2March2009
Posted by Stuart under: Other Succulents.
I had an appointment at Selly Oak hospital this morning, to see Claire the lovely Hand Therapist, as I recently had a week-long stay there for treatment of a badly-infected cat bite. I was told this morning that I’d made excellent progress, and could expect things to return to normal eventually. More important, for me, is the fact that she told me that I can start playing the piano again.
So, always on the lookout for an excuse to buy a new plant, I stopped in at the Wyevale garden centre in Bournville on the way home and treated myself to this rather nice Haworthia pumila to celebrate the occasion!
28February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
Birmingham branch of the BCSS have been helping out with the arid house and reserve collection of cacti and succulent plants at the Birmingham university botanical gardens at Winterbourne. I’ve done a little work on repotting the smaller opuntioids; while I was down there with Derek and Arthur a couple of weeks ago I took a few photos - click the nice big Cumulopuntia rossiana for a virtual tour!
28February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
Here are some more things getting their act together for spring.
My home-grown seedling of Ecinocereus viridiflorus is now in its fourth year, due to a rather shaky start in life, owing to my then extremely poor seed-raising skills.
Still, it’s turned out well, and this year it looks as though its first wave of flowering will consist of two blooms. Last year it managed a second flush later in the summer as well.
Cintia knizei’s single flower bud (below left) coninues to develop well, while it’s nice to see Haworthia cooperi var. cooperi (below centre) and Cumulopuntia boliviana “pentlandii” (below right) putting on some new vegetative growth. Click the images to see bigger versions - apologies for poor photos; the light’s been rubbish today!
28February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
So far, touch wood, my losses haven’t been too heavy. Off to the great compost heap in the sky are:
- A nice Astrophytum myriostigma that I’d had for a good few years.
- A small gymnocalycium seedling given to me by a friend (I forget the species)
- Two plants of Opuntia bentonii which didn’t cope outdoors in the cold snap
- Opuntia decumbens, already illustrated on here a while back
- Echinocereus ochoterenae which got wet in the cold frame and gave up
I nearly lost both my digitostigmas due to the drying out of their ferocactus stocks, but have rehydrated them in the propagator. One is definitely out of trouble, the other should, I think, be OK. As soon as they’re well, they’re coming off those grafts for rooting.
28February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Other Succulents.
A frithia that I haven’t killed. Yet. I don’t do very well with Frithia pulchra usually. In my care,they seem to head immediately for the bottom of the pot and then gradually disappear as they turn up their toes.
Having used some Homebase vouchers up rescuing this plant and its friend, which were sat in caked peat with hardly any root, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to do any better this time, but the occasional dash of water through the long dark winter months appear to have done the trick for now, and it’s looking fairly perky.
Incidentally, if you weren’t yet aware, all images on this site are clickable and will take you to larger versions of the photos.
27February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
Excuse the poor lighting of this photo, which was actually taken a little over two weeks ago; it shows new growth already appearing on a Cumulopuntia boliviana “subinermis”. The bolivianas seem to be awake quite early this year; three of mine (yes, that does mean I have more than three clones of Cumulopuntia boliviana - but don’t ask how many!) are already well in growth without any encouragement from the watering can!
27February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti; Other Succulents; Propagation.
It’s good to see that a large number of seedlings have put the last few months to good use.
My juvenile plants of Gasteria pulchra sown in December 2007 have really got a move on in the last few weeks, and will soon need pricking out.
The temptation is, of course, to keep several to see how variable the markings are as the plants mature, but given my current problems with lack of space in the greenhouse at the moment, it’s not really practical.
I kept some of the less robust cactus seedlings indoors under lights in order to get them ready for a full growing season in the greenhouse, and the results have been encouraging. My only Pygmaeocereus bieblii from the 2008 sowing is romping away, as are the Mammillaria pectinifera and Turbinicarpus alonsoi, although I’ve lost one or two of both the latter species. While it’s OK to keep them pretty wet if the temperature is high enough, I forgot that the temperature would drop when the central heating was turned down after the really cold snap we’ve had, resulting in some rot.
