A small collection: 2015 and beyond

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oldcat61
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by oldcat61 »

Hey Steve - how are the "cat turds" doing? Have you found a special pot for them yet? I've got most of my full-sun stuff out of the GH & getting much better growth. Sue
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Steve Johnson
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Re: A small collection 2015

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oldcat61 wrote:Hey Steve - how are the "cat turds" doing? Have you found a special pot for them yet?
Thanks for asking, Sue! If you go back to page 3 and look at Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in (Part 7), you'll see the matching pots I found for my Tephros. The paper-spine pushed out 2 new stems, although the "cat turd" decided not to follow suit this year. Nothing to worry about since it's looking good, and the roots are taking up water as they should. It'll be a safe bet to have it growing a new stem or two next spring.
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oldcat61
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by oldcat61 »

I'm afraid to re-pot mine. They're doing well & I don't want to knock off any segments.
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Is this cactus growing? (Part 3)

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Thus far I've been asking that question as it pertains only to cacti I recently repotted, so I'll begin this installment with a plant I repotted 16 months ago.

Can't remember if I ever tried Leuchtenbergia principis when I built my first collection as a youngster. If I did, then I must've given up on the species pretty fast. When I found a Leuchtenbergia through the Long Beach Cactus Club in October 2013, it was a great opportunity to give this uniquely beautiful cactus a try (or try again as the case may be). With winter coming on, I was in no particular hurry to repot it. 5 months after it came home with me, I did the deed when I moved the plant from the grower's mix in a plastic pot to mineral mix in a glazed ceramic pot. The Leuchtenbergia's response to water has been excellent right from the get-go, and the tubercles stay nice and plump throughout the growing season. But darned if I've seen any actual growth yet. Hold on there, pardner -- I just noticed this on Sunday:

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In the middle of all those papery older-growth spines, there's the unmistakeable look of new spines. Yes indeed, the Leuchtenbergia is finally growing! Since I repotted it long before I got hip to the need for rinsing the DG fines out of my mix, the plant will have another repot in clean mineral mix. Once again, I'm not in any hurry to do this. Leuchtenbergias do best if they receive occasional light watering in winter, so I'll keep the plant as-is, then repot it in early March. At that point we'll be able to see what those roots look like after 2 years of living in "dirty" pumice-DG mix. If the Leuchtenbergia seems to be fairly happy now, I'm sure it'll be even happier growing in the clean stuff.

2 months after the Leuchtenbergia joined my collection, I went on a small holiday buying spree which included the Epithelantha gregii 'rufispina' we've seen before. While the question we're posing was answered in the affirmative last year, we'll put a big, bold dot on the exclamation mark with some remarkable progress. Here it is in March followed by the view at the midpoint of our 2015 growing season:

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And today we have a flush!

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A side view of the gregii in flower, with the top of my Eriosyce senilis seedling in the lower left corner, and the micromeris with those fruits that won't quit:

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Hiding behind the micromeris, there's another Epithelantha worthy of some attention now. That would be the gregii's companion coming from Mesa Garden in December 2013 -- E. bokei.

The bokei was a tiny gem when I got it. The plant has been growing well enough, although certainly unremarkable compared to the gregii and micromeris. However, there's a nice little change going on with its "belly button" -- same timeframe as the gregii's before-and-after pic:

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I've seen that look before, and the last time I did, it was shortly before the micromeris was about to give forth with its first bloom. I don't think the bokei is quite ready to flower, but it's getting close. Give it another growing season, and I have a feeling this pretty little Epithelantha will join its bunkmate for a good run of summertime flowering.

Last weekend I hinted at the possibility that the Mammillaria deherdtiana may be starting on a project once it was done flowering. Nice project too, so here's the growing side of the Mamm that just ended its phenomenal run. Exactly what I was hoping for -- a new pup!

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Could be the plant's first pup of the year, although it's hard to keep track these days. There's a nice empty spot on the base, so my next hope will be to see a pup or two starting to fill it up. And now for some cactus humor -- if the deherdtiana was an office building...

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I'll end for now with something I posted on the General forum Sunday evening. Here it is in case you missed it over there.

