A touch of summertime in winter, SoCal-style

[Steve Johnson]

As Keith is reporting here, we're going through some unseasonable heat right now. Daytime highs this week have been in the 80s, although the thermometer under my portable GH was showing 90s over the last few days (96 today!). The overnight lows are slowly, but surely creeping up too, so it looks like I'm already enjoying an easy transition from winter dormancy to springtime growth. Here are some notable examples from the plant bench today...

Astrophytum capricorne senilis -- started waking up right after I repotted it 2 weeks ago:



Yep, that's a brand-new bud, and the capricorne could be flowering by May! The roots are growing, but they're thirsty -- time for a sip tonight.

Strombocactus disciformis -- it actually started putting out new spines last month, and a new bud to go along with it. But where there was 1, now there are 3:



Also repotted 2 weeks ago. And following suit with my capricorne, the disciformis' roots are growing, but thirsty as well. On the sip list for tonight.

I think these guys are happy about the GH's heat-trapping properties, since they've been putting on touches of growth here and there since early January -- Cumarinia odorata...



...and Mammillaria hernandezii:



Mamm huitzilopochtli -- something has been up with this wonderfully odd plant since November. What it could be I'm not sure, so this was something of a mystery. Well, mystery solved -- buds!



If you want something really odd, I'll give it to you -- Epithelantha gregii 'rufispina':



The wool on top is new. No surprise there because the heat woke up my Epithelanthas. What did surprise me was the appearance of 2 snowy-white spine bumps on the gregii's side last weekend. Sorta like little alien eyes looking at you, huh? Could these be offsets? If so, it's a strange place to see them. I'll be keeping an eye on this and see what happens when the growing season kicks into high gear.

Melocactus matanzanus -- if the winters are warm enough (as in now, same for last winter), adult Melos will put on cephalium growth and flowers. The one I got from C and D last March is a healthy, happy camper!





Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele:



Should be flowering tomorrow. Way early given my history with this plant.

My Gymnocalycium stenopleurum bloomed last February, and history is repeating:





I've been with the stenopleurum since summer 2012, and I haven't seen its flowers this beautiful before!

We'll have to enjoy our early bit of summer while it lasts. My 7-day forecast indicates a big cool-down to 71 by next weekend. If you've been in SoCal long enough, you'll know that our winters can be fickle. There's still plenty of time for a cold, wet blast to head down south and grab the greater L.A. area, so a delayed winter is not out of the question. A lot of rain would be great -- California needs as much as it can get. The cold I could live without, but if it happens, I seriously doubt that it'd go beyond the end of March. As I see how our weather situation shakes out over the next month or so, I'm sending my thoughts and prayers to those of you who must be wondering how much longer it'll be before your winter loses its grip.

Now back to work at Member Topics. I'll include these flowers pics with the latest round of winter-blooming cacti I'm posting over there. Yeah, I know -- shameless self-promotion!

Cheers, everyone!

[Kamos]

Great looking plants Steve!

[Steve Johnson]

The Turb pseudomacrochele came through with a flower today, plus I have a nice little surprise. I'm so tempted to post these new pics here, but I'll resist the temptation and add 'em in with the next installment of my 2015 Member Topics thread. Uh oh -- more shameless self-promotion!

[oldcat61]

Glad someone is having an early spring. It's going down to 0 again tonight here in "South" Jeresy, minus 8 on Wednesday night. This area is just not used to such low temps - most of the older homes don't have much insulation. We've got both wood stoves going & the generator ready if we lose power. I have both heaters on in the GH & it seems to easily keep to the mid-50s overnight. The poor cactus are confused: bright sunny days with solar gain/window open & then cold again at night. Watering has been a balancing act. Sue

[Arjen]

your plants look quite happy steve, the G. stenopleurum flowers look amazing!

[7george]

No surprise there because the heat woke up my Epithelanthas. What did surprise me was the appearance of 2 snowy-white spine bumps on the gregii's side last weekend. Sorta like little alien eyes looking at you, huh? Could these be offsets? If so, it's a strange place to see them.

What else, if not offsets will come out from those spine bumps? Flowers appear at the very top of this cactus. The shape implies that it might be grafted so you should expect branching at some point. Anyway, keep us informed what is new with your cacti.

[Steve Johnson]

Flowers appear at the very top of this cactus. The shape implies that it might be grafted so you should expect branching at some point.

I've seen the E. gregii 'rufispina' flower before, so I wouldn't mistake the spine bumps for buds. Don't think the plant is grafted either, although perhaps someone can tell me whether or not Mesa Garden degrafts and re-roots cacti before sale. Not that it matters either way -- I'm just interested in the details of where my plants come from.

[Steve Johnson]

Ooh, rain!!! The skies opened up late this afternoon, and we're in the middle of a good downpour right now -- .25" and rising. The local mountains are getting hammered, so I may be looking at snowcaps tomorrow. Okay, maybe not the coldest storm we've been through since the holidays, although the late return of winter should be a blessing for all us drought-parched Californians!

[Steve Johnson]

Winter has indeed returned to SoCal -- here's what was left behind after our recent storm system:



I have rain in the forecast for this weekend, with a break on Monday followed by more rain. Wish I could remove my portable GH and take advantage of a good soak the natural way for the start of our growing season (yes, in L.A. it's finally here!). Unfortunately, a number of my cacti will split if they get persistent rain, so watering will have to be managed judiciously by human hands for the time being. Good news is that I've been able to gather up 2 gallons of rainwater, so the plants will get it until my supply runs out. And more rains mean resupply -- believe it or not, this small collection of mine could be getting rainwater through April! Although timing this right could be tricky, what I hope to do is take off the portable GH when the rainy season ends with one last soaker. Even if that plan doesn't work out, the collection still receives the benefits of rainwater until it's time for the acidified water/fertilizer regimen over the rest of the growing season.