A small collection: 2015 and beyond

[Steve Johnson]

As it usually is around these parts, our "June gloom" began last week. I was hoping to take portable GH 3.0 off already, but since the marine layer overcast has been keeping the daytime temps down to an average high of about 72, it's still on with the front up for some extra heat over the plant bench. We have the long Memorial Day weekend coming up, so hopefully that'll be the time when things warm up enough to send 3.0 packing for stowage in my garage. If not, I'll be patient and wait awhile longer. This brings up a couple of questions worth asking: 1. Is the collection getting enough light under the double-filtering of shade cloth and the portable GH's plastic? And 2. will there be a problem if the cacti suddenly get more sun when 3.0 comes down? I'll give you the answers in a later post. Until then, let's do some repotting...

Before we get to it, I'll discuss my primary reason for the repots. You've seen a lot of references to "dirty" mineral mix in my Member Topics posts, and now would be a good time to explain the term in better detail. The decomposed granite I use for my pumice-DG mix comes from a source in Pasadena, CA that quarries it locally. About 60% is "play sand" waste that has to be sifted out and thrown away:



After all the sifting (and man, that's labor-intensive!), we get the gravel usable for a mineral mix:



Take what you see here, mix it with pumice and we're good to go, right? Well, not quite. I knew there was still a fair amount of silt and clay clinging to the DG gravel, but I assumed that a few good soaks would be sufficient to clean out the residual fines. Ooh, bad assumption, and it didn't occur to me that so much of the crap would never wash through -- hence my reason for calling this "dirty" mix. Can't remember when or where he posted it, but James (jp29) mentioned that he rinses his pumice before using it in a mix. Because pumice dust can be a problem, I thought about what DG residues in my "dirty" mix could do to cacti. Thanks to his excellent advice and putting 2 plus 2 together, I've been thoroughly rinsing my pumice-DG gravel mix as standard practice since 2014. Here's the difference between dirty and clean mix (with a handy-dandy ruler on the right for scale):



With all this in mind, we'll review the last 3 cacti in my collection that need the move from dirty to clean mix. First up, the Geohintonia mexicana I got at the end of December 2013 -- repotting time last weekend:



Coming out of a tiny pot, so there wasn't enough residual "play sand" to bother the plant.

The Geohintonia's first repotting day was on 3/18/14 -- here it is roots and all, then and now:



Another day and a new repot:





My Geohintonia needed a bigger pot, and luckily the pot that became too small for the Epithelantha gregii was perfect. Those roots filled its previous pot rather well, so howzabout the Mammillaria perezdelarosae?



Yes indeed! That's repot #2 on May 15, and the plant sure has grown a lot since it came to me from M2G in December 2013. Here it is then and now (12/23/13 on the left):



Right before transplant, and the perezdelarosae's roots look pretty amazing:



The plant is fine in its existing pot, but now with clean mineral mix:



The perezdelarosae took on a lean to the southwest over time. That bird's-eye view on the right indicates the southwest tilt the plant will continue to have.

Repot #3 is the Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus I got from Planta Seca through eBay in February 2014. Unfortunately no pot-shaped roots to show you this time, although this then-and-now comparison is nice -- 2/23/14 on the left:



Same as my perezdelarosae -- the Turb is fine in its existing pot, it just needs a dose of clean mineral mix:





While I can't honestly say that the pseudopectinatus has been struggling, it does make the general point with regard to anticipating potential problems when you have the chance to head them off at the pass. Simply put, pore-clogging mineral fines are counterproductive -- regardless of whether it's pumice dust, DG "play sand", or dust coming from crushed granite. Please be sure to thoroughly rinse your gravels first. If you take the extra step now, then IMO your chances are excellent for healthy long-term growth of the cacti you'll enjoy over the years.

Thought I was done with my repotting for the year, but wouldn't you know it -- I managed to find space on the plant bench for a new acquisition. It arrived just yesterday, so I'll show you what I found when I repot it. A lovely announcement with pics coming soon, my friends!