A Melo opens wide

As a Cuban species, my Melocactus matanzanus must be feeling right at home with the tropical heat and humidity created by Delores. (Yep, she's still here!) Don't remember seeing such wide open flowers on a matanzanus before, so maybe that's it:

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Now here's a glimpse at the inner workings that lead to fruit:

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Lots of fruit.

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That represents less than half of the fruit production coming from the matanzanus' flowers last year. All I can say is -- wow, I hope this never stops!

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Okay, we're back to July 22 -- tropical storm Delores cleared out Monday, but the miserable humidity left in her wake isn't letting up. Not that I haven't gone through summers like this before, and given the way this month is ending, at least I can be certain that a repeat of the "summer that wasn't" is out of the question. One of life's blessings in L.A. -- there's so much left to enjoy in this year's growing season!
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Is this cactus growing? (Part 4)

Post by Steve Johnson »

As August is about to begin, we'll have a look at the state of affairs here in the last weekend of July. In parts 1-3 the answer was always a straightforward "yes", but with the first 2 entries in this installment it won't be quite so easy...

We'll begin with an update on Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in (Part 9), when I introduced you to an Echinocereus viridiflorus that entered my collection in Mid-May. After the E. pectinatus I got 2 years prior failed to establish, that unexpected trouble naturally led me to wonder if some unfortunate history would repeat itself. (Once bitten, twice shy I suppose.) There's only one way to find out -- repotting day on 5/16 followed by today:

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Okay, not growing much, but I'm relieved to see that the viridiflorus is growing. When we get to the end of summer, I'll use the "before" and replace the "after" with a pic that shows 2 additional months on it. In the meantime, here's what I can look forward to next spring -- the following photo is courtesy of Miles' To Go:

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My 2 Echinocereuseseses side by side:

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The next item is a difficult case. When I joined the Sunset Succulent Society in January, I was pleased to select a Discocactus crystallophilus as a "welcome aboard" gift. Unfortunately the grower was keeping it in an unheated greenhouse, and a few days of near-freezing temps after Christmas led to a problem that didn't show itself before I got the plant. I described the situation in detail here, so we're picking up where I left off from my original post on the General forum. Here's the ailing crystallophilus on 3/21 followed by today:

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The necrotic tissue is slowly being replaced by a callus, which we can take as a good sign. If the roots were in a bad way, the plant would be showing clear signs of shriveling. But nope -- the crystallophilus appears to be taking up water rather nicely, another good sign. However, there's no detectable progress in cephalium growth yet. My first try with a Melocactus matanzanus gave me some hard experience when it went into a slow decline before the plant finally died. With that experience in mind, I know what to look for, and all I see is a reasonably healthy Discocactus establishing well enough for new activity in the cephalium before the growing season ends. While we're not to that point yet, Discos and Melos do love the heat, so I'll be keenly interested in seeing the results over the course of August and September.

The remaining entries are a definite "yes", although the next one won't be obvious. But take my word for it -- I'm pretty impressed by what this Pelecyphora aselliformis is looking like just 5 months after I repotted it in clean mineral mix:

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Pelecyphoras are slow growers anyway, so the progress won't show up well enough in a before-and-after photo now. We'll see where we're at toward the end of September, and I may have a nice little eyeful for you then.

Here are a couple of before-and-after pics worth viewing -- Espostoa lanata...

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...and Strombocactus disciformis -- at the end of March on the left, and what we see today:

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Zoom in, and we'll see how the growing point has come alive in the July heat:

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Sulcorebutia rauschii -- the birth of a pup:

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When I repotted it in early March, I was hoping the rauschii would offset this summer. Since the new pup has announced itself already and we still have plenty of growing season left, I have a feeling it'll be joined by 2 or 3 siblings.

Last but not least, Astrophytum capricorne with a close-up of the plant's growing point:

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I haven't seen more than 2 buds at once before. Entering its 5th year under my care, I'm kinda amazed to see the appearance of 4. Coincidence perhaps? Or could this beautiful "queen of the Astrophytums" be thanking me for the chance to grow in clean mineral mix? Based on the track record I've had with the capricorne, its flowering time runs from August to October. Whether or not all 4 buds go into flower by then will depend on late summer heat bleeding into fall. Ooh, I hope it does! As I sign off for now, this'll be a good segue into the weather outlook.

