{"id":27070,"date":"2018-02-07T13:40:11","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T11:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/?p=27070"},"modified":"2018-03-13T13:40:44","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T11:40:44","slug":"night-blooming-cactus-time-lapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/night-blooming-cactus-time-lapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Night-blooming cactus time-lapse"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"eventDate\">Thurs 18<br \/>\nJanuary<br \/>\n2018<\/div>\n<p>Golden Torch Cactus produced the most amazing flower over the course of one night in late January &#8211; here&#8217;s a short time-lapse as well as a few stills from the night.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Night-blooming cactus time-lapse: Echinopsis spachiana\/Trichocereus spachianus\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rhhzuB8UGrQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I picked up this plant as a seedling over 15 years ago (found it in a field in Swellendam and carried it home in a plastic juice bottle) and since then sticking it into a crappy plastic pot on a forgotten windowsill has been the extent of my kindness towards it.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"cactus timelapse\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"cactus timelapse\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-27071\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm-575x323.jpg\" alt=\"cactus timelapse\" width=\"575\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm-575x323.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm-768x432.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/cactus_thumbnail_bw_sm.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>I found the dried husk of a flower on it just once before (maybe 8 years ago) but it was only last November that I finally took any interest and offered the neglected thing some care. The result was instant &#8211; a new location and some water was all it took for a big bud to form and just over 2 months later it bloomed. I spent all night watching its progress and it really was magical, doubly so as it started wilting by morning.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently I&#8217;ve read that this species is considered a weed in South Africa which is a bit sad&#8230; Still it&#8217;ll be getting a new pot and some proper attention from now on.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BeiAGkMhYru\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"8\">\n<div style=\"padding: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50.0% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;\">\n<div style=\"background: url(data:image\/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc\/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5\/p8\/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo\/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli\/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif\/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BeiAGkMhYru\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by L a u r a M c C u l l a g h (@laura.mcc_za)<\/a> on <time style=\"font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;\" datetime=\"2018-01-29T11:13:09+00:00\">Jan 29, 2018 at 3:13am PST<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async defer src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"Cactus bloom\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"Cactus bloom\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-27076\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493-575x383.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7493.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"Cactus bloom\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"Cactus bloom\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-27075\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh-300x198.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh-768x507.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh-575x380.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_laura-mccullagh.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_8257.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"Cactus bloom\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"Cactus bloom\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27074\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_8257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"659\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_8257.jpg 659w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_8257-247x300.jpg 247w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_8257-575x698.jpg 575w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-27073\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913-575x383.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7913.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"Cactus bloom\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"Cactus bloom\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-27077\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697-575x383.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_7697.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After the bloom wilted I repotted the plant, a task that was more complicated than I&#8217;d expected. Years of sun had made the (horrible) plastic pot brittle and bits flaked off as I tried to manoeuvre the spiky plant. The roots were bound tight however and the pot proved to be more crack resistant than it had any right being.<\/p>\n<p>Finally I managed to shatter the pot and free the cactus, which I gingerly lowered into a much nicer new home.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-27070 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4814.jpg' title=\"Sad old pot\" data-rl_title=\"Sad old pot\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4814-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Sad old pot\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4814-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4814-25x25.jpg 25w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4824.jpg' title=\"Repotting my cactus\" data-rl_title=\"Repotting my cactus\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4824-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Repotting my cactus\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4824-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4824-25x25.jpg 25w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4834.jpg' title=\"Happily repotted!\" data-rl_title=\"Happily repotted!\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4834-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Happily repotted!\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4834-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus_4834-25x25.jpg 25w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>UPDATE: 12 March 2018<\/p>\n<p>It grew a fruit! Its been sitting on top of the cactus since the bloom and yesterday it opened! As the plant is classified as an invasive weed I will be sure to harvest the seeds and make sure any growth is controlled.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\" data-rl_title=\"Cactus seeds\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"Cactus seeds\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-27081\" src=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205-575x383.jpg\" alt=\"Cactus seeds\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205-575x383.jpg 575w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cactus-seeds_0205.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>See more of my macro and flower photography in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lauramccullagh.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">my portfolio gallery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thurs 18 January 2018 Golden Torch Cactus produced the most amazing flower over the course of one night in late January &#8211; here&#8217;s a short time-lapse as well as a few stills from the night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,1239],"tags":[205,2060,2061,204,225,1045,24,164,477,12,1182,22,131,57,34,2062,356],"class_list":["post-27070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animation-video","category-photography","category-plants-2","tag-animation","tag-cactus","tag-echinopsis","tag-favourites","tag-film","tag-house-plants","tag-macro","tag-nature","tag-personal","tag-photography-2","tag-planting","tag-plants-flowers","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african","tag-summer","tag-time-lapse","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27070"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27083,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070\/revisions\/27083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}