edithcolea grandis

[cactuslee]

does antone out there have an edithcolea grandis? where did you get it and is it hard to take care of?

[CoronaCactus]

We have them available. They aren't difficult to grow, pretty much the same as other stapeliads.

[Melt In The Sun]

I've found them more difficult than any other stapeliad I have. In my experience, they rot readily in cool temperatures (50 degrees or so). Even in AZ, I keep mine inside for 5-6 months of the year. Darryl, am I making things more difficult than I need to? How do you grow yours?

[Saxicola]

I think cool weather is the biggest issue in growing it. Although stapeliads look a lot like cacti or succulent Euphorbias, they seem on average to be much crankier about cool temps. Not all of them mind you (Orbea variegata grows like a weed for me outdoors and unprotected), but I think E. grandis is on the sensitive end of things. If you can deal with the temperature issue I think you can treat it like most other succulents. I'm not going to try it until I have a greenhouse.

[C And D]

Edithcolea grandis are very easy to kill, definitly one of the most difficult Stapeliads
Use a pumicy mix

[CoronaCactus]

We don't seem to have much difficulty growing them. We grow them in a greenhouse where they might see 40F at the lowest. But the GH day temps are always high, even in the winter.

We've also rotted our fair share, but not from cold. As we fine tuned our mix from less organics to more pumice they did much better.

[cactuslee]

well i found one on ebay and bought it so i'll see how difficult they are to grow. the plant is very nice and healthy and has bloomed so i'm looking forward to it blooming for me. the reason i bought it was for the blooms. i think they are amazing. i paid 21.50 for it and that included shipping. personally i didn't think that was too bad.

[DustBunny]

I have a couple I have kept alive for about 2 years now. I am in Northern IL and in the summer they go outside and get watered by the rain. However, if we have a wet spell I cover them and if we have numerous hot dry days I will water them. In the fall they come inside and live under lights. I water them lightly maybe once every week and half or so. My home is very dry and they are borderline under-potted in a very loose fast draining mix. I probably could water them more often because by spring they don't look so great but as soon as they go back outside they plump right up and start growing again.

[stanislas]

I've around 30 edithcolea plants.
1 clone from Las Anood, Somalia,
1 clone from Socotra
3 clones from Kenya.

I've found that there is quite some difference between the clones in what they like in terms of watering. The Somalia and Socotra clone do best when allowed to have the soil get nearly dry in between waterings. Certainly the socotra clone prefers less water. The Kenyan clones do better if kept moist throughout the year. The Socotra plants likes full sun, the Somalian a bit less, but the Kenyan do best when slightly shaded during the day.
I keep them hot during the day, the whole year round and at night never below 18C. Flowering seems to take place only when I keep they very hot (35-40C), growing does better with slightly lower temperatures (25-30C).
In winter I put them under lights, in summer in a small greenhouse. Although i also have one plant in the office at work, where it sits on a window sill heading south. I likes the dry and warm office climate.
I use a non-organic soil mix (seramis/non-clumping cat litter+sand+some clay). I regularly use diluted fertilizer.

If conditions are unfavorable, the roots tend to die at once (It almost looks like the plant actively rejects them). If the soil is wet in such case, the roots and often the plant as well rot. If kept dry near the plant: the roots dry up and that's it. I have learned throughout the years that as long as they grow and are firm: all is well --> water them. If they suddenly stop growing or get flaccid: be on guard and check the roots! If the roots are dead: allow then to dry completely and carefully start watering again to have them grow new roots.

What i find interesting is that these plants have a good mechanism to close off rotting tissue. Omce in a while intersection between roots and plant just shrivel and dry up. I believe the plant needs this, as it never grows new side branches from the main stem. It only splits at the growing top. If you remove the tip of a singe stemmed plant, it stops growing forever. No new side branches appear.
So basically it cannot form new side branches along the stem, and as such there is no clear connection point between old and new sections. As result of that, it has no means to separate old and new section by disconnecting at the junction (kind of how leaves can get detached from a tree). So the only way is to let die a section of the stem.
I did not know that at first, and came quite stressed when sections of the plant 'died'. Fearing that it was teh beginning of the end for the plant. Now I know that it does not. Just be carefull with watering and allow the dying parts to dry instead of rot.