The hottest day of the year was last Sunday, when the daytime high hit 94. Hardly qualified as a heat wave, although it's more of an August thing. While this Epithelantha gregii holds down the fort, the collection is getting ready for next month and another round of summertime blooms. A heat wave or two will certainly help, and as we wait to see how the weather pattern shakes out, I'll be watching for signs of new buds on cacti that are likely to start showing soon. On your marks, get set -- go August!

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Last edited by Steve Johnson on Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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After the rain

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These 2 Turbs certainly liked it. Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele on repotting day (5/18), then a week after the plant got its summertime rain from tropical storm Delores:

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Not a huge response, but enough to have it come through on camera. A closer look at the growing point will reveal a full head of new spines and apical wool:

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While the pseudomacrochele was already growing when Delores came through, I'm sure that soak last weekend had a hand in what we're seeing on top today.

My Turb klinkerianus was due for watering 2 weeks after its repot on July 5, and the timing couldn't have been better. I've seen what rainwater can do, and even a small amount going straight from the sky to the pot will beat a full-on soak with acidified tap water. Given the plant's advanced age, this response is fairly impressive:

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The old guy obviously wants to keep on corking, but it's the plump, healthy newer growth that really counts. And talk about plumping, check out those pups:

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The tiny orange spots on a few of their tubercles have been there for quite awhile -- don't think that's corking, but perhaps the process that leads to it as the pups get older. That's okay -- with a potful of clean pumice-DG mix to grow in, I have a feeling the klinkerianus is happier than it's been in many years, and I hope it'll be with me for many more.
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by kristian_Fossmo »

Great as always! I like the side by side pictures, think I will adopt it to my seedling grow log :)
"When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again."
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Steve Johnson
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New month, new growth

Post by Steve Johnson »

kristian_Fossmo wrote:Great as always! I like the side by side pictures, think I will adopt it to my seedling grow log :)
Thanks, Kristian!

Well here we are at the beginning of August (already!), and next weekend I'll look forward to my first experience with the Inter-City Cactus & Succulent Show at the L.A. County Arboretum. Depending on how ambitious I feel, I may have a photo essay covering the event for y'all on the Cacti Places forum. Even if I don't, I have a feeling that some of our other members will be posting some great pics there. In the meantime, here are a few selected offerings from this weekend.

Gymnocalycium vatteri sporting a nice head of apical wool, new spines, and new buds too:

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I'll use this to benchmark before-and-after pics as we watch the buds grow:

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Epithelantha micromeris -- here's round 1 of the plant's fruit harvest:

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Round 2 with fruit "on the vine" (so to speak):

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A very awkward angle for the following pic, but I wanted to show you the pups in situ:

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While I've always been fascinated by Aztekium ritteri, it's the one species I wouldn't even think about trying to keep. Virtually impossible to find them on their own roots anyway, but as a close relative of Aztekium, I was more than happy to "make do" with a Geohintonia mexicana I purchased through eBay at the end of 2013. The plant has been growing well for me ever since, and I was pleased to see it working on a new rib toward the end of last summer. Here's the Geohintonia at the beginning of March, and on the right we now see it with another new rib:

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Astrophytum asterias -- here's a comment I made in Terracotta out, glazed ceramic in (Part 12):
Steve Johnson wrote:As the plant settles in, it'll be a good test to see if the buds abort or continue on for blooming. The asterias didn't seem to mind DG fines in the mineral mix. However, with a potful of clean mix for the roots to live in, I wouldn't be surprised if this encourages it to follow through with flowers.
On the 25th and again a week later -- yep, those buds are still growing!

