Gibbaeum heathii advice?

[Christopher Howard]

I recently bought this plant, it was in a small pot with peat and I switched the soil to this mineral mix with seemingly very little root damage. The peat seemed relatively new so had not solidified very much yet.

It's got three heads forming and the one old pair, and I'm wondering is there anything I should be doing right now? Should I water at all or should I leave it to get energy from the old pair of leaves?

Thanks for any advice I could get. I'm glad to have found this very pretty plant.

[iann]

Gibbaeums are winter growers. That means they sit out the summer needing little to no water, then become more active in cool weather. In my climate winter itself is too cold and dark for good growth so they have to squeeze in their growing in autumn and spring. G. heathii is one of the species that stays green all summer so it gets some water throughout the year, but in hot weather only an occasional splash to stop it wrinkling too badly. With your summer heat, you should be very careful with water so you don't rot them.

I'd like to think this one is making an early start on a new set of leaves, but who knows. You should be able to water it once it has settled in to the new pot. Two levels of leaves is OK through winter, but then burn off the old ones next summer. If another set of leaves pops out this winter then you have a harder job next year. Always try to get it back to a single level of leaves each year, probably some time in late spring or early summer, before it sprouts again. Give it as much sun as you can find through winter, maybe some afternoon shade in summer. A good night temperature for growing is around 40F but I don't know how practical that is for you. Nights that never drop below 50F will make it sleepy and above about 60F it will be pretty dormant. Flowers are rare here, but maybe with better winter sun you'll get some.

[Christopher Howard]

Thanks for the advice Ian.

May I ask, how did you become the king of mesembs?

[iann]

Thanks for the advice Ian.

May I ask, how did you become the king of mesembs?

Grow them and pay attention I've probably killed more than most people have ever grown, but it's a good way to learn.

[Christopher Howard]

always words of wisdom.

Cheers.