Here's my 7-day weather chart with the observed temps 3/29-4/5, as the daytime highs stayed on the cool side that week:
We'll see if my 3-panel concept is worth a revisit after Part 1. The results were once again not what I was hoping for, but perhaps looking at anyway. On the left from 3/8 right before these cacti got their first deep drench of spring, in the middle a week later, and on the right 4 days after they got their spot of rain. While the plumping response wasn't dramatic, you should be able to notice that the rain followed by a warm-up on the way stimulated some nice touches of new spring growth. Here we go...
Frailea castanea.
Mammillaria hernandezii.
A top view with signs of new activity on the growing point:
Don't think I've seen that color of new spines on a cactus before -- pretty!
Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus.
Epithelantha micromeris -- I find this to be a rather interesting case. I had trouble getting mine to establish after I brought it into the collection almost 2 years ago. Such a wonderfully odd and unusual cactus, but my experience indicated that the roots tend to be rather finicky about they way they're grown. After I figured out how much they don't like being over-potted, the roots started responding when I moved the plant into a smaller pot. Now we'll go back to the summer of 2012, and here's something to point out:
Those little "spare tires" around the plant are called sulk rings, which is characteristic of thirstiness in some cactus species. The sulk rings still haven't gone away. Fast-forward to this before-and-after going from 3/8 to the week after the micromeris got its first watering of the year. Here it is just coming out of winter dormancy:
The roots are definitely working, so we're seeing progress. Those sulk rings are close to disappearing, and while it wasn't exactly a drench, I was hoping the rain would be enough to help the process along. No response -- like the plant was saying "seriously? You call that rain?" Oh well, I'll keep up with regular watering until the micromeris tops off its tank. In the meantime, this 3-panel top view tells me that the rain at least got some new activity going on the apex:
Next well look at a couple of cacti that went in the opposite direction -- barely even noticed their first soak by me, but they sure liked the rain. Mammillaria blossfeldiana, on the left when it was as shriveled as it would get toward the end of December, and on the right after the rain. Wow!
A top view from last weekend:
The pup was just a baby bump in December, but it's really going to town these days. And I think there may be a new bud hiding between the tubercles too!
Strombocactus disciformis -- on the left, it didn't do anything but give me a big, beautiful flower a week after its first watering. On the right, plumping after the rain:
The disciformis is still thirsty, but IMO I think they look best when they're not plumped up like spiny beach balls. Deep, but infrequent watering until the weather really heats up seems to be the best approach, then I'll think about upping the watering frequency a bit in the summer.
Coryphantha retusa. Right before its first watering on 3/8 (left), then 4 days after the rain:
Another cactus that shouldn't get plumped up too much so its form stays more compact. CactusFanDan corrected me on that one, and it was lucky that the rain on top of my watering didn't present a bloating problem. Unfortunately the poor thing has scale, but since the roots are working, now would be a good time for an Imidacloprid soak. That's on tap for tonight. From then on, I'll be more careful about watering frequency.
After the rain, well howzabout a little April heat wave?
Coming out of our L.A. heat on Tuesday and Wednesday, some of the cacti got a suntan. Not bad, though, and I'm very thankful that none of the Copiapoas got scorched. Hmmmmm, what else do we have here? I cleared away the spent flowers on my disciformis so I could get a bird's-eye view of the growing point. 2 buds are starting on their way to more flowers, along with a few new spines just pushing their way up out of all that apical wool:
Let's have another look at the rubispinus -- what a week with some heat can do:
Could a new bud or two be far behind?
Being the small, thirsty seedling it is, I decided that the Geohintonia mexicana could still use a good soak 4 days after whatever rain it got. Not much of a change, but enough to plump up my tiny gem a little bit:
I think Mr. Fry might agree that watering the Geohintonia again tonight is advisable after the heat we just went through.
I have 3 cacti that shouldn't get their first watering until there's a stretch of warm, sunny weather -- the warmer, the better. They were among my garage-bound plants through the rainy days. Then after the rains were done and they went back out, it so happens that my 7-day forecast obliged with some excellent timing to give the Ariocarpus fissuratus, Eriosyce napina glabrescens, and E. odieri their first watering of the year last Sunday night. Here's a before-and-after of the Ario...
...and the odieri:
Thanks to Ian's sage advice about the especially finicky watering needs with E. napina, I gave mine only light watering. It did take on some water, but the plumping didn't last long enough for good before-and-after shots yesterday. When the weather is consistently hot enough, that'll be the time for giving the plant a deep drench followed by the opportunity to see it go from splat to fat on camera.
The 3rd and final part of this presentation will be a short one featuring a few cacti that aren't satisfied with the water they've already received. Next weekend, perhaps? We'll find out as a bunch of cacti will be getting another round of drinks on the house tonight. In the meantime, I'll leave you with my Sulcorebutia aranacea sporting a lovely flower in yesterday's early afternoon sun:
Cheers, everyone!