Even more impressive, though, are the Eriosyce subgibbosa ssp. castanea and Frailea santaritense seedlings, sown last May and October respectively. I’ve come to the conclusion that fraileas really are very easy from seed indeed, as long as you have fresh seed. If the seed is viable they grow like weeds.
25February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
All my blossfeldias bar one are now in bud; these photos are a couple of weeks old now but speak for themselves I think.
7February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti; Propagation.
Last year I sowed some seeds of various ariocarpus species for the first time: Ariocarpus fissuratus, A. agavoides (formerly Neogomesia agavoides of course), A. retusus, A. trigonus, and A. fissuratus ssp. lloydii.
I’ve been encouraged by the results. Naturally, compared with their faster-growing cousins in the cactaceae, baby arios don’t exactly motor along, but nor are they as painfully slow as some other dwarf Mexican plants. While the A. fissuratus clan and A. trigonus are really taking their time doing anything meaningful, both A. agavoides and A. retusus are making really obvious progress, and seem to have hit their stride at the moment.
This may well have something to do with the amount of time the central heating’s been on in the house, of course.
Left: Ariocarpus agavoides in a 2″ pot. Right: Ariocarpus retusus in a 2.5″ pot.
7February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
7February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
Although one never necessarily wants cold weather to come along and polish off perfectly healthy plants, the snow this past week has proved very useful in putting to the test some of the opuntioideae that I grow in the garden all year round without protection from the elements.
Reassuringly, there appear not to be any casualties among the plants purchased this year.
The maihuenias have taken it in their stride, as have Opuntia humifusa (including one plant growing in ordinary garden soil in the front garden!), O. arenaria, O. x rutila ’super’, and O. bentonii, a form from Galveston, Texas.
Read the rest of this entry »
7February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Other Succulents.
Back in the autumn I had got myself into the habit of removing flower spikes from my haworthias, as I decided that the flowers were so unimpressive that it was better for the plants to put all their energies into leaf production.
Now I’m not so sure.
There are three or four in flower at the moment, the best of which is this Haworthia reticulata flower spike. Of course, it’s no epiphyllum, but beggars can’t be choosers and in the depths of an unseasonably cold February it’s good to see something in flower at least.
7February2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
This rather small and unappealing little chap is a plant of Cintia knizei, or, if you prefer to use the moniker bestowed upon it by the New Cactus Lexicon, Rebutia cintia.
I’m sure that’s a lumping that will be split back out again at some point.
Anyway - as I mentioned previously, I was concerned that it had been looking a little peaky, but its flower bud is developing at a reasonable rate. I’d be interested to know when this plant usually flowers for other people, as this is the first one I’ve got through a winter into the flowering season - when does yours bloom?
For scale, this one is in a 2.5″ pot, so is only about half an inch across.
25January2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
There are no current photos to go with these observations, I’m afraid, as the light isn’t really good enough this afternoon, so here’s one from last year of one of the plants I want to talk about…
I’ve noticed that almost all of my blossfeldias are budding up ready for spring, including this grafted plant of Blossfeldia liliputana ’subterranea’. I have two more of this form of B. liliputana on their own roots, and four of straight B. liliputana, also on their own roots, and only one of the latter is currently without any signs of flower buds.
I’m hoping for a good display from them this year, as a good number of last year’s flowers failed to open due to the dismal summer we had. Blossfeldias, like fraileas, are capable of setting seed cleistogamously, and so if they don’t have to expend the energy in opening their blooms, they quite often don’t bother.
I’m also extremely pleased to say that my sole plant of Cintia knizei is showing a tiny flower bud as well. I bought it from René Geissler in Slimbridge last August. Ever since then I thought it had been looking a little peaky in my care, but perhaps not. Unless of course it’s flowering because it’s in its death throes!
25January2009
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti.
The flowers can’t be far off now. At least, you’d hope not.