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Maybe the asterias will be nice about not teasing me this time! :lol:

Here's a more recent comment that needs an update.
Steve Johnson wrote:Pelecyphoras are slow growers anyway, so the progress won't show up well enough in a before-and-after photo now. We'll see where we're at toward the end of September, and I may have a nice little eyeful for you then.
Oops, spoke too soon -- this is my P. aselliformis at the end of October. When you compare it with last weekend's pic on the right, you'll notice that the spines are undergoing a fairly amazing transformation in their color:

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This change is new, and it coincides with a sudden burst of growth. Perhaps the aselliformis isn't growing quite as slowly as I thought. So there's an eyeful for you now, then another one when the growing season ends.

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Speaking of Pelecyphoras, here's a good look at one of the subadult heads on my strobiliformis:

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Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus -- as a P. aselliformis look-alike, I couldn't resist adding this one to my collection. The following pic is underexposed to highlight the plant's wonderfully active growing point:

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I'd love to end this post with a flower, so I will -- sort of...

When we observe the behavior of all the cacti we grow, part of the interest is to see how long it takes going from bud to flower among different species. For example, here's my Strombocactus disciformis with a tiny bud at the beginning of July:

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The bud on July 25, then 3 days later:

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I was hoping the flower would last long enough to give me a good shot yesterday. But unfortunately this was the best I could get -- heading out for work Thursday morning:

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That's probably it for the Strombo's blooming this year. Then again I could be wrong, although I won't expect any more since the plant may not be entirely done establishing after its repot in February. With another growing season on the way, I'm sure my spiny pineapple will be back on track with plenty of big, beautiful flowers next year. Until then, at least it'll have time to put on more growth before this season goes "sayonara", so you'll see the Strombo again in my End-of-summer review.

FYI, I'll be at the show on Saturday. I hope to see some of my CactiGuide friends there live and in person!
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The Inter-City Show

Post by Steve Johnson »

Yep, I did make it there yesterday -- and what a wonderful time it was! I had my Canon Rebel with me too, so once I do some post-production on all the photos I took, I'll put a gallery up on the General forum. While I'm tempted to do this sooner rather than later, I may hold it back until y'all can have a virtual tour of the show as your collections go to sleep for the winter. In the meantime, I'll mention a couple of things. First, at the show I found 4 pots in the sizes I need. Second, the California Cactus Center in Pasadena happened to be a convenient waypoint on my route back to the old domicile. So in went 2 more pots, and here's what came home with me:

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I won't be repotting anything until February, but you'll see these pots again as they're filled before the 2016 growing season starts.

I had a little show of my own going on yesterday afternoon, so here are a few tidbits coming after my first-ever experience with one of the best cactus and succulent events you'll see in the US...

Turbinicarpus polaskii.

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My other Turb polaskii with 2 buds, looks like it may produce a double flower:

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Mammillaria grahamii getting ready for a round of August flowers:

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Mamm theresae usually blooms in May, but this one likes the setup well enough to work on a new bud out of season:

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My Gymnocalyciums are definitely in season -- stenopleurum with 2 buds, and the biggest is saying "any day now":

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Another "any day now" Gymno -- baldianum:

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Maybe today? Unfortunately no, although since my 7-day forecast is showing daytime highs in the upper 80s this week, the baldianum's flower should be opening wide soon. We'll see if I can catch it on camera for you.
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Flowers of August

Post by Steve Johnson »

Well, here we are in mid-month, and my little corner of the world is going through its first heat wave of the year. Triple digits in the San Fernando/San Gabriel Valley/Inland Empire region, and my daytime high yesterdy was just 1 degree short of the century mark. It's a good thing that the Inter-City show was last weekend. Anyway, I have a nice week of flowering for you, so let's get the party started.

Mammillaria grahamii.

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Those flowers leave nothing to the imagination, do they?

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Now we'll look at a few cacti going from buds to blooms. First, a couple of Turbinicarpus -- the CoronaCactus polaskii...

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...and Turb pseudomacrochele with a double flower:

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Gymnocalycium stenopleurum right after I came back from the Inter-City show:

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A few days later, late evening and early morning -- which do you prefer?

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Ooh, I'll take the early morning shot because it shows off the plant's lovely skin colors and the bud behind the one that's about to pop. As in yesterday, and this is what the stenopleurum
wants -- hot, hot, hot!

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If you want vivid flowers on a Gymno, there's nothing like baldianum!

