Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Discuss repotting, soil, lighting, fertilizing, watering, etc. in this category.
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kristian_Fossmo
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Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by kristian_Fossmo »

Found this clever test: https://faroutflora.wordpress.com/2010/ ... e-testing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Next repotting I am going to try to plant some of the Lophophora´s in an more clayish loamy mix, as an experiment, just to see if I can get that nice look in the media when the plant is dehydrated, but you can see the hydrated size of the plant inprinted in the media. I do not know why I like that, I just do :).
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DaveW
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by DaveW »

I don't think you particularly need a clay/loam soil. They do it in Chile in granite derived soils or quartz sands. It only requires the soil to cling together and in habitat not to be disturbed by wind or rain until they receive moisture again. You also need to deprive them of water for quite a time to really shrink them, that may be a couple of years in habitat.

A Roger Ferryman picture of a Thelocephala in Chile.
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kristian_Fossmo
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by kristian_Fossmo »

I have access to some sandy soil, gona do the test with it just to satisfy my curiosity, then maybe ad some pumice to it to loosen it up a bit, or some clay to make it stick togheter more, will see. It is something like this I am after originally: http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/ARIOCA ... eyanus.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Scroll down to the L. williamsii pics...

I have many seedlings, and it is fun to do some experimentation...
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by DaveW »

Some Ariocarpus sites are flooded for part of the year, which is obviously the case in your link so they are obviously in drying mud which shrinks away from the body. In fact the first Ariocarpus a friend of mine flowered was when he was watering it and the phone rang calling him away, therefore he forgot it and it got left under water in the water butt for a day or so, but promptly flowered when he remembered and rescued it. That is different to the Chilean plant above that shrinks down into the ground and gradually dehydrates leaving the cavity until the next wet season.
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kristian_Fossmo
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by kristian_Fossmo »

Ok, so it is not just the actual size of the plant itself... Very interesting that the flooding of the plant induced flowering. Is that a common thing in the weather patterns where they grow, massive abundant rains periodically, with drought in between?
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by esp_imaging »

kristian_Fossmo wrote:Very interesting that the flooding of the plant induced flowering. Is that a common thing in the weather patterns where they grow, massive abundant rains periodically, with drought in between?
It's typical of some areas but not others - some areas may have regular small amounts of moisture from heavy dew, but little rain, for example.
I know my L williamsii will flower shortly after a heavy watering in hot weather, in a simiar way to the Ariocarpus.
Other species will bud based on time of year seemingly irrespective of watering.
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by DaveW »

Yes day length is often a trigger for flowering as well as temperature:-

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Photoperiodism.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by kristian_Fossmo »

Yes, I believe most cacti are "long day" plants, as most flower in spring, thus needing light for longer than a species specific time/day to induce flowering. But as they grow in arid environments then an additional cue to induce flowering would be adaptive. Then if the rain pattern where to be sometimes massive rain followed by drought, then the water cue would stop them from flowering in non optimum conditions, if the rains sometimes would be absent.
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by Karsty »

Hi Folks,

Just discovered this thread whilst looking for Ariocarpus posts.

Apparently plants which flower in response to light/dark respond to night length only. I am not aware of cacti flowering in response night length at all. I thought it was only temperature, moisture, minerals?
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by greenknight »

It can be a combination of night length, water and temperature. For instance to get Christmas Cactus blooms at Christmas, nurseries follow a table that shows the combination of dark period and temperature, combined with reduced watering, where they will set buds. As nights get longer they will produce flowers at higher temperatures up to a point - if it's too warm they won't bloom no matter what, the cut-off is around 70 f.

In this way the growers can precisely control the blooming period. Many of the "Christmas" cacti sold are actually Thanksgiving cacti that have been manipulated to bloom a month late.
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Re: Sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, silt loam...

Post by DaveW »

"Apparently plants which flower in response to light/dark respond to night length only. I am not aware of cacti flowering in response night length at all. I thought it was only temperature, moisture, minerals?"

If cactus flowering was not regulated by light and dark they would flower at any time of the day or night and at any time of the year. Some plants (Echinopsis etc) are nocturnal, flowering when night flying moths are active to pollinate them, but their flowers usually last over into the next day. Cactus species like Eriosyce wagenknechtii and E. villosa are short day plants and either flower early or late in the year.

As Spence says, nurseries can artificially induce plants to flower out of season by either increasing length of light to dark period with extra illumination for long day plants, or by covering short day plants to increase the dark interval they receive.

"In the 1920s, when they first did their research on the Maryland Mammoth, they thought it was all about critical day length. ◦For twenty years this was the prevailing understanding about how flowering was initiated.
◦All the biology books printed during these years talked about short-day plants and long-day plants.

•But, in the 1940s, researchers discovered it was night length rather than day length that determined flowering."

"It's All About Night Length, Not Day Length!
•Key discovery: photoperiodism has nothing to do with day length—it is completely dependent on a critical night length.
• Summary of research using the cocklebur plant: ◦The critical night length for the cocklebur is 8 hours: as long as the cocklebur plant has at least 8 hours of continuous darkness, it will flower.
◦What was originally called a short-day plant is actually a long-night plant.
◦If the night is punctuated by light for a few minutes, then it will not flower!"

http://www.hammiverse.com/lectures/39/1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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