Succulent Type

[Cynthia]

Isn't this a succelunt and if so, what type? It blooms one flower at a time, all year long.

[charlpic]

It's a cactus. Astrophytum myriostigma.

[Cynthia]

Thanks charlpic! I thought it was a succelunt because it is all fleshy. I looked at google images and saw many different varieties of this cactus but none like mine. It has dark green and light green ridges with little white bumps in between. I've had it for at least four years and the first couple of years I thought those bumps were little mites and I sprayed them and used a toothbrush to get them off. When they kept coming back, I realized that they were part of the plant.

[charlpic]

The green stripes could be the result of a cross between myriostigma and myriostigma v. nudum. I'm no expert in the astrophytum world though.

[Cynthia]

I'm certainly no expert charlpic, but appreciate your input. There are already so many versions of this cactus, I can't imagine why someone wanted to create a new one.

[Saxicola]

By the way it IS a succulent. For some reason people like to separate cactus out as some special group. It is like if you had a group of people and sorted them by if they are Americans or are they from Iowa.

By the way, does that pot have a drainage hole?

[Cynthia]

Yes it does, Saxicola, all my potted plants do. However, I noticed the more fleshy ones like the glossy or partially glossy pots that hold water longer and the others prefer clay pots that lose their moisture quickly. I also move them to different areas on my deck from sunny to shady to see where they like it best. I probably got my first cactus six years ago to put on my deck and since it thrived, I have added more and more. Now there are too many to bring inside if we get a hard freeze and I try not to buy the ones I've already lost due to deep frost vulnerability, which is below 30 degrees.

[Saxicola]

Yes it does, Saxicola, all my potted plants do. However, I noticed the more fleshy ones like the glossy or partially glossy pots that hold water longer and the others prefer clay pots that lose their moisture quickly. I also move them to different areas on my deck from sunny to shady to see where they like it best. I probably got my first cactus six years ago to put on my deck and since it thrived, I have added more and more. Now there are too many to bring inside if we get a hard freeze and I try not to buy the ones I've already lost due to deep frost vulnerability, which is below 30 degrees.

Ok, just thought I'd check. A lot of those ceramic pots don't have a hole in them. I think that has been responsible for the average person killing off more plants (of all types) than just about anything!

[Cynthia]

It's beginning to produce another flower, one at a time and leaves those little craters along the sides.