded in getting her to bloom for the first time.
It was very exciting.
Five friends gathered that evening, eagerly waiting for the miracle to happen, and the large flower bud opened with such speed that you could actually see it happening.
Within half an hour, it was fully open, and the faint scent of vanilla filled the room.
The following morning, it was closed again, and all the beauty was forever lost.
Fascinating!
In the following years, it was almost a yearly success to get the Queen of the Night to bloom, with at least one flower. As she grew even larger, two or three flowers appeared, and the highest count was five flowers at once. It was a huge success.
2010 — The Catastrophe!
When my Danish Selenicereus Grandiflorus was 32 years old, the catastrophe struck.
My father-in-law had passed away in Germany, and in the middle of winter, we had to leave our home and drive to Brandenburg to arrange the funeral and empty the apartment.
It was in January, and it was bitterly cold.
The terrible thing happened at home, where it was just as cold. Our heating system broke down.
The house froze, and so did my Queen.
I can’t say that I was so upset about my father-in-law passing away because we didn’t have much contact with him.
But the loss of my Queen of the Night was truly a catastrophe.
For 10 years, I tried to find a Night-blooming cereus, but none of my acquaintances had such a plant.
New Hope — New Selenicereus Grandiflorus
2020 I got the idea that maybe I could order seeds to sow and grow small plants gradually into larger ones.
I ordered them online, and in a few days, the package arrived with a small packet of seeds, I believe there were 20 seeds in it.
They were sown and sprouted willingly.
I have shared these plants with others, but I have two left myself, and they are now two years old. That’s no age for a Queen of the Night, especially not an age where she begins to bloom yet.
I must practice patience and wait.
But I do have my other cactus plants to enjoy in the meantime.
New Sorts in my Collection
I have acquired two epiphyllum species that I’m looking forward to following.
- An Epiphyllum Anguliger (Fishbone Cactus)
2. Epiphyllium Cristo Almeria
I usually have a knack for getting Christmas and Easter cacti to bloom several times a year, so why shouldn’t it work with these epiphyllums? They belong to the same botanical family.
Epiphyllum Cristo Almeria has large red buds right now, and I’m excited to see the big beautiful red flowers. It could become a new branch of my cactus hobby.
Thoughts on My Hobby
I have thought a lot about why I have this particular hobby.
The plants grow slowly, they endure through careful care for many years.
They reward me for my care with beautiful flowers.
They prick me if I am careless.
And if I am too generous with the watering can, I risk killing them.
It’s a balancing act between pain and pleasure. Almost a bit sadomasochistic.
At the same time, it’s a hobby that allows me to share something with others. If a friend wants a cutting, well, then I cut a piece off, and the plant forgives me based on the species’ desire to survive.
I never leave my cactus hobby — I’m constantly discovering new species to try my hand at.
This way, it never gets boring, even though time for a cactus seems to pass infinitely slowly.
If you want to know more about Epiphyllum cactus and how many different sorts available, please visit this link — It will take you out of Medium.com, and I won't earn anything by your visit to the page.