In A Spiky World

in Photography Lovers9 months ago

Yesterday I went to visit a natural science museum, that has been renovated lately and opened its doors to visitors not long ago. I've heard about it and have been planning to pay it a visit, but somehow the visit always got postponed.

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The museum was lovely and I'll write about it in details shortly, but today I'd like to show you a place that felt like a different world. This place is next to the natural science museum in Targu Mures, it's a greenhouse and it's full of cacti of all kinds.

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This is a rarity because due to the harsh winter temperatures, such plats can't survive outside, thus a greenhouse is the only way to have such a collection. This however is exceptional from many points of view.

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Cacti are not a rarity in my country, these funny plants are available to buy at greenhouses, supermarkets and online as well, but due to lack of space, most people only own a few and usually the smallest ones, definitely not these you see here.

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Unfortunately i could not find anything about the collection, like where all these beauties come from, but looking at most of them, I can tell they are quite old.

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The greenhouse is not exactly new, it's been there for a couple of years and I remember walking around it, taking a few photos and even posted about it briefly, but could not visit it as it was close. The museum was under renovation back then and visiting the greenhouse was not possible.

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When I entered the greenhouse yesterday, my first thought was how amazing the collection was. It really makes you lose track of time while browsing through the different species you have never seen. One is more beautiful than the other and good thing you don't have to choose as I bet you wouldn't be able too. Many I've only seen in movies or documentary videos as you can't keep them at home and there are not many greenhouses like this laying around.

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Most likely the time I spent inside looking around and taking photos was close to, or a little over than 10 minutes. When I got out, it felt like breathing again, and only then I realized what tropical climate is inside. The outside temperature that day was not low at all, was around 10°C, but outside was around 27°C, which is shockingly hot, when you're dressed for late winter, early spring.

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Maintaining 27°C during winter is quite a challenge, especially when energy prices are at the level they are today, but thee are tropical plants and high temperatures is a must for them. Having 27°C at home would be a nightmare for me, even during summer as I prefer the room temperature a bit cooler, in order for my brain to function as I want it to.

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Unfortunately it is not the flowering period right now, there was one species that was flowering, but the rest did not even have buds yet. I was thinking it would be nice to go back, when they are flowering, but knowing my cactus, the flower lasted for 3 days and was lucky as some don't last more than one day. So catching them all flowering I think it remains more like a dream as most likely it is physically impossible.

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There were some really interesting and funny ones, like this one for example. I've never seen anything like this in the shops.

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This is where it gets interesting. this was the only type that was flowering. Look at how tiny those flowers are and how cute!

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Also, look at the plant, how different the bottom is from the top. At first, when I spotted it, from far it looked like some kind of a net at the bottom, then I saw it's not a net.

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Look at this little cutie pie? How can you not like it? Opposite to what you can buy at the nursery, these flowers are real.

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Some of you may not understand what I mean here, so let me explain. Most of the times, those tiny cacti you can get, have some amazing flowers, but if you have a closer look, the flowers are dried flowers and glued to the plant. That's the most barbaric thing one can do to a cactus or a plant in general. Imagine the damage the glue does. I will never understand how can they do that and especially why. How do you feel when you bought a cactus and realize the flower is fake and you got scammed?

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Maybe one day, when I'll have more free space, I'll have more cacti too, but right now I only have one.

I hope you liked these cuties :)

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I wonder if the others flower in the greenhouse? Mammillaria are easy but the others actually need a colder, dry season to flower

I wish I could give you an answer. Maybe when I'm passing by next time, I'm going to check :)

Cacti are very cute, I see there is a wide variety of them there. I have one at home, but I don't know much about cacti 😂

I hope you are well my dear friend @erikah These last few days I have thought about you, I send you a huge hug 🤗😘🥰

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I hope you take good care of that cactus.

Oh, what a nice surprise, I hope you had something good in mind 😄

I'm sending a big hug to you too and have a nice weekend 🥰🤗😘

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I used to have a TON of cactuses when we had a big balcony with space for them, I absolutely love cacti, they are so cool. I actually had many that were either the same or very similar to the ones you posted. Cacti here are also everywhere and very cheap, you can get baby ones for like €1 and grow them up into big ones. I had a few that I even found just out in the wild and cultivated into very large plants. I've never seen those glued on flowers that you mentioned, that's just crazy to me! The flowers are the most beautiful part, it's so special when they flower, and sad some people would glue flowers onto them, so silly. Love the post, but now I miss all my cactus babies that I had to give away when we moved.

Then you're a lucky person. Having these beautiful plants at home is a privilege and they give you a lot of joy when flowering.

I'm really sorry my post made you nostalgic 🙂

Wow!... I would be happy in such a place, I would spend hours contemplating the beauty of the cacti, when I was a child I used to have many and collected them, I liked your photos.

It is a very nice place but it's quite small to spend an hour there 🙂

I love cactuses,or is it cactii? I have started to care for some myself they are still quite small and yet to flower, I just love their architecture and ability to survive in all conditions

The plural is cacti I think. I'm glad you have some and if you haven't seen them flowering, you'll have a big surprise. It's so nice to see those flowers.

yes here is hoping, some I have had a couple of years with no flowering, I have read that they can be ages before they do

Looks like I'm lucky because mine flowered after two years. I missed the first one as I had to travel, but miraculously I got a second one a month after I think.

Most likely the flowering cycle is not the same for every type.

Well done, maybe I shall see something this year

Loving the mammillaria part.
It is very hard to keep them in rainy season in Southeast Asia.

This is why these survive here in the greenhouse then.

yep thats right..Greenhouse is very helpful for cactus, it can help to take care of the mold and bugs or insect that can be harmful for the cactus. But the disadvantage is needed human touch to pollination since the insects cannot entering the greenhouse.

That is very true.

This is new to me. What's happening with them in the rainy season?

It will easily rooting and be mushy..
Infected with some of fungi that cannot be detected if inside the cactus.
As far as i know mammilaria is very happy in windy and hot temperature and need just very little water. Maybe just 1 cup water for every 2 week when the temp can reach 40degree celcius

I see. Well, I guess every type of climate has its advantages and disadvantages. One would think just because it's not cold, plants would survive, but apparently that's not the case. We only have perennial plants outside that can survive the cold.

I can not believe there are so many different forms of cacti. What's the difference between this and cactus?

There's no difference. Cacti is the plural of cactus. It's one of the tricks the English language 🙂

There are a few words with funny plural.

What a nice collection of cacti 🌵 I like the photos of desert landscapes behind a few of them 🙂 I lived in Texas some growing up and there were lots of yucca plant. They were very pretty when they bloomed.

I can imagine how nice it is to see them in their natural environment, which is missing here.

Bonita colección de cactus 🌵 pronto publicaré algo de mis plantas 🌹

Very good 👍


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I really love cactus plants. They look so cute

A paradise for cactus lovers.

Por dios!! que preciosos cactus me encantan porque son muy variados, algunos son fáciles de cultivar sumado a que hay una variedad enorme jajaja y ni hablemos que son casi indestructibles. Los pondría al mismo nivel que los hongos en nivel de variedad y extrañeza