Flying Saucer comes crashing down

Just a few days ago, I showed you photos of Echinopsis ‘Flying Saucer’ in full bloom. Between two stems, there were 18 flowers. You can see most of them in this photo:

Echinopsis ‘Flying Saucer’ in all its glory

After the peak, the flowers were fading fast, but everything was OK otherwise:

Flowers fading fast

You know where this is going, right? In a year of unpleasant surprises, here’s another one — and it’s one that hurts:

What I found a couple of days after

The tallest stem had snapped off towards the bottom, presumably because of the weight of the flowers.

Not all is lost though. I made a clean cut and will re-root the top part. In warm weather, new roots should form within 4-6 weeks. With any luck, the re-rooted stem will flower normally next year.

I’ll also leave the bottom part in the ground in hopes it will either branch or produce new offsets — more little ‘Flying Saucers’ to plant elsewhere in the garden or give away.

And finally....

A quick update on the greenhouse rat situation: Nothing new to report. I have three traps in the greenhouse now, two electric Rat Zappers and one old-fashioned snap trap with peanut butter as bait. And I still haven’t caught the culprit. I accidentally stepped on the snap trap the other day and it pinched the tip of my shoe, but that’s about the only excitement on that front.

© Gerhard Bock, 2026. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.