A small collection: 2015 and beyond

[Steve Johnson]

Well, no -- this incredible winter isn't quite done with us here in SoCal. As we wait for the transition to springtime weather, I have a few nice things to show you in the first weekend of March.

Gymnocactus ysabelae on its 3rd flower:







Gymnocalycium stenopleurum -- can't remember the plant blooming this early in the year before:



With a warm-up on the way, that flower may open for us a little more later in the week.

This Mamm perezdelarosae should start flowering very soon:







Strombocactus disciformis on 2/12 -- remember this?



The Strombo's buds then and now:







I posted a photo of my Stenocactus lloydii displaying brand-new buds on 2/19 -- barely visible then, quite visible now:







Turbinicarpus valdezianus -- the bud is just starting to open:



The blooms on my valdezianus are usually good for at least 7-8 days, so if I can't post one before then, I should have a good shot for you next weekend. And if we're lucky...



Completely OT, but I'll end today's post with something my fellow Californians might enjoy:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /98623436/

Late-winter cheers, everyone!

[Grimm]

That's a seriously impressive set of spines!

[mikej]

That's a seriously impressive set of spines!

Agreed!

[Steve Johnson]

That's a seriously impressive set of spines!

Agreed!

Yeah, they're pretty wild, aren't they? When I saw my lloydii bloom for the first time last year, it was fun to notice how the flowers fought their way through all the spines on top. Now we get to see this again, as I put the pics from last weekend together with the view on Friday:





Zooming in on the flowers:





We enjoyed a nice warm-up during the week, so let's see what the heat gave us this weekend...

Mammillaria crucigera.







Mamm spinossissima -- first flower way back in November, and the red-headed Irishman is still going at it!





Gymnocactus ysabelae -- 3rd flower keeps going, and it was joined by bloom #4:







Turbinicarpus valdezianus -- from bud (2/2) to bloom (3/4 and 3/10):







Strombocactus disciformis -- its biggest bud visible from the side (3/4), then the Strombo's first bloom of the year:









Okay, now is it spring? Not quite, but so close I can feel it. Although the daytime heat is wonderful, the overnight lows are what I look at in determining whether or not we should see signs of new activity to begin the growing season. The overnights have been flirting with the magic 50-degree mark -- bring those temps up just a few degrees, and the collection will be ready for its first soak of the year. With that said, there's nothing wrong with "priming the pump" for my fibrous-rooted North American cacti, so they got sips last night. Next weekend could be the time for deep watering as I keep an eye on the overnight temps. While we play the waiting game, there's one species that likes to start growing in winter. And that would be Eriosyce senilis. On 2/12 I showed you Sr.'s growth point getting active. Now we'll look at Jr. -- done growing for the year on 9/24, then its top open for business again in late winter:



Jr. is on a short list of cacti needing bigger pots, and it'll be repotting time soon. When those chores are done, I'll share the results with you in words and pictures.

[mdpillet]

Gorgeous Steve! Love the colors on M. spinossissima and T. ysabelae.

[Steve Johnson]

And what do we mean by that? If you wade through my End-of-summer review (Part 12), you'll know the backstory of today's post.

The long winter rainy season finally came to an end at the beginning of March, so the opportunity was right for repotting on 3/4. Let's see what came out of the pot:






Those roots look pretty good, but I was hoping to see more of them. A couple of explanations are in order. First, yeah -- that "dirty" mineral problem. Again. The buenekeri had been sitting in it since December 2013, so I'm not surprised. And the second is dieback over the course of winter, as evidenced by dead roots sitting in the mix that tipped out. The live roots on the plant are there thanks to the sips it was getting every 3 weeks over wintertime -- healthy material that'll grow new roots during spring. Now we know what's been going on below-ground over the last 3-plus years. With the repot done, here we are before and after the haircut:




Here's what was left on the babershop floor (in a manner of speaking):



Since the buenekeri won't have to support quite so many pups, its nutritive energies should be going more to the parent stem, the biggest pup (maybe starting on a cephalium soon?), and the others that are left. On the following day, I took the excess pups off to Desert Creations in Northridge, CA -- a nice little donation, and while I was there, I snagged 3 pots I needed:



They'll be gainfully employed very soon. In the meantime...

The buenekeri got clean pumice and granite gravel going into the 4-to-1 mineral-soil recipe I've been using for my other Disco and the Melo matanzanus. Should be happier now, although its root system needs to grow in more before the plant is ready for soaks. That being the case, it'll be sips once a week for a few
weeks -- basically teasing the roots into growing as they seek out moisture. This really does work well when the situation calls for it, and in the near future what we'll look for is a buenekeri going from shriveled to plump. Will I pull it off? I'll certainly let y'all know!

[Steve Johnson]

Daytime highs over the last 2 weeks have been mostly in the 80s (with a few in the low 90s), and some of my cacti are waking up now that overnight lows are above 50. Here are a few showing new activity on their growth point, so let's have a look from today...

