Company promotes growth?

[Mrs.Green]

Some months ago I removed all the pups from my Echinopsis sp( possible oxygona). I was going to treat it for mealybugs and wouldnt have any ‘unneccesary’ hidingspots for the bugs. After treati g both the mother plant and the pups, I potted the pups seperately apart from the three smallest ones. I simply ran out of pots. The three small ones had to share a small pot. They were pretty cramped already at this point. I was meaning to separate them later but never got around to do it.

All were potted in the same substrate and got the same care. To my surprise these three have grown the most of all the pups ( 9 in total) and are noe not far behind in size compared to the other ones.

I am aware that such a small scale ‘test’ can’t be taken as a proof for anything but it got me interested. Anyone else with similar experience?

[Jangaudi]

Yes, seen before, especially with succulent bulbs. They just do better cramped in a small pot. It confirms the theory that cacti and succulents don't like/need a large pot. Could it possibly have to do only with the water household ?

[Mrs.Green]

Yes, seen before, especially with succulent bulbs. They just do better cramped in a small pot. It confirms the theory that cacti and succulents don't like/need a large pot. Could it possibly have to do only with the water household ?

Thank you Jangaudi I am pretty sure I have read something about ‘company promotes growth’ somewere but I can’t remember were and which species it was referred to. Don’t think it was cacti/succulents though. I am wondering if growing/rooting plants can trigger each other somehow, reacting to some sort of chemical message? Another explanation could be competition? Hurry up and grow, to beat the competition from your neighbours?

Yes, I was thinking about the amount of water given. I don’t measure up the water to each plant/pot it is given more by gutfeeling. An interesting topic anyway

[DaveW]

Seemingly plants can do both. Some plants like to be crowded together, whereas others seem to inhibit others growing close to them.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 084128.htm

However most cactus seedlings seem to do better if not pricked out too quickly. These were left in the pots they were sown in for almost two years. The problem then is it is then its hard to untangle the roots without damaging them. Most in 2 inch square pots they were sown in.

seedlings2.jpg (128.49 KiB) Viewed 2045 times

seedlings.jpg (117.78 KiB) Viewed 2045 times

[7george]

I wouldn't do a general rule on the grounds of a single try. The fastest growth occur if we separate larger seedlings in one cohort from smaller ones because these need little different care. If we look at DavidW's photo we will see that these left alone in a pot are often with bigger diameter. Maybe covering the surface of the pot with seedlings keeps moisture in the soil thus boosting growth sometimes. Maybe the company of siblings also helps.

I also have to keep my seedling by several in a pot - otherwise I will run out of pots and more important of growing space very fast. Some seedlings grow like mushrooms but I never thin them out more then 2ce a year. These been marked for "next transplanting" till that time comes.

[DaveW]

Yes its a fact of life all litters have runts, meaning some of the weaker tend to get crowded out by the faster growing plants since plants are individuals just like human beings and some grow quicker than others or mature sooner.

One word of caution though. I read of a chap who bought a packet of seeds of a garden flower supposedly having more than one colour flower in the packet. He complained that when they flowered they were all the same colour? It turned out he was doing the old gardeners trick of just selecting as many of the more robust plants for bedding out he wanted and throwing away the rest. Unfortunately his rejects were the slower growing other colours. Therefor the "runts" in the batch can sometimes be the more interesting than the more vigorous ones, particularly if you grow mixed seeds.

[Mrs.Green]

Thank you very much DaveW and 7george I think we are only barely scratching the surface when it comes to our knowledge of everything in nature and not least of all; greatly underestimate both the plants and the ‘other’ inhabitants on this planet.. and likewise greatly overestimate our own species ‘qualities’.

As said in my initial post, I don’t belive a single experience is proof of anything, just interesting A sidenote; to those who haven’t read this book, I will recommend it, very interesting https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hi ... 1123191941 . The author is German so it’s offcours available in German too.

[MikeInOz]

There is no doubt that plants do better (achieve their peak growth rates) when a majority of the mix has active roots growing in it. The actual scientific reason for this I not sure of. It possibly has something to do with the rhizosphere and the microbe population conducive to growth/health of roots??? Also could have something to do with a stimulating effect of competition between plants???
But it certainly works as I have proved to myself many times with all kinds of plants. For example, I grow orchids as well as cacti, and with Paphiopedilums out of flask, if they are potted singly they are very slow to establish - if they even do.
In a crowded community pot, they grow at about 4 times the rate! One year from flask as tiny seedlings about 50mm across. See below...

P1120771.JPG (78.93 KiB) Viewed 1998 times

[Mrs.Green]

There is no doubt that plants do better (achieve their peak growth rates) when a majority of the mix has active roots growing in it. The actual scientific reason for this I not sure of. It possibly has something to do with the rhizosphere and the microbe population conducive to growth/health of roots??? Also could have something to do with a stimulating effect of competition between plants???
But it certainly works as I have proved to myself many times with all kinds of plants. For example, I grow orchids as well as cacti, and with Paphiopedilums out of flask, if they are potted singly they are very slow to establish - if they even do.
In a crowded community pot, they grow at about 4 times the rate! One year from flask as tiny seedlings about 50mm across. See below...
P1120771.JPG

Thank you MikeInOz for an interesting reply. I think you are on to something , regarding the cause of faster growth when the plants have company.

[HudsonLH]

I wonder if we will observe similar behaviour if the cacti are planted in purely inorganic substrates.

H

[Mrs.Green]

I wonder if we will observe similar behaviour if the cacti are planted in purely inorganic substrates.

H

Interesting thought, would the substrate ( as long as it is appropriate for the species) have any bearing on the outcome?

Another thing that would be interesting to know; the results if one planted different genera and /or species together ( again, as long as they are compatible regarding needs) and what about related/unrelated plants within the same species?

[7george]

Code: Select all

https://www.reddit.com/r/succulents/comments/ppzf5z/what_are_those_things/

Couldn't resist: this Astro has some company... isolation hurts.

[Mrs.Green]

Code: Select all

https://www.reddit.com/r/succulents/comments/ppzf5z/what_are_those_things/

Couldn't resist: this Astro has some company... isolation hurts.

You can’t just post a picture and don’t tell us which species the company is! Or maybe it isn’t your plant(s) ?

[7george]

which species the company is! Or maybe it isn’t your plant(s) ?

Not mine, but this is sunflower. Or watermelon...

[Mrs.Green]

which species the company is! Or maybe it isn’t your plant(s) ?

Not mine, but this is sunflower. Or watermelon...

I wonder how this trio is doing now? Both sunflowers and watermelon should have outgrown their ‘fosterparent’ a long time ago, if they survived