Copiapoa cinerea

[cantharis]

I thought I would post a pic of my C. cinerea, in bloom today. According to Pilbeam it is unusual to have one of these flower in captivity, so I am quite excited. It has been doing well lately, since its repot a year ago - into an unglazed terracotta container (of course) - the pups have shown good growth and the main stem has been growing some additional ribs.

[DaveW]

Beautiful plant and the chalky colour we have a job to get in the UK under glass since it filters out most of the UV rays.

I also thought the cinerea group had to be big to flower, then my Copiapoa haseltoniana flowered in a 3.5 inch pot this year in cold old UK. I was then told by Graham Charles who I got it from it was not unusual, maybe not for him but I had never seen them flower at that size before. Mines in a standard plastic pot and treated the same as the rest of the collection, so Copiapoa's don't need clay ones to thrive or flower even in damp old UK, let alone sunny Spain where plants will dry out much quicker. They are after all mist climate plants. On another site somebody who had collected in habitat remarked when caught in the Camanchaca mist which rolls over the plants every day:-

"it has always amazed me how damp, cold and miserable it can sometimes be when looking at Copiapoa in what is reputed to be the driest part of the world."

Therefore the plants get some moisture every day in habitat, but the ground probably dries quickly. I know Fred Kattermann used to spray his Chilean plants (including Eriosyce) from this region rather than conventionally water them, but how heavy the spray was, or whether he did it daily I do not know.

hazeltoniana.jpg (54.2 KiB) Viewed 1370 times

[Saxicola]

I haven't read Pilbeam's book on Copiapoa, but I have his Stapeliad book. He writes from the perspective that everyone reading it is from the UK. That's not totally unreasonable since that is where his growing experience is from. However, that leads him to saying certain plants are difficult, or won't flower much, without qualifying that he means in the UK. In a dry, sunny climate like mine (California) or the OP's (Spain) the results can be totally different.

[Eutow_Intermedium]

I haven't read Pilbeam's book on Copiapoa, but I have his Stapeliad book. He writes from the perspective that everyone reading it is from the UK. That's not totally unreasonable since that is where his growing experience is from. However, that leads him to saying certain plants are difficult, or won't flower much, without qualifying that he means in the UK. In a dry, sunny climate like mine (California) or the OP's (Spain) the results can be totally different.

Word !

* nods profusely *

.

Gotta love John Pilbeam tho !

Blah blah this subject is not allowed , Blah Blah UK mild winters . Things are starting to change with cacti growing in the UK a bit more now. Struggled to grow certain plants in the past , but now I am losing less of some . And the growth on some of my plants this year has been pretty astounding. Could have done with a few more flowers tho



I'm already all bloomed out and it's only early August. With no sign of any further blooms past a Parodia Mairanana thats flowering now , and an Echinopsis Subdenudata with a bud on it. I could keep feeding them and hope the flowers don't dry up. But as we know the nights are drawing in and , the plants may drop buds just as much from lack of daytime light energy.

[DaveW]

Difference this year is we seem to have had some summer in the UK, at least the sun has been out in total for a week or two.

Everybody speaks from their own experience regarding plants, what is difficult for one is easy for another since we all have our own little microclimates and cultivation methods even within countries, and if you have more than one greenhouse even in different greenhouses. Plants will often grow better in one of your greenhouses versus the other. Therefore there is no "correct method", if it works for you why change?

Of course plants get different amounts of water in the Chilean Camanchaca fog zone (it's really low cloud rather than fog) depending on the base level of the cloud. Therefore often it can be drier near sea level than higher up the hills facing the sea as the illustrations below show.

FOG3.jpg (26.63 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

Copiapoa's may grow where the fog is not quite so thick, but again with many cacti that can often be due to increased competition from more vigorous plants in the wetter zones crowding them out:-

ESMERALDA.jpg (38 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

PAN-DE-AZUCAR.jpg (50.65 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

PAPOSO.jpg (54.14 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

Of course the fog is stopped by the coastal hills and only penetrates inland up the valleys, as this link shows, and the hills just above the fog may always remain completely dry:-

http://www.trekkingchile.com/EN/my-phot ... ia-233.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cantharis]

Blah blah this subject is not allowed , Blah Blah UK mild winters . Things are starting to change with cacti growing in the UK a bit more now. Struggled to grow certain plants in the past , but now I am losing less of some . And the growth on some of my plants this year has been pretty astounding.

Three cheers for good old this subject is not allowed - I am thinking of buying a gas guzzler to help it along a bit !!!!!

[cantharis]

I'm already all bloomed out and it's only early August. With no sign of any further blooms past a Parodia Mairanana thats flowering now , and an Echinopsis Subdenudata with a bud on it. I could keep feeding them and hope the flowers don't dry up. But as we know the nights are drawing in and , the plants may drop buds just as much from lack of daytime light energy.

Nights are drawing in?? - it´s only August, LOL.

I have some species that never really stop blooming - Lophophora williamsii and Encephalocarous strobiliformis (yes I know it is now OFFICIALLY Pelecyphora, but old habits can die hard) come to mind.

And my favourite annual flowering treat is yet to come - when the Ariocarpus do their stuff in October.