[Gardening] The illusive Barrel Cactus

[Rhiannon]

I have tried off and on for over a year to cross-breed a barrel cactus. From what I can tell, you need to cross Tri-barrel with prickly pear and you have a 50/50 chance of getting a barrel cactus. I've grown one plant at a time and crossed it with the father plant of the other type.

Result: I have 46 Tri-barrel seeds and 48 prickly pear plant seeds. I'm gonna keep trying but this is getting ridiculous! I know I have a "plant murderer-thumb" in RL but I figured I'd have better luck in Britannia!

 

[Tina Small]

Yes, trying to cross for barrel cactus can make you bonkers!

I've been trying to keep track of my plant-crossing experiments for a while now. These are the combinations that have worked so far to give barrel cactus (as well as lots of other stuff!):

• Purple prickly pear and red tribarrel for red barrel cactus
• Red tribarrel and yellow tribarrel for orange barrel cactus
• Yellow tribarrel and blue tribarrel for green barrel cactus
• Bright blue tribarrel and bright yellow prickly pear for green barrel
• Red tribarrel and blue tribarrel for purple barrel cactus
• Red barrel cactus and red barrel cactus for bright red barrel cactus
• Red tribarrel and red water for bright red barrel cactus
• Blue tribarrel and blue tribarrel for bright blue barrel cactus
• Blue tribarrel and blue prickly pear for bright blue barrel cactus
• Blue barrel and blue barrel cactus for bright blue barrel cactus
• Yellow tribarrel and yellow tribarrel for bright yellow barrel cactus

I have barrel cactus seeds in the following colors on these shards, if you want to get a few from me:

BALHAE
Green
Bright Green

LAKE AUSTIN
Plain
Red
Bright Red
Bright Blue
Yellow

ORIGIN
Plain
Red
Bright Red
Blue
Bright Blue
Bright Yellow
Green
Orange

SIEGE
Red
Bright Red
Blue
Yellow
Bright Yellow
Green
Bright Green
Orange
Bright Orange

SONOMA (I only have one of each of these, as I'm just starting to grow plants there and haven't had a chance yet to grow more than one of some of my starter seeds that came from Lake Austin.)
Plain
Red
Yellow

YAMATO
Plain
Red
Yellow
Purple
Orange

 

[Rhiannon]

Yes, trying to cross for barrel cactus can make you bonkers!

I think I've gone way past "bonkers" and fully into "wacko". Many could argue the reasons for that but that would be an entirely different story. *laughs*

Thanks for the offer on the seeds, Tina. Unfortunately I only live on Atlantic. And I'm only working on a plain plants at this time. I figure once I get my entire set of plain seeds, I'll continue the process of getting all colored plants, which I THINK I started working on around 2003 or 2004. I figure that particular endeavor will get me committed for sure (and I'm not talking about the "determined" type of committed).

 

[Tina Small]

I can ask some guildmates if they plan to be doing any transfers from Lake Austin or Origin to Atlantic, if you want. Might be good for you to be able to finish up the plain plant collection! I know how maddening just doing that has been for me on a few shards. Then you can move on to the colored plants.

Oh, don't forget that if you cross a plain plant with a colored plant, the result will be plain. I've done that a time or two to get some plain seeds when I didn't have a good plain parent but did have it in another color.

 

[Rhiannon]

No need to have people make transfers Tina (unless a few more months go by without success on my part - in which case I'd gladly give up my bankbox for that illusive barrel cactus which I don't even like the look of but must have to complete the collection). I'll get it eventually. Thanks for the reminder about plain plant with colored plant. I think I have some colored barrel cactuses. I'll give that a try if my current crossing doesn't work.

 

[Cyrah]

On Atlantic, if your home is named "Plant Magic" look in your mailbox.

 

[Rhiannon]

Rhiannon's Plant Magic is the name of my house. Thank you so much Cyrah! I haven't sold plants for many years. I've been gearing up for a quarterly plant sale and almost have enough plants to do it. With that seed, I can grow the plants needed to have a full set of plain plants. THANK YOU!