Six years of growing Saguaro cacti from seeds; Sonoran Desert 

That's quite a story. Glad it looks like it's coming back!

Good story but it is admitting to a felony.

@@codyray6340 not if it was bought legally

@@codyray6340 🤓

@@codyray6340 Depending on when the laws were put in. 1960 is a long time ago when it comes to natural conservation laws.

Glad it was helpful and informative! Thanks

That's because very few ppl actually make this place better through caring about plants, let alone teaching others how to conserve, how to learn from creating one's own data, how nature relies on us, and we benefit from each species as a student, then as steward, then as teacher, and master... thank you for all your years ... 80% germination rate is fantastic... just goes to show robustness and how important they are to that desert landscape... amazing to think 1000 gallons 3ventually fits inside those lil buttons!!!!

Very interesting noticed

​@@weekenddistractions very interesting!

Wow, thank you!

Lol can’t argue against that

Darn dose that mean I'm a nerd lol ❤

Guilty as charged.

I'm not even a plant nerd (some other type maybe?) but this was just a mellow, interesting, and well paced, well narrated, well done vid that autoplay brought me to.

too funny.

As someone who spent my early childhood in Arizona, the monsoon season is part of the landscape. You learn as a child that any ditch can be very dangerous, both because scorpions and snakes may have slid in and are hunting and because we often refer to these naturally carved grooves as a 'wash' because if it rains you may well get washed away down it with everything else. All the mountains and canyons are lined and carved by these washes in the desert. If you follow them out to a flatter plains area where the water diffuses into many puddles, you will often find frogs during monsoon season too. As a kid this is very exciting and sad, because they are a type of frog designed to swarm, breed, and die as the clay-like earth returns from muck to a concrete like texture. They live and die by the monsoon season, and are a great source of food for birds and snakes. I live in Oregon now, and we also have bad rain years where we worry about forest fires... but I've seen more years than not where winter rain floods the river at the back of the property and water rises to the edge of our deck. I think the right amount of rain for an area is relative, and I believe a lot of Ireland is prone to wetlands so I totally understand being sick of the rain. Personally though, I would rather live with rain than see another valley burn away like ours did a couple years ago, where the fires ended a block away from us and burnt pine needles swept the ground like waves on the beach with charred leaves that landed feet from our house. It was scary packing the car and leaving that morning as flames crested the mountain and the whole world was orange smoke and falling ash. But then, I have lived in desert for so long that rain feels like a celebration to me anyways.

Hi Ash. Thanks for the nice comment. Yeah--it's turned into an experiment that started with curiosity!

I concur. You are a true scholar of saguaros.

I got a growing method to grow them 2000times faster some cacti are actually very fast growing

If it was really that slow it wouldn't be in commercial productions but it actually is so... there is a way

@@RandomTrols what is the method. I'm used to San Pedro cactus which grow relatively quickly. My little saguaro is like standing still in time

@@RandomTrols source: dude trust me

@@charlescarabott7692 follow Max Montrose on youtube , he wil teach u

Thank you for the very nice comment!

Interesting. I see what looks like a saguaro at home depot these days, but they are something called a false saguaro. Amazing that you got a real one from them.

I brought it in 1998, 25 years ago, things were different than, I've try to find some that size for that price recently but no luck. mine now has a value of around $2,500. Eaeh arm is about 2 to 3 feet. That's approximate as I can't get up and measure them.

Hi Dan, I wish you success in your desert paintings--very good landscapes to paint around here! Sorry about your hand. I have managed to get dumped off my mountain bike on several occasions. Luckily, I missed the saguaros, but ended up in prickly pear and cholla--nasty in different ways :) Thank you for the kind words!

The spines have a wax coating on them that is an irritant and it will take a while to heal. I had a cactus from the badlands and was nailed by it and hurt. I still have a scar from cutting an old world cactus that has the white sap in it. Chemical burn.

@@roberthale8407 Eek!