[Pushrestart]

Steve I absolutely love these posts! They're so informative and can even teach the village idiot like me !
I picked up some decomposed granite last season after seeing your posts, and noticed that it was mostly sand and clay when I was washing it. Washing and sifting is so much extra work. I was considering picking up some pond baskets this season might help.
Do you sift again the smaller pieces of pumice and DG post wash to get even particle size or meh?
Thanks again, and update us with the new buys

[Steve Johnson]

Steve I absolutely love these posts! They're so informative and can even teach the village idiot like me !

Oh, thanks so much for your appreciative comments! At least this "old school" idiot has managed to pick up a few useful things over the last 4 years, and I'm always happy to pass along whatever I've learned.

Funny you should mention post-wash sifting. Whenever I get ready to repot, I work like a human Mixmaster so that the smaller pieces of DG gravel don't settle down at the bottom of my mixing container. Of course dust rises up, and if I see more of it than I'd like, I'll do a final dry-sift before the mix goes into the pot. I'll lose some of the tiniest pumice and granite pieces, but we're talking about only 1/32" or less -- and it's not much of that anyway. The main thing is to get the pumice and granite gravel as clean as possible, so whatever is thrown out after the final sift will help.

[keith]

Hi Steve,

If you grow in straight pumice and gravel you have to fertilize your plants every watering? Like hydroponic ?

How often do you re-pot and do you always clean the roots of all soil when you re-pot ?

Thanks plants look great and cool pots .

[Steve Johnson]

Great questions, guys -- it's nice to have a little dialog going here!

If you grow in straight pumice and gravel you have to fertilize your plants every watering? Like hydroponic ?

You hit the nail on the head. My pumice/DG gravel mix is essentially hydroponic, so yes -- I fertilize pretty much every time I water. However, I say "pretty much" because I may skip the fert every once in awhile. (Whatever light watering I do in winter is water only, no fert at all.)

How often do you re-pot and do you always clean the roots of all soil when you re-pot ?

That's actually a 2-part question, so I'll give you a 2-part answer:

1. The handful of veteran growers in SoCal I speak with face-to-face repot their plants every 2-3 years. The primary reason they cite is the fact that the soils they include in their mixes tend to degrade over time. (Is it soil, compost, peat/coir or a combination? Talk to 10 growers, and you're likely to get 10 different answers!) For the vast majority of my cacti growing in soil-less mix, the pumice and granite gravel will take a verrrrrrrry long time to break down. Such being the case, I believe that repotting should be done only on an as-needed basis. As to the handful of the cacti I grow with soil added, I may be inclined to repot them on a regular basis. Then again if they're still growing well in 2-3 years, the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule might be the best approach.

2. Whenever I introduce a new cactus into the collection, I'll clean the roots carefully before I repot. And that applies even to bare-root plants I receive, although it's a lot easier than the process I have to go through with potted cacti I get. If I'm repotting a plant I've already been growing, there's no change in the mix I use. Theoretically I shouldn't need to clean the roots at all. But when I changed the mix from "dirty" to clean, I did have to groom out all the clingy DG fines before the plants went into clean mix. We're all used to having roots torn off when we repot, but one of the benefits of thoroughly rinsed and clean Pumice-DG gravel mix is the ability to repot cacti with largely intact roots and minimal tear-off. (I had the opportunity to see this in action when I gave away a surplus Mammillaria guelzowiana at the beginning of the year. It's part of a story you'll be reading about soon.)

[keith]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. To cold to do much watering now with this CA june gloom or does your mix dry out fast enough to keep watering ?

[Steve Johnson]

To cold to do much watering now with this CA june gloom or does your mix dry out fast enough to keep watering ?

I've been keeping the front of my portable GH on for some extra heat, so I'll give my cacti their scheduled watering this weekend. I'll give you some numbers comparing the daytime highs reported by my local NWS weather station at USC and what I'm showing under the GH -- Sunday 71/83, yesterday 73/85, and today 70/79. These are more like early summer temps in my area, so the heat-trapping capability of the GH will continue to keep the plants warm and happy.

[Steve Johnson]

A small group shot in Shady Glen on 5/29/15, and the same group a year later -- hmmmmm, something's changed...





That's right, a Mammillaria guelzowiana magically transformed itself into an Obregonia denegrii! Or that's what Photoshop would have us believe. Okay, now here's the real story...

