Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku, Myrtillocactus geometrizans

How To Care for Myrtillocactus geometrizans ‘Fukurokuryuzinboku’ The Booby Cactus

Hi Guys 😀 In this Cactus care Blog I am talking about the very unusual and very wacky and yes a little bit naughty of a cactus called Myrtillocactus geometrizans var. ‘Fukurokuryuzinboku’ also known as ‘The Booby Cactus’ 

I have made a special How To Care for video on Myrtillocactus geometrizans var. ‘Fukurokuryuzinboku‘ also known as ‘The Booby Cactus’ on my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon and I have linked the care video at the end of this Blog 😀 

Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku, Myrtillocactus geometrizans
Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku, also known as Blue Candle Booby cactus, Breast Cactus, Titty Cactus.

ABOUT :

Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku is a monstrose cultivar of the more commonly seen Myrtillocactus geometrizans, but this Cactus has more unusual shaped ribs along with areoles that resemble nipples making this cactus appear like it has little breasts in appearance, this is why this cactus is often nicknamed as ‘The Booby Cactus’ or ‘Titty Cactus’.

Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku is a rare plant to find for sale and is only available from specialist cactus nurseries and online cactus nurseries but is now becoming more popular to grow in cultivation, it is definitely one of the more expensive cactus plants to buy.

It is a Japanese cultivar that can grow up to 4.5 metres high ( 178 inches ) and 10 cm wide in diameter ( 4 inches ).

LIGHT :

This cactus definitely like a nice sunny spot, however when these plants are still young ( less than 3 inches in height ) or if taken as cuttings they are best placed in a less sunnier position, however when cuttings have fully rooted and the plant is taller than 3 inches in height they love to be placed in a sunny position as long as ventilation can be provided. If grown on a very sunny south facing window in the middle of summer then a shade cloth may be placed over the window to allow indirect sunshine onto the plant this will prevent scorch or yellowing of the stem.

SOIL : 

A very well draining cactus soil is an absolute must for these cacti as soil that stays wet for too long will encourage rot, a good quality well draining cactus and succulent soil mix is to be used and not any other type of houseplant soil. I like to make my own cactus soil up for these cacti and use a mix of 3 equal parts of Loam, Horticultural sharp sand, and Grit. Here is a video I have made for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How I make my own cactus soil and you can watch this video below:

WATERING : 

From Spring until mid Fall / Autumn these cacti love to be watered very regularly always allowing the soil in their pots to fully dry out first before watering them again, this is a better guide I like to give to people because when it comes to watering all cacti, one size does not fit all haha, as it can depend on many different factors for example the temperature, the climate etc, but as a good rule of thumb during their active growing period of Spring until mid Fall I recommend to water every time the soil in their pots has fully dried out.

In Winter these cacti like to have a winter rest period and no water should be given from late Fall / Autumn  until Spring. Its normal for these cacti to shrivel as they use up their water stores during winter and their little ‘breasts’ will start to shrivel haha ‘however if you are overwintering your cactus indoors in a heated room and notice that the cactus is looking a bit too shrivelled you can go ahead and water just enough to plump up the plant again, but avoid doing this if growing your cactus in a cooler environment e.g a greenhouse or polytunnel etc, due to the cooler temperatures and higher air humidity levels of a greenhouse or polytunnel or other outdoor structure, its better a few wrinkly ‘boobs’ than  rotten ones haha, and your cactus will soon plump back up again in Spring when normal watering resumes.

Clean Rainwater is always best if you have access to it, but if not then let your tap water sit for 24 hours to help to dissipate some of the chemicals that are present in tap water.

FERTILISING : 

From spring and Summer feed these cacti once every 3 weeks with a good quality cactus and succulent fertiliser. Do not feed at all in Winter when these plants are resting.

