Titanopsis

[iann]

Here is the one everyone grows, basking in a little January sunshine.

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And here is one nobody grows, because it is a hybrid I created myself. A fairly obvious intermediate between T. primosii and T. hugo-schlechteri.

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[oldcat61]

Oo-o, I'm jealous. Mine has a bit of new green but no flowers. Any care tips? Sue

[iann]

Oo-o, I'm jealous. Mine has a bit of new green but no flowers. Any care tips? Sue

T. calcarea is pretty straightforward. It is very cold hardy (0F?) but keep dry in winter. Water lightly from spring onwards, but don't be afraid to leave dry during the hottest part of summer. Water more generously in late summer and autumn. Maximum sun at all times, but ventilate well. Stretched plants from poor light or overwatering are not attractive. Flowers should really come in autumn, but a dry summer makes them a bit later, and poor winter light means mine linger right through winter, just popping out on the occasional sunny days until March or April.

The other species are more difficult. Very sensitive to summer water, and T. hugo-schechteri in particular rots very easily. Water lightly from autumn into spring, but keep them above about 20F. No reason to freeze them at all if you don't have to. Flowers in autumn or spring, or both, depending on the plant and treatment.

[oldcat61]

Thank you, Iann. I only bought mine in October & it was sopping wet in a plastic pot. It's in a mineral mix now, in a fairly warm GH ( low of 60 at night) & getting watered lightly. Looks better than when I brought it home, so I'm happy thus far. When I saw your flowers, I was afraid it was a winter grower & I was doing something wrong. Sue

[iann]

General rule with mesembs is to let them be cool at night. 60F would be considered warm enough to start inducing summer dormancy. That probably won't happen in January but it can be stressful for the plants to be warm at night. 40-50F is plenty in winter and lower than that is fine. In summer it can be best to put them outside because they don't like it hot and stuffy at night. An occasional summer drenching won't hurt T. calcarea but keeping it at 80F at night might.

[oldcat61]

My GH is kept a bit warm for the epis. Might be cooler near the outside glass; I keep the epis next to the house wall. Summer shouldn't be a problem; we don't usually have warm nights & the big exhaust fan goes 24/7 with the door open. I can't put much outside because of the deer, ground hogs & turkeys. You wouldn't believe how much damage a turkey can do. They don't eat much but peck everything looking for bugs(?). They can wipe out a bed of tomatoes in one day & aren't afraid of people or cats. Sue

[Ivan C]

Here is the one everyone grows, basking in a little January sunshine.

Not everyone.. Nice to enjoy colour in January.

Oo-o, I'm jealous. Mine has a bit of new green but no flowers. Any care tips? Sue

I too am jealous. Only colour I had was S. truncata.

[Aiko]

I can't put much outside because of the deer, ground hogs & turkeys.

How about making a wooden frame, and then just put a bug net around it? That will stop anything big doing things to your plants, as they cannot reach them.

Maybe put some weight up against the wooden frame to prevent critters from moving the frame away. Will not take much time, and it doesn't even have to look pretty. I am clumsy, but I have made something like that. A simple frame of 1 by 1 by 0,5 meters. But then I used shading cloth to make sure my trays of seedlings are extra safe from excess sunlight in the greenhouse, and made sure I have an easy access on one side so I can reach the seedlings with ease.

[C And D]

The winter growing Titanopsisi are flowering like crazy right now

This T. schwantesii Klein Karas has been in my collection since 1998.

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[C And D]

Titanopsis are fun to grow from seed.
T. luederitzii and T. schwantesii Klein Karas

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T. primosii and T. aff primosii Nabaab

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T. primosii and T. calcarea

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Faucaria "Super Warty" and F. hooliae

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[AgavaSK]

Vauuuuu, they are great!!! Titanopsis are one of my greatest succulents...

[C And D]

Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri

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Titanopsis hugo-schlechteri v alboviridis

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Some of the Aloinopsis are so similar, it's hard to call them a different genus
This is a select clone of Aloinopsis luckhoffii commercially available now,
it probably has some hybrid blood

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It's hard to believe but this Alionopsis malherbei seedling is about 3 months old!
That's how fast they grow when grown in the ground with lots of water.
The other surrounding mesemb seedlings aren't growing anywhere near as fast.

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[Wilk]

When is the best time to pot on Titanopsis seedlings given they are winter growers? I have a few pots of seedlings which germinated and grew well but could I repot now or is it best to wait until early spring?

[iann]

Depends on the species, and your climate. If they're growing now then you can repot them. Or repot anyway, but if the conditions mean they won't have good growing conditions for the next few months it would be best to wait. The most common T. calcarea really doesn't grow during a northern winter, while the real winter growing species may not grow either, just because it is too warm indoors or because it is too dark in December. Strange as it might seem, summer is a good time to repot. You know they'll do some growing in late summer or autumn.