When I went to the Sunset show last spring, I was there for glazed ceramic pots, not cacti. But one of the sellers had a lovely Mamm I couldn't resist. The tag said M. bocasana -- ooh, a good companion to go with the guelzowiana coming from M2G when I installed my new plant bench in 2013. When I got the Sunset Mamm home, nope -- another guelzowiana. While "insurance" plants are a fine idea in theory, limited growing space means that duplicates of the same species take up room that I could use for something else. With that said, I wasn't in any particular hurry to find a home for the redundant Mamm, so I gave it the same TLC I give to all of my other cacti. And for one brief summer, I had the pleasure of seeing both guelzowianas in flower at the same time:





Actually it was a tough decision, but I had to go with keeping the plant that's been with me the longest. Fast-forward to early January as I went to the California Cactus Center for some pot shopping. So off went guelzowiana #2, and the good folks at the CCC were happy to have it. (I'll briefly mention that when I unpotted the plant beforehand, the clean pumice-DG mix behaved exactly as I hoped -- it fell out instantly, and the guelzowiana's roots were largely intact. Whenever I need to repot my own cacti, it should be super easy!) Now what to do with that spot? Since fissuratus is the only Ariocarpus I have in the collection, I thought it might be nice to find another Ario species. After reviewing photos on Cactuspedia, I had my heart set on Ario kotschoubeyanus, and the only source I could find was Mesa Garden. The cold southwest winter of New Mexico was no bueno for shipping, but by the time spring arrived, Steven Brack gave me the bad news that he was out of stock on the only Ario species I'd be interested in having as a companion to my fissuratus.

If not another Ario, then howzabout Obregonia denegrii? According to Cactuspedia, it's considered an intermediate form between Ariocarpus and Lophophora. Aside from that interesting little fact, I've always found Obregonias to be strikingly attractive -- and unfortunately almost impossible to get them as grown plants from US nurseries. Whenever my preferred sources come up empty, experience tells me that trolling on eBay will sometimes net a lucky catch. In this case, it was an Obregonia being sold with the "buy it now" option from a grower in Escondido, CA. Here's what arrived on my doorstep last Saturday:



Not exactly pristine, but I'll take it! The grower did a good job of cleaning the roots before he shipped the plant, so all I had to do was clean them a touch more and give them my customary peroxide treatment before repotting. Now here's my newest acquisition filling the Joe Wujcik pot formerly occupied by the "oopsie" Mamm guelzowiana:





From what I've heard, Obregonia can be a fairly fast grower when it's treated right. If that's correct and I'm growing mine well (in clean pumice and granite gravel of course!), then it'll be ready for a bigger pot in 2 years. Maybe sooner? As to watering, I'll take the same approach I follow with my Turbs -- deep drenches ever 3-4 weeks in spring, every 3 weeks in early summer, then every 2 weeks in mid and late summer -- but only if the plant doesn't look overly plump! The photos I'm posting here don't show the best light for benchmarking, but I have better pics for that in my archive now. We'll use them for "before and after" shots and see how the Obregonia is doing as our SoCal summer wears on.

[Steve Johnson]

It's turned out to be a simply marvelous last week of May, and since I can't cram everything into just one post, we'll begin with the weekend ramping up to our Memorial Day holiday.

Mammillaria grahamii going from buds on 5/14 to blooms on the 21st:



View from the side, call this a small down payment on the grahamii's floriferous offerings we'll see during summertime:



(Great word, and I had to steal "floriferous" from James. ) 5/21 was a dull, cloudy day -- but at least warm enough in the portable GH to open up more cactus flowers. Turbinicarpus klinkerianus:





What a difference a day makes -- as the sun came out and the heat went up in GH 3.0 on the 22nd:





What a difference indeed!