TEMPERATURE : 

Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku can not take frost and in Winter this cactus must be kept above 10 Celsius / 50 Fahrenheit, many growers would recommend that they can take lower than this if kept totally dry over winter but personally I would not recommend it as Myrtillocactus has a tendency to scar and scab and at the worst case rot in low temperatures during the Winter months when they are dormant, especially in my climate in Ireland and the UK where the air humidity is very high outdoors in winter, if you live in a more arid winter environment and country then its possible these plants can take lower temps in Winter but avoid frost at all costs.

During the Spring and Summer these cacti can take very high temperatures as long as plenty of ventilation can be given. If growing behind glass, e.g in a sunny window or greenhouse or conservatory, sun room etc, then windows must be open or and a fan / doors etc for ventilation during very hot and sunny days.

Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku, Blue Candle Booby cactus,Cactus, Breast Cactus, Titty Cactus,
Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Myrtillocactus geometrizans cv. Fukurokuryuzinboku, Blue Candle Booby cactus,Cactus, Breast Cactus, Titty Cactus,

RE POTTING : 

Its best to re pot these cacti during their active growing period in Spring and Summer and only when the plant has outgrown its pot, as with all cacti its far better to under pot rather than over pot because too much soil around their roots can stay damp for too long and may encourage the chances of root rot.

FLOWERING : 

Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku will bloom when mature from about 60 cm tall in height ( 24 inches ) The flowers form in Spring and are small white flowers.

PROPAGATION : 

Propagation of Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku is from cuttings taken in Spring and Summer. Cuttings need to fully dry ( callus ) over for a couple of weeks or more until a hard white callus has formed at the base of the cut before planting up as cuttings. Cuttings of these cacti need very warm weather above 18 Celsius / 65 Fahrenheit to root for the best success, additional heat with a heat mat can help with rooting these cuttings if your Summers are cool and damp like mine in Ireland and UK.

Seed propagation of Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinbokus is not recommend, this is because this cactus is a monstrose variety of the original Myrtillocactus geometrizans and any seeds germinated will grow as normal Myrtillocactus geometrizans cactus plants and will not grow with the little ‘breasts’.

I have made a video for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How to care for Myrtillocactus geometrizans Fukurokuryuzinboku aka The Booby Cactus and you can watch this video below :

I hope you enjoyed reading and learning lots about this very bizarre and wacky cactus.

Check out my Cacti and Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon for lots more tips and tricks on many different types of cacti and succulents and also for lots more info on how you can care for your Cacti and Succulents.

Thanks so much for reading and sending you all lots of HAPPY GROWING.

 

 

 

 

 

Gasteria, Gasteria variegated, Gasteria pups, Gasteria offsets, Gasteria babies,

How to Care for and Grow Gasteria Succulent Plants

What are Gasteria Plants ? 

Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants that is native to South Africa and are related to the Aloe, Haworthia and Sansevieria family of plants.

Gasteria includes around 80 different species and they are known for their beautiful very striking tongue like leaves that can vary in size from small and compact leaves to long and and tongue like.

I have made a detailed How To care for Gasteria video for my cacti and succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon and also a video on repotting Gasteria and I have shared the links to these videos at the bottom of this Blog.

Gasteria, Gasteria variegated, Gasteria pups, Gasteria offsets, Gasteria babies,
My Variegated Gasteria with offsets ‘babies’ forming all around the base, these can be detached with a sharp clean knife and potted up as little individual plants.

HOW TO CARE FOR GASTERIA

Light Levels

Gasteria like to be grown in a position that receives plenty of bright natural light but these plants prefer to be away from strong direct sunshine and a position that receives part sun or indirect sunshine is best for growing these plants. Too much sunshine can make the leaves on these plants turn yellow or red.

If you are growing Gasteria as a houseplant its advisable they are placed in a bright position away from strong sunshine, and a window that receives some part sun for example morning sun that is not too strong is best, avoid afternoon sun in a south facing position in a window or if only a south facing position is available then you can cover the window with a shade cloth or net so the plant receives dappled sunshine.