Thanks greatly for the kind comment!

I hear yah! By the time I die, the cacti I am growing will only be about 3 feet high!

Thanks for the kind words. Probably won't do another update for several years.

Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm glad your saguaro is still doing well--that's great!

Gosh. Thanks for the great comment!

Thank you so much for the very nice comment! Best Regards.

Thanks! Sometimes it's easy to take them for granted when you see them all time! Best.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I hope your upcoming visit down here goes well. Growing Sequoias--how cool! Thank you for the great comment!

Gosh. Thanks so much. Someone told me that ocotillo are pretty quick growers from seeds.

@@weekenddistractions This was a version found in Texas, around Sherman County. Probably not native to their, but it thrived.

St George is a great place. I went though it once on my way to Toroweap.

Thanks so much! Yes when they get bigger, they get pretty beat up as critters try to burrow into them. I had termites attack my big one a few years back, but they gave up as the lower trunk on thing is very barky and hard. Just the same, I destroyed all the termite tubes built in the attack.

Thanks for the nice comment!

I suppose it's possible to have too many--then diseases easily spread. I guess mom nature arranges things just right over time and circumstances.

Have you been north of Phoenix in the mountains there are thousands and thousands and thousands of them

Gosh--thanks for the nice comment!

Awesome! I hope they work out great! It's a long road :)

Very kind comment--thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

Thank you so much. Mostly I am just curious about them!

Much appreciated!

Thanks for such a nice comment! Yes, the saguaro vistas down here are remarkable and unique. Cheers!

Thanks for commenting. I hope your visit here is going great!

Thanks so much!

Thanks. I call it a hobby :)

Thank you for the very nice comment!

Geepers--that's not right! Thanks for watching though!

Hi Bob. Thanks for the kind comment. I agree about the rainy season. I recall the monster and regular monsoons we had back then.

Thank you very much! Best regards!

Thanks! I know exactly what you are talking about.

Glad you enjoy it!

Thanks! Currently we are having about a week of morning hard freeze warnings, so just to be safe, I have put a blanket over the cage they are growing in.

Thank you very much!

I've always wanted to grow an ironwood, so I went for it. It's doing fine after the transplant into the yard. But I chose another slow grower!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

@@weekenddistractions I am impressed by your cordiality. I must visit your peoples country one day and I hope to do nature conservation tourism and hope the business model is sustainable so that you feel confident that your great grand children can continue with the experience of Earth in health.

Thanks for the nice comment!

I had reverse shock since I grew up in Wisconsin. Leaving the trees, water, and green grass took a long time to get used to.

@@weekenddistractions I to am from WI (West Allis)! The shock I had when I saw my first cactus is funny to me looking back, I moved to AZ when I was 22. I was pointing out every cactus I saw. 🤣 Me: "OMG, Look there is a cactus next to a pine tree next to a PALM tree!!" 😲 🌵 🌲🌴

You are so kind. I too love the beginning slide show. It makes me realize I need to do more desert landscapes (esp with Saguaro). I had to look up anthropocene--nice!

Thank you very much!

Thanks so much, and I'm glad you found it interesting! Cheers.

Thanks! I do enjoy macro and that 20x image of the seed surface had unexpected structure.

The tiny ones are as cute as the baby yoda! Thanks

Many thanks!

Barefoot or socks is a big no-no! I'm glad you enjoyed the video--thanks for the comment!

They can grow indoors on a bright windowsill

Thanks for the nice comment. There's a channel called something like 'Ted's exotic cacti'. When he moved from San Diego to the east coast, he took his cacti along, and probably has some videos about how he's handling that.

Thank you so much for the great comment!

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

Thank you so much for the nice comment. Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes, I think the slow growth is a unique feature! Thanks for watching!

They are hard to see closely though being so high above the ground!

I'm glad you got to the museum and enjoyed the video!

They certainly are!

Thanks so much for the nice comment, and I'm glad you found it interesting. Best.