4 May 2008
Sulcorebutia rauschii
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti .
Here is a plant that suffered a bit last year.
I had a bout of attacks of red spider mite in the greenhouse last summer. Plants that were affected included my monstrose Mammillaria painteri, which picked itself up again without any trouble at all, and an Echinocereus fitchii which subsequently collapsed over the winter. Even my rather nice Astrophytum asterias x myriostigma hybrid was affected, and now has a few scars to show for its trouble.
This Sulcorebutia was completely covered in scar tissue, and as such I wasn’t sure how it would perform this season.
But as you can see, it plumped up well from its winter rest, and there is new dark green growth on all of its heads, and these glorious flowers.
To chop or not to chop? I’m inclined to leave it alone and let it grow out of the damage, rather than removing offsets. Although a dwarf plant it does grow fairly swiftly, so it should look presentable again in a year or two.