After an absence of flowers last year, I was so pleased to see my Sulcorebutia rauschii doing what it usually does around this time of year. Going from bud to bloom, same timeframe as what you just saw with the Mamm grahamii:



To go along with the 2 days I had with my Mamm theresae:







A lovely photo op on the top shelf last Monday:



Strange that I still need to use my portable GH, but it sure comes in handy! Here's a tantalizing peek inside on 5/25:



Same vantage point a day later:



I was kinda bummed about missing the Astrophytum quadricostatum's first triple flowers at their best. Not bad, though, and what I'll have to show you in Part 2 will more than make up for it. In the meantime, let's have a look inside Shady Glen -- Rebutia pygmaea on 5/25:



Going from buds (5/14) to blooms (5/26):






Up next I'll post a wonderful story that started almost 5 years ago -- and I think you'll really enjoy it. Stay tuned, my friends!

[keith]

Hi Steve I found this pumice sold as Dry Stall at KaHoots a farm supply in Moorpark. Small sized rocks in a 40 lb bag about 20 bucks. Much smaller sized than what I used to buy in Phoenix AZ.
I put some in water to see how clean it is not too bad. It looks like its all floating in the picture but most of it didn't float I like that.

I had too much fine soil in my mix so I'll shift some of it out and add this small sized pumice in place. Not ready to go hydroponic quite yet. Thanks for the cool pictures.

[Steve Johnson]

Hi Steve I found this pumice sold as Dry Stall at KaHoots a farm supply in Moorpark.

Hi Keith,

Your pumice looks good, and from the photo you posted, the grain sizes appear to be smaller and somewhat more uniform than the pumice I get from the California Cactus Center. In fact, the CCC pumice could dry out too quickly in your climate, so what you have may be better. Even if you're not ready to go hydroponic yet, keep your mix simple and lean, and I think you'd be pleased with the results. Getting back to my comment about pore-clogging mineral fines, diatomaceous earth fits that description -- the more I think about it, the more I'm of the opinion that you should stay completely away from DE in your mixes. If that's what you've been using for your Mamm theresae, what the plant looks like now may be the proverbial "canary in a coal mine" for cacti that aren't doing as well as they could. I'd like to see what's going on with your theresae's roots, so if you have a chance, please feel free to post a pic or two here!

[Steve Johnson]

My best friend and his family blessed me with 2 huge things I'll be eternally grateful to have. First, a unique situation apartment-dwellers would kill for. And second (which comes directly from the first), the ability to build a new collection after my 20-year absence from the hobby. He also happens to enjoy cacti, so when he went with me to the California Cactus Center in July 2011, he wanted to buy a cactus -- and of course I was happy to host it in the collection. My friend's sense of good taste led him to selecting an Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus. So much I didn't know about cacti back then, and my ignorance sent the poor thing to the great compost heap in the sky. But E. rubispinus is such a pretty plant (IMO best in the genus), and I wasn't about to give up.

The species is a perennial favorite the CCC stocks every spring, so I went there for another go in May 2012. The plant even came with a bud that went into bloom, and wow, what a gorgeous flower it was! Turned out to be a heart-breaking story (if you're interested, you can find it here). But as the old saying goes, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again". I was already backing away from further plant purchases at the CCC when I went in a different direction -- going online and bare-root. Enter CoronaCactus Nursery, and Darryl Craig sent me a lovely rubispinus in December 2012. He was kind about providing some tips on how to get effort #3 through winter, and his advice paid off as I finally had a rubispinus growing for me. Now in its 4th spring under my care, I can't tell you how pleased I am to show the plant not only growing, but going from bud to bloom!

Here's the rubispinus with a teeny tiny puffball on 3/15, and a bigger puffball with some red on it 11 days later:



As you can see, the plant wasn't shy about accepting its first deep drink of the year, was it? In case you were wondering about how long it takes to go all the way...

The bud's progress on 4/16 and 4/23:



Take the "after", turn it into a "before", and we're going from 4/23 into May on 5/14 and 5/23:



A closer peek into the portable GH with the star of our show about to pop on 5/26:



(Aside from whatever else you see, I think something's going on with my "paper spine" Tephro. Oops, don't want to get distracted! I'll save that nice little story for later.) Same day, and now it's blooming time -- oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!







Unfortunately I had to miss seeing the flower on Friday -- could it give me another day?





Wowza, that thing is ginormous! In terms of size, the bloom rivals the ones I see on my Astrophytum capricorne. However, put size together with the wonderful colors, and what I just showed you has to be the most beautiful flower I'll see in this small collection.