Epithelantha micromeris.



E. bokei.



My other Epithelantha seems to be a bit noncommital at the moment, but it'll get going soon.

Pelecyphora aselliformis...



...and P. strobiliformis:



I realize that it may be difficult to see on the aselliformis, but believe me -- it's growing. New activity on the strobiliformis is a little more obvious. My Pelecyphoras usually don't start growing before June, so this is a pleasant surprise.

Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus with a brand new bud on 1/8, followed by the view from this afternoon:



The bud aborted early on, and the Turb just wants to grow instead. This thirsty little guy could use a good drink, although it'll have to wait (I'll explain later).

Melocactus matanzanus -- a before-and-after at the end of summer (9/17), then precisely 6 months later:



Echinocereus viridiflorus canus.



Et tu, Aztekium ritteri? The plant bench photo I took on 1/29 was a big group shot, so I had to make do with a tiny cropped-out pic for this before-and-after. Is there enough detail to see if we have a positive change?



If there is, the clue would be in the wool -- white and kinda matted-looking on the left, cream-colored and fluffy on the right. Maybe I'm simply imagining things, so I won't get excited yet. I have the larger "after" source photo as a benchmark, and we'll check again with an updated pic in a month or two. If a new before-and-after is indeed showing definitive signs of growth by then, I'll be excited!

I was all set to give the collection its first deep drench of the year tomorrow night. Unfortunately the weather has other ideas, as my local 7-day NWS forecast is showing a good chance of rain and cool temps Monday-Wednesday. Watering this weekend isn't a good idea, although the Discos and Melo will get sips since their roots are pretty much ready to go back to work for the growing season. Next weekend perhaps? It depends on what the overnights do after the rain clears out, so all those thirsty cacti may have to wait longer. When they do get their first big dose of the wet stuff -- oh boy, it's fun to see! In the meantime, I'll tease you with a sneak preview of coming attractions:

[greenknight]

80s? 90s? Up here in the north country we'd call that Summer. It's Spring when the daffodils bloom - and yes, they are blooming.

[Steve Johnson]

...your Eriosyce senilis puts on a show. Sr. has one going on right now, but before we get to the "fireworks", here are some sparklers.

Mammillaria perezdelarosae.









There's a lot more where that came from.

Gymnocactus ysabelae -- a gift that keeps on giving:







Strombocactus disciformis loving the mid-March heat:











And here's the fireworks!









As nice as it is to see flushes blooming all at once, there's something to be said for a "slow burn" that stretches out the experience when flowers are immediately followed by more flowers. We already saw this with my red-headed Irishman, and we're at the beginning of it on the M. perezdelarosae. Sr. is doing more of a medium burn, so at least we'll have one more round of blooms before its display peters out. Another Mamm has already started on the first buds of spring, but I'll save that story for later.

[Steve Johnson]

It's a great one too, so after I had some marvelous things to share with you on 3/20, let's pick up where we left off.

Epithelantha micromeris with its first flowers of the year (3/20):



E. micromeris flowers are tiny enough as it is, and they were shy about opening -- so not the best shot. This one is better (3/25):



The seedling on the right is 1 of the 3 I've been raising, the result of a successful pot-sowing experiment I performed in the spring of 2014. Going by standard practice, they'll eventually need to be in their own pots. It'll be interesting to see how much longer they can stay with the issuing plant before the seedlings have to go off on their own.

Mammillaria perezdelarosae on 3/28:



The perezdelarosae's flush was just getting started in mid-March, so we'll rewind to 3/17 for before-and-after head shots as the buds turn into a wreath of pretty little blooms:



On 3/11, I posted pics of my Stenocactus lloydii with 3 lovely flowers. They still looked pretty good 14 days later:





Eriosyce senilis Sr. keeps the party going here on 3/20...







...and 3/23:





Sr.'s last bud (AKA "tail-end Charlie") finally popped, and some of the neighbors get face time as they watch the display on 3/29:



And now for a close-up of the flush as it slowly winds down:





E. senilis isn't the only show-off cactus we'll see in March. Howzabout Mamm deherdtiana? Its first buds of the year on 3/12, and at that point the parent stem was having all the fun:



We'll brighten up the contrast for this photo to get a better look at the new buds:



Once again on 3/12, then on 3/17 we'll see a couple of pups getting in on the act:



The pups let their buds take over (3/20), then we get to find out which one did the honor of producing the deherdtiana's first bloom of the year (3/25):



Gorgeous!







More gorgeousness on 3/29:





My camera is getting a real workout these days, and I already have a backlog of photos I haven't been able to post yet. Nice problem to have, though -- there won't a be shortage of new material as we proceed through the 2017 growing season. I hope you'll keep coming back for the further adventures of this small collection.

Early-spring cheers, everyone!