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A look at my 3rd Gymno -- no flowers yet, but this vatteri is working on a fine group of buds:

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The following is a demonstration of how long it takes when my "queen of the Astrophytums" goes from buds to flowers. Here's the capricorne way back at the end of March -- 1 bud is obvious, 1 not so obvious:

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The sequence on 6/14, 2 weeks later, 7/25, and then yesterday:

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In the 3-plus years it's been flowering for me, this is the first time I'm seeing a bud opening rather strangely. From today, hmmmmmm -- I wonder what's up:

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Awwwwww, the queen's crown is bent. :( Misshapen as it is, that flower is still beautiful:

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Another oddity is the fact that the capricorne's first bud of the year has done nothing since June. Still firmly attached, and maybe it's waiting for a turn at bat so it can resume growing and bloom for us. If not, there are 2 more buds that are growing now, and they should do the job.

The big news this time -- my A. asterias finally stopped teasing me. Here it is with 2 tiny buds on repotting day (7/3):

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The sequence on 7/25, 8/1, 8/12, then yesterday:

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I kinda figured the asterias would pop today, but with all the heat it just couldn't wait!

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I'll sign off for now with my Epithelantha gregii 'rufispina' putting out the best flush I've seen to date:

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Good housekeeping with a Frailea grahliana

Post by Steve Johnson »

Ah, easier said than done -- the one I got from C and D Plants in March 2014 has been producing so many seed pods, I can barely see the top of the plant!

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Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration. But still, it would be nice to have a look at the grahliana after harvesting all the pods that are ready to give up their seeds. This isn't exactly a clean sweep, although it's as close as we're getting at the moment:

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While most of the seeds made it into an envelope, more than a few ended up in the pot. And I wouldn't be surprised if dehisced seeds have already been germinating since I give the grahliana a good soak every Saturday night in the growing season. I'll be moving the plant into a bigger pot around late February/early March -- if any seedlings happen to survive, I'll try to nurse them along. Then I may have some grahliana babies I can pass over to a local grower next year.
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by K.W. »

Steve,

I like your plants!
And the pictures of the plants and flowers!
But most of all I like your comments and explanations - wonderful! =D>


Best regards

K. W.
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by Steve Johnson »

K.W. wrote:Steve,

I like your plants!
And the pictures of the plants and flowers!
But most of all I like your comments and explanations - wonderful! =D>


Best regards

K. W.
Thanks, my friend! You have an amazing collection, and while I've been enjoying your Member Topics thread, I'd love to see all your cacti live and in person. Unfortunately not something that'll happen anytime soon, but I have this on the "bucket list" for my retirement years -- a visit to the cactus collections of the UK and northern Europe. :D
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Re: A small collection 2015

Post by K.W. »

Steve Johnson wrote: Thanks, my friend! You have an amazing collection, and while I've been enjoying your Member Topics thread, I'd love to see all your cacti live and in person.
>>>
:oops: :oops: :oops:
:oops: :oops: :oops:

<<<
Unfortunately not something that'll happen anytime soon, but I have this on the "bucket list" for my retirement years -- a visit to the cactus collections of the UK and northern Europe. :D

I very much hope that you are not very young! :wink:
I would like to be here when you come to Europe. . . :)


Best wishes

K.W.
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Is this cactus growing? Ariocarpus fissuratus

Post by Steve Johnson »

Funny thing about the really slow growers, going purely by the naked eye it's sometimes difficult to tell if they're growing at all. This is where digital photography comes in handy. Case in
point -- after repotting the fissuratus back in February, I wanted to see if it re-established well enough to resume growth on a tubercle it started last year. Here's the plant at the end of March, and today:

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Okay, so the young tubercle is indeed growing again. Aside from that, do you notice something new? Let's zoom in closer:

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If it weren't for the pic I took today, that brand-new tubercle would've completely escaped my attention.

I was thrilled to see my very first Ario flower when the fissuratus bloomed for me last November. With a potful of clean mineral mix and roots that are apparently happy enough to show signs of new growth on top, I really hope we'll see a repeat performance of this:

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In the meantime, stay tuned for a nice post next weekend!
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