Anyone know what this is? The one with a ring of flowers. Grown from a seed mix I got a couple of years ago so not sure what it might be, but I suspect a type of mammillaria...
Yes, that is a Mammillaria. I cannot say exactly what it is, there are so many species and forms of Mammillaria, but I see similarities to blossfeldiana, sheldonii, and mazatlanensis. Very nice plant.
Its size is much larger than what I would expect from a cactus, which I thought would grow very slowly. That's certainly the case with my barrel cactus. Do they grow quickly when young then slow down as they mature?
So you didn't even know it was going to do that? Pl@ntNet identify (plantnet.org) gives a 51% rating to an id of Mammillaria grahamii Engelm., Graham's fishhook cactus. This is one of the images that came up 025e3aa72378236a4f6dfa3306be75c486c11fa7 (675×900) (plantnet.org) mammillaria grahamii - Bing images
This plant has too few spines for grahamii, IMO. Growth rate varies hugely between different species and growing conditions, but in general I would say that they grow faster when they have gained some momentum and established a good root system.
No, I did not know what I would get in the mix. I bought them as a mix as I wanted to experiment with cacti germination and growth before spending too much on sought after seeds, and the mix was quite cheap. Experiments mostly successful I would say ;-) I was experimenting with sterilized media and conditions (cover, trays, area, etc) to start; lots of water, heat, humidity, and nutrients for early growth, tapering off once grown. The method mostly works, but if disease gets in it kills everything very quickly. Thanks for the site! Looks very interesting, I have bookmarked it. I like the last of it's common names: "Lizard Snatcher"... our population of wall lizards has exploded in our little hobby farm, they are everywhere.
