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Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:52 pm
by esp_imaging
Edwindwianto wrote: ↑Sat Feb 01, 2020 2:35 am
The interesting part of the "Cultivation" part in
Lifle about this cactus is, it precisely says "don't use limestone, the media should be acidic"
Well...this cactus lives in limestone in it's habitat
So...why would Lifle say it?
[\quote]
Lifle is a useful resource but it sometimes gets gets things wrong.
It often copies/pastes the same info for several species, not always when it’s appropriate. Text about being susceptible to rot and needing a well drained substrate appears across the website, even for easy-to-grown plants.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 12:03 am
by Edwindwianto
esp_imaging wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:52 pm
Lifle is a useful resource but it sometimes gets gets things wrong.
It often copies/pastes the same info for several species, not always when it’s appropriate. Text about being susceptible to rot and needing a well drained substrate appears across the website, even for easy-to-grown plants.
Thanks for the advice
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:15 am
by Newton
DaveW wrote: ↑Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:51 pm but when posted for a time to manage his firms office in South Africa he took some with him and it germinated like weeds. What were the different conditions he could not work out, but it must have been something to do with climate etc..
As always hard is what will not grow for you. In the right climate you may wonder why others find them hard.
Would the different climatic conditions also promote the growth of different and beneficial mychorrizae fungi. They are important elements in the plants ability to take up nutrients and thrive in a symbiotic relationship with the world wide fungi web. After all these plants like human beings have grown with reliance on certain good bacteria and organisms. Perhaps that is a trick that we gardners have overlooked or not realised about in the past
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:24 pm
by DaveW
Your guess is as good as ours and obviously it would depend whether he used the local soil or another potting medium. Certainly Roger would have collected all the seeds himself in habitat, therefore not seeds from different growers.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 2:12 am
by keith
Old post the T. Alonisi long dead the Mammillaria theresae is doing well. M. herrerea are easy and the soil isn't crusty dont know why I used that word. Mammillaria pectinifera and T. Alonisi keep dying on me. Just finished using imidaclorprid pesticide on all my cactus noticed scale again.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 1:54 pm
by mmcavall
keith wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 2:12 am
Old post the T. Alonisi long dead the Mammillaria theresae is doing well. M. herrerea are easy and the soil isn't crusty dont know why I used that word. Mammillaria pectinifera and T. Alonisi keep dying on me. Just finished using imidaclorprid pesticide on all my cactus noticed scale again.
Agreed on T. alonsoi...it is hard to grow for me..but not M. pectinifera.
I have issues with Weingartia kargliana (different from the other Weingartias). Never know if it needs more or less sun/water, etc...
Discocactus are very sensitive to water and a single drop in the wrong season can be fatal...even here in Brazil...I keep them dry almost always.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 3:02 pm
by Aeonium2003
Just wanted to chip in, the hardest species to grow depends greatly on one's climate. In my part of CA, we have a wet/dry season, where the wet season corresponds to the cool winters, and the dry season occurs during the hot summers. This tends to complicate what I can grow easily.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 3:30 pm
by DaveW
May depend not only on the countries overall climate, but on microclimates. If you have more than one greenhouse a plant may grow well in one but sulk in another. Also a different position in a greenhouse whether down on the staging's or high up on a top shelf, full sun or partial shade.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 5:29 pm
by promethean_spark
A lot of the southern california plants, such as echinocactus polycephalus and echinomastus/sclerocactus are extremely picky and slow growing, but opuntia basilaris from the same habitat is very easy. I think the problem is they expect warmish winters and water during that time.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 1:23 pm
by Download
Sclerocactus whipplei is the hardest thing I've tried to grow.
Out of about 50 seeds over two years, I've had about 4 germinate and only one live long enough to grow spines. I am a bit paranoid about it and keep it under grow lights year round. I might put it outside if it ever gets bigger... maybe.
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 1:24 pm
by Aiko
Download wrote: ↑Thu May 19, 2022 1:23 pm
Out of about 50 seeds over two years, I've had about 4 germinate
Have you tried chipping the seeds to get a much higher germination rate? It is quite easy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGG2-YpGDWA
Re: Hardest species to grow?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 1:31 pm
by Download
That's with scarification.
Sclerocactus whipplei simply have crappy germination rates.