That catches us up on current events. In Part 3 we'll review more of the doings from yesterday.

[Steve Johnson]

More from Saturday -- of all the group shots I've been posting, this one may be the best:



Before we continue -- just to remind y'all (or if you're new to my work here), Espostoa lanata and Mammillaria spinossissima were the 2 cacti that began my current collection 5 years ago this month. Both have grown into such beautiful plants, and it's hard to believe they started like this:



Now I'll break out the group into individual items of interest. My Gymnocalycium vatteri usually does its flowering in summer, but it decided to start early this year. Going from buds on 5/14 to bigger buds and a bloom:



We'll zoom in for a closer look:





Small but pretty -- Mamm hernandezii popping out another wonderfully out-of-season flower:



Mamm theresae -- a flower now as it saves one for later (I love how it keeps doing that!):



Sulcorebutia longispina blooming again -- this flower totally snuck up on me:



We'll turn the plant around for a better view of the flower, and check out that vibrant new growth on top!



A quiet riot down in Shady Glen -- Rebutia pygmaea:





The hue and vibrancy of these orange flowers are breathtaking, aren't they? It's bonus to see them on such a pretty cactus.

Since today is Memorial Day, I'll "raise the hood" of portable GH 3.0 and see if there's anything camera-worthy to end our lovely long weekend. Coming right up, my friends!

[Steve Johnson]

The hood is now raised -- unfortunately not much in the way of flowers today, but I do have some for you.

Cumarinia odorata getting busy:



Turb krainzianus going from buds on Saturday to blooms today (well, sorta):





Now for notable buds. I showed you my Escobaria minima's first-ever buds on 5/14, so we'll go from then to now with 5/26 in the middle:



It'll be a bit disappointing if I can't see the minima in bloom. But now that I know it's healthy and able to flower, I'll have plenty of time to get minima blossoms on camera.

Mammillaria deherdtiana -- thought this beautiful cactus might be done with its flowering for the year, but nope!



The deherdtiana surprised the heck out of me by flowering well into summer last year. Could history repeat itself through this one? It'll be worth keeping an eye out for.

2 Gymnos that never disappoint -- baldianum...



...and stenopleurum:



Eriosyce odieri with buds showing lovely progress:



As much as I'm enjoying our mild L.A. weather, I'm about ready for some heat so the portable GH can come down. The local forecast shows a nice warmup starting on Wednesday, and Wednesday night could be the time. Then it's bye bye GH 3.0, hello sun on the plant bench!

[Steve Johnson]

We're not quite there yet, but close enough as the plant bench got a small preheat on Friday -- daytime high of 91. And that was a day after I took the front of the portable GH off, so with highs around 80 for our lovely first weekend of June, the collection may be ready to shed the rest of its plastic dress. Before we get to the latest round of cacti in flower, I'll preheat this post with the following...

The west side of Sun Valley, and check out the nice wooly top on my Gymnocactus ysabelae:



Echinocereus rubispinus -- lost a spent flower and gained a "belly button" plus new activity on the growing point:



Also from yesterday -- Shady Glen, and this is a fairly accurate representation of the ambient light in there (please note the time on my outdoor thermometer):



Pretty amazing how shade-tolerant many cacti can be if they're given a good dose of sunlight in the morning and late afternoon/evening hours of the growing season. After several years of close observation, it's apparent that the residents of Shady Glen seem to enjoy where they are.

Now for the flowers from yesterday. Turb klinkerianus -- June gloom in the morning, sun in the afternoon:





Completely unplanned, but trick photography nonetheless -- the white flower which appeared to be emerging on my Astrophytum asterias is actually this:





Mamm deherdtiana from bud on Memorial Day to bloom 4 days later:



Give it another day, and we'll get this:





And finally, the star of this weekend's show, small but oh so beautiful -- my Escobaria minima's very first flowers! Memorial Day on the left, June 3 in the middle, then yesterday morning as the buds started to open:



Blooming time!





Our weekend isn't done yet, so I'll post more good stuff for the early June kickoff to summer here in L.A.