Watering

Gasteria can take plenty of water during the warm Summer months but its very important to always allow the soil to totally dry before watering again. Like most Succulents these plants like to have a winter rest period where watering should be reduced to a bare minimum. I stop watering my Gasterias almost completely from October until mid March but I do still give a small amount of water to them once every 6 weeks but I grow mine outside in a heated polytunnel that is kept cool at around 7 Celsius / 45 Fahrenheit, but if you grow yours inside a house that is kept at a normal room temperature its best to give a small amount of water once a month to prevent the plants shrivelling, however its best to only water very lightly as watering these plants during Winter can encourage them to grow lanky and stretched out and at the worst case rot at the roots.

Clean Rainwater is always preferable to tap water if possible, but these plants are pretty hardy to tap water.

Temperature

Gasteria like most succulents can take high Summer temperatures but if you are growing these plants indoors or in a greenhouse or polytunnel its important that plenty of ventilation can be given otherwise these plants can ‘cook’ in temperatures above 100F without fresh air.

In Winter its best to keep these plants at a minimum Winter Temperature of 7 Celsius / 45 Fahrenheit but they can take slightly lower than this for brief periods but never any lower than 5 Celsius / 41 Fahrenheit as these plants can not take any frost at all, but ideally these plants are happier kept above 7 C / 41 F in Winter. Ideally 10 C / 50 F is a safer temperature in Winter if it can be provided and a cool unheated but bright room to overwinter them without heating would be best as keeping these plants on the cool side in Winter encourages blooming in the Spring and Summer. 

Re potting & Soil media

Gasteria like to be planted in a well drained soil mix and a cacti and succulent soil is ideal for these plants.

I usually make my own soil mix up of 1 part loam and 1 part grit and 1 part horticultural sand but any good quality well draining cactus and succulent mix will work well for these plants.

Gasteria have thick and very fleshy white roots that often die back every few years and new ones form, because of this its important that all the dead dried roots are removed every time you repot them. When I re pot my Gasteria’s I will cut off the dried dead roots and leave the plants out of their pots overnight before I pot them into their new pot and soil media, I do this to allow any roots that may have got damaged from trimming the dead ones to callus over, this prevents the slight possibility of root rot, this is not a necessity but its something I prefer to do and would personally recommend.

Here is  a video below I have made for my cactus and succulent You Tube channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How I repot my Gasteria and Haworthia and Aloe plants with their fleshy big white roots, and in the video I show my Haworthia as an example but this also applies to Gasteria.

Here is a video below I have made for my Cacti and Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How to make your own cactus and Succulent Soil in 3 easy steps:

Fertilising 

Gasteria can be fertilised with any good quality cacti and Succulent fertiliser from spring until late Summer, and I usually fertilise my Gasteria with every 3rd watering that I give them from April until early September.

Flowering

Gasteria’s are called Gasteria because of the shape of their flowers resembling the shape of a Stomach as ‘Gaster’ means Stomach.

The flowers usually form in Spring and Summer but I have also had my Gasteria’s flower in Winter and Fall /Autumn but then again I do have odd plants that often like to do their own thing haha 😀 

Here is a video below I have made for my Cactus and Succulent You tube channel called Desert Plants of Avalon when my Gasteria’s were flowering at the right time of year 😀 

Propagation

Gasteria propagate by sending out little offsets or ‘babies’ that form in little clusters around the Mother plant. These offsets can be left to cluster all around the Mother plant or they can be detached by using a sharp and clean knife and potted up into their own individual pots.

Occasionally a little offset will form along a flower stem where a previous flower has been although this is not common and much more rarer, but I did have it happen to one of mine a few years ago and I had this happen also with a Haworthia.

Gasteria can also been grown from seed although this is a lot more time consuming but definitely very rewarding and fun to do especially if its from seeds from your own plants.

Here is a video I have made for my Cactus and Succulent You Tube channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How to Harvest Seeds from Gasteria and you can watch this video below.

Here is  a detailed video I have made for my cactus and Succulent You tube channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How to Care for Gasteria and you can watch this video below: 

Wishing you all lots of happy growing and PLANT POWER from across the Emerald Isle

Lyn XXXXX <3