(Hope our British friends might enjoy the take-off!
) Well, I was hoping to see blue skies this afternoon, but unfortunately not much. Perhaps not so cruddy after all, as the Astro 'capristigma' made a valiant effort to bloom:
This lovely hybrid is a fairly prolific bloomer. Such being the case, we'll have plenty of chances to see wide open capricorne-like flowers in the near future.
To keep our Sunday going, I've been eager to share 3 progress reports with you. I hope you'll like 'em...
A small December package
And this would be the Puna clavarioides I received from C and D Plants on 12/18:
I was excited to see the Puna's first stubby little new root toward the end of April, so here it is for your review on 4/24:
Growers using soil in their cactus mixes are familiar with this problem -- you think the roots of a plant are grabbing into the pot, only to find out it's the mix that's doing the grabbing. I ran into the same basic problem when I had my cacti in "dirty" mineral mix. So to avoid the prospect of being fooled, I potted the Puna in clean pumice and granite gravel, nothing more. Then whenever I gave the plant a gentle (and I mean
gentle) tug, there would be no doubt about whether or not new roots are present. Did that a few times after potting, and -- nada, no sign of root growth yet. But when I did the tug test a couple of weeks ago, I got just a little resistance that wasn't there before. Oh yeah, new roots! They haven't grown in enough to accepts soaks yet, so I still have the Puna on sips. Now we'll look at a "before-and-after" and see what we get, on 4/30 and 6/4:
Not much of a change, but the base is riding a little higher in the pot. While I'm not 100% sure, I believe this could be evidence of a new tuber driving fibrous root growth. I also believe the plant should be ready for soaks at the beginning of next month. I'm torn between repotting it in a somewhat deeper pot before August and letting my Puna grow in its current pot, then repotting it in early spring. If the base keeps rising higher, then it'll make my decision easier -- transplanting time in July! Whether it's sooner or later, I already have the perfect pot.
Craig Fry was very kind to include a bonus plant, so here's the other part of the package going from C and D's doorstep to mine -- Cumulopuntia rossiana fuauxiana, one of the smallest Opuntiad species you'll ever see:
I love miniatures, and Craig sure picked well, didn't he? Tiny as they were, those roots didn't take long to establish -- new segments growing on 4/30 and 5/28:
The new segments showing another week of progress:
Yep, these 2 gems are well on their way toward a successful summer -- thanks, Craig!
Melocactus matanzanus
Since the plant came with only 2 long, spindly roots, the tug test might not be a good idea. If we shouldn't tug, then a gentle twist can tell us if there are roots grabbing into the pot. However, I'm growing the matanzanus in an 4-to-1 mineral-soil mix -- not much soil, but could it be enough to fool me? Well, the roots would be effectively rotating on their axis, so I'd expect the plant to give a little in the twist test. Which I did last weekend, and what have we here? Ooooooh, no give at all. That could mean only one thing -- new roots! In fact it appears that they're growing more quickly than I could've imagined.
I've been giving the matanzanus sips once a week since May 7. I'll save the precise details on my strategy for a later date, but in the meantime, I'll briefly mention a change I made to my usual light watering approach. Adult Melos don't need fertilizer during wintertime, so all they should get is plain old water (rainwater if you have it). However, the matanzanus is in growth, and it'll need a bit of sustenance to go along with its sips. What I've done is add 1/2 teaspoon of Dyna Gro 7-7-7 to a gallon of distilled water, then draw off some of the watering solution and fill my handy-dandy spray bottle with it. The plant has been getting "enhanced" sips from the get-go, and we'll go to "before-and after" pics for some preliminary results.
What we'll be looking for are changes in plumpness, skin color and new cephalium growth. On 5/8 (a week after repotting day) and Memorial Day (5/30):
The matanzanus has definitely lost some water, but to be expected since there's wasn't enough of a root system there to take up water for replenishment. Other than that, it's difficult to reach any conclusions from the side view. We'll need a better match on the angle and lighting, so the "after" pic on 5/30 is a new benchmark we can use to track further progress over the summer. Maybe we'll have better luck in evaluating this view from the top -- again on 5/8, but I took the "after" yesterday:
I don't think the water loss is matter of concern yet. But I do see a change for the positive -- the lighting is a good match in the before and after, and the skin is noticeably darker now. You'd think that such a small amount of fert wouldn't do anything, but I have a feeling that it's doing more for the matanzanus than we might realize. The cephalium is growing too, another change for the positive.
I have no way to know about what's going on in the pot, and all I can do is make educated guesses. I'm gradually increasing the amount of water, and at the beginning of July, I'll put in just enough to see a few drops coming out the drain hole. At that point it's pretty much a soak. Then soaks every 10 days in July, and I'll "turn on the tap" once a week starting in August. If my strategy works, we'll see a plumper matanzanus before the summer is done. More progress reports to follow, and my friends, I
really hope they'll be good!
Obregonia denegrii
My latest acquisition arrived on the plant bench 3 weeks ago. Probably not enough time to detect anything yet, but what the heck, let's check this out anyway. On 5/28 and yesterday:
Nope, nothing. We'll try the top view (same dates):
I believe we have a tiny amount of new activity on the growing point, although difficult going purely by eye. I have a background in metrology, so I'll let "Mr. OCD" take over and give you a couple of measurements:
I'm measuring the apparent image, not the actual plant. While the numbers themselves don't matter, this exercise proves the presence of new growth.
Okay, we're supposedly having something close to a heat wave on Father's Day weekend. Great weather for Gymnocalyciums in bloom -- it's entirely possible that mine will give you an eyeful then!
Anywho, off came the portable GH, the shade cloth, and the old frame. This'll be your first time to see the collection with nothing between my cacti and the great outdoors.
