I'm coming to the end of my best growing season ever, so now would be a good time to celebrate some fall activities on the plant bench in words and pictures. We'll begin this post with the state of affairs on October 25, 2014 as the following cacti still have their growing hats on...
Geohintonia mexicana.
Frailea castanea -- I decided to forgo the "wet look" when I shot this pic. Although it's not exactly photogenic, the castanea's active growing point really stands out against all that dusty skin:
Pelecyphora aselliformis -- speaking of skin, the largest normal head is showing more of it than I've seen before:
Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus -- the resemblance to P. aselliformis is remarkable. With the unusual and attractive spination of both species, it's no wonder that I had to go on the hunt for pseudopectinatus. Thanks, Planta Seca!
Next, a couple of Gymnocalyciums showing robust new spine formation -- ochoterenae vatteri...
...and stenopleurum:
Remember that Coryphantha retusa you saw in Part 8? Yep, as I said -- where there was one, now there are two:
Same deal with my Epithelantha micromeris:
Now let's rewind with a close-up going from 9/20 to a month later:
We'll zoom in even closer for a side view of pup #1 on 10/25:
Copiapoas do most of their growing in spring and fall, so an excellent demonstration of this behavior can be found with the 2 pups I kept after the C. hypogaea I got from the California Cactus Center in 2011 fell to rot last summer. Progress with survivor #1 has been pretty impressive as the plant gets to work starting on its own brood of pups. Because the parent hypogaea was being grown under stronger light on my old bench, we can see the transitional changes from older to newer growth as the survivor has become the new parent here in Shady Glen. On March 16, then 5 months later:
Per normal growth patterns for the genus, the hypogaea didn't do much during summer. We'll turn the "after" into a "before", and on the right -- this is the look of fall growth at the end of a nice, hot October:
From the top:
A concern I have with Copiapoas is their tendency to scorch if they're subjected to full sun when the heat suddenly spikes. That concern is not unfounded, since the original hypogaea got hit with sunscorch a few times in 2012. The positioning of my Copiapoas in Shady Glen was intended to address the problem. Could too much shade over the growing season veer into a different one? Apparently not, and IMO the quality of new growth on survivor #1 is superior to the older growth represented by the original plant before it died. (Truth be told, perhaps hypogaea could use more sun for a squatter look. However, in the interest of avoiding sunscorch, the compromise I'm making here is quite acceptable!) While we're on the subject, I don't want to forget about survivor #2 -- it was a singleton until the October heat brought out a brand-new pup:
In Part 4 I briefly mentioned my dilemma about whether I should keep duplicate species or make room on the current bench for something else. Not an easy decision to make, although survivor #1 is doing so well that I'll probably give up #2 to someone who'd enjoy having it in his or her collection. Shouldn't be any trouble finding a local grower who can provide a good home for the plant.
Our rainy season started earlier than usual when a nice and well-timed amount of rainfall over Halloween night helped to extend the fall growing phase as my cacti ease into dormancy. We'll conclude this 2014 Member Topics thread with...
After the rain
I took the following pics on Saturday, so we're here to assess the results of an opportunity I rarely have -- cacti in growth after they get drenched the natural way!
First up, 5 Mammillarias. While the rain can't be credited for spectacular changes with these 3, they obviously enjoyed it -- spinossissima...
...huitzilopochtli...
...and perezdelarosae:
My Mamm hernandezii is definitely in a flowering mood:
Could the downpour over Halloween night be responsible for all these buds? Maybe just a coincidence, although I'm seeing more than I did last fall. Of course I had to miss the hernandezii's first 2 flowers of the year, but we have plenty of chances to catch the plant's blooming on camera. (Looks like one may pop tomorrow.) If and when I do, I'll post up some photos for you on the General forum.
If you want to see a spectacular change, I'll give you one featuring my beautiful, madly offsetting Mamm deherdtiana. It benefited the most from our late-season rain, with new pups that began to appear only a few days later when the heat came back during the first week of November:
Given its relative scarcity among US collections, I know the species better than most hobbyist cactus growers. Such being the case, I totally understand if you can't pick up on these brand-new pups in the above photo. Here's a closer look as I point 3 of them out:
I think there are 2 or 3 others in there, but nothing that'll show up well at the moment. In the meantime -- the deherdtiana needs a bigger pot! I'll be happy to oblige when it's repotting time for a bunch of cacti that need a move from my waterproofed terracotta to glazed ceramic pots in February before the new growing season begins.
A night of rain immediately followed by early November heat brought out another brand-new pup, and one that completely surprised the heck out of me. Rebutia heliosa:
This will be part of the answer to a question I've asked myself -- has my heliosa been growing normally despite the midday shade it's been getting in Shady Glen? I'll be moving the plant over the border into Sun Valley sometime in winter, and it should be well acclimated to the change before it starts growing again in spring. If the established growth continues to look about the same, I'll know that I didn't make a boo-boo with the heliosa's placement in Shady Glen. However, if the established stems grow into an odd-looking heliosa, at least the new pup will get a good start on life for normal growth. Regardless of whatever happens, I know that my heliosa is healthy, and I'm sure we'll see its first springtime flowers.
2 other cacti that clearly appreciated the rain -- Escobaria minima:
No more water for the minima until spring returns to L.A. Howzabout my Epithelantha micromeris?
The deliberate sowing of seeds in the pot last summer led to a seedling volunteer popping up in mid-September. Here is its first appearance, followed by 2 months of growth:
Ooh, another question to ponder. Theoretically, the adult micromeris is plump enough to where it may be fine without any water at all this winter. If I decide to go there, should I let the seedling stay dry and hope for the best? That means no water until both plants get their first watering of the year in March. Not sure if the seedling would survive without at least a little something from time to time over the next 3-4 months. The idea here is to use my spray bottle (on the stream setting naturally!) and get sips of water down around the seedling. How often will depend on warm spells, although I already know how to time this with the other cacti that should get occasional winter sips. I'll have to feel my way along, but a point in my favor is the fact that I'm developing a pretty good instinct for appropriate winter care among all the charges under my care in the collection. If the seedling does survive its first winter, then A. I'll have a tough, strong little grower on my hands, and B. my newest micromeris should be ready for its own pot in about 2 years.
What a great way to end here -- my first-ever Ariocarpus flower! Even if you've already seen this on the General forum, it's worth another look. For those of you who haven't, I'll simply say that after rotting every Ario I tried to grow in my younger days, I consider it a real achievement to have an Ario fissuratus actually growing and flowering for me. To review, here's the bud on the day after L.A.'s Halloween rain, then 4 days later with the early November heat in action:
The day after that, and now it's flowering time!
Hard to believe there's a cactus under there, huh? It's what I call "umbrella cacti" -- mostly the province of younger plants, and a special occasion to cherish whenever we see them.
With only 45 days of 2014 left, I'm closing out this thread as I head over to the General forum for posting whatever items of interest come up until January kicks in. Then with the new year will come a new Member Topics thread reporting on what 2015 has in store for the denizens of my plant bench. Thanks so much for spending some time here, and I hope you'll come back to see me again in the very near future!
Cheers, my friends!