[Steve Johnson]

While I do enjoy it, repotting can be kind of a chore. But when you gotta, you gotta -- and it felt good to move the following cacti from their cramped quarters to appropriately bigger pots. First, I'll show you what they were in at the end of summer, followed by their repot in mid-March...

Copiapoa laui.









Sulcorebutia rauschii.









Turbinicarpus polaskii (from the California Cactus Center).





Going into one of the pots I recently found at Desert Creations in Northridge, CA:





Turb polaskii (from CoronaCactus Nursery).



Going into another pot from DC:





Believe it or not, those polaskiis were rootbound in their tiny pots. Could they be overpotted now? Nope -- their roots will take advantage of growing in pure mineral mix, and above-ground the plants may end up growing more this year than they did over the previous 4.

Rebutia pygmaea.





Going into the last of the DC pots:





The pygmaea's base turned kinda ugly during winter. I believe the cause may be a temporary condition Craig Fry described to me as "the creeping cruds" -- peculiar to Rebutias and Sulcos. If I'm correct, it'll clear up over the course of springtime, in which case an interesting before-and-after photo should rate nicely for a later post.

When I took these pics, the collection had yet to receive its first deep watering of the year. The "big soak" took place on 3/25, so we'll get to see the results in my next post. Coming soon, friends!

[Steve Johnson]

It's an experience that never gets old -- seeing what happens after our cacti get their first deep drink of the year. Although I've been putting these shriveling/plumping presentations up on the forum since 2013, unfortunately I didn't have enough time to make this one as comprehensive as I'd like. But at least I can give you some notable examples, so away we go...

I got my Echinocereus viridiflorus canus from Miles' To Go back in August -- here's the thirsty little guy's response to its first soak of the first full growing season under my care:



A couple of Turbinicarpus, Turb klinkerianus...



...and pseudopectinatus:



My "veteran" Epithelantha micromeris from 2012:



The E. micromeris dickisoniae from 2013 -- while the response to its first soak wasn't quite as dramatic, this lovely oddball is off to a good start for the 2017 growing season:



Mammillaria theresae.



Stenocactus lloydii.



For some of my cacti, it takes more than one good drench to see them plumping up enough to show well in photos. Here's an example -- Puna clavarioides coming out of winter, then the result after watering on 3/25, 4/9, and 4/15:



I got the Puna from C and D Plants in December 2015, and it turned out to be a difficult one to establish. (For details on the backstory, check out the links here and here.) While the tops of the old stems are all dried up (not surprising), the plump base and a brand-new stem told me that the plant is finally starting to grow a new set of roots. And progress in the roots will show up in more progress above-ground, so it'll be worth watching what the Puna does over the rest of the growing season. We'll check in with new pics as we amble our way through summer.

I'll end today's post with 3 cacti that really enjoyed their first soak of the year. Tephrocactus articulatus inermis shriveling, plumping and growing -- that was a nice surprise!



Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus with a "belly button" left behind by last spring's flower and a new bud just beginning on this spring's gorgeous bloom (3/20 on the left):



The most impressive display of winter shriveling and spring plumping has to be my Astrophytum myriostigma quadricostatum -- right before the plant's first drink on 3/25, and believe it or not, what you see on the right was the result only a few days later:



April was a pretty fantastic month for flowering, and I have quite an eyeful just waiting to launch out of my photo archive. In our next installment, I'll share a bunch of early spring blooms for your viewing pleasure.

[shimaza1]

This has to be my favorite thread on this entire forum. Not only is your collection incredible, your willingness to document and share your experiences and knowledge is fantastic. Please keep up the good work!

Here's a newbie question: can you reuse the mineral mix when you replant the cacti? Obviously, you would clean everything off the roots and whatnot, but can you use what's left over? Does the mix become depleted in some way or does it not matter because you would use fertilizer anyway? I only ask because I'm cheap and pumice isn't the easiest thing to come by where I live, but I really like using it.

[Steve Johnson]

This has to be my favorite thread on this entire forum. Not only is your collection incredible, your willingness to document and share your experiences and knowledge is fantastic. Please keep up the good work!

Here's a newbie question: can you reuse the mineral mix when you replant the cacti? Obviously, you would clean everything off the roots and whatnot, but can you use what's left over? Does the mix become depleted in some way or does it not matter because you would use fertilizer anyway? I only ask because I'm cheap and pumice isn't the easiest thing to come by where I live, but I really like using it.

First of all -- thanks, and it's a pleasure to share as much of my experience as I can with our friends on the forum!

As to your question -- yes, I recycle my mineral mix whenever cacti come out for repotting. Unlike composted potting soils that break down over time, mineral gravels last forever. Some commercial soils include fertilizer, in which case nutrient depletion could be an issue. However, we should avoid them like the plague when we're growing desert cacti. Since I'm a bit of a control freak anyway, IMO nothing beats regular applications of properly diluted liquid fert.

[shimaza1]

Thanks for the response! Yet another reason to go 100% mineral.