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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2010 14:23:24 GMT
Hello MicktheCactus. What a treat to see someone who must be a kindred cactus spirit, with that name!
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what triggered the blooming of that cactus, whether age, size, season, etc., although I'm guessing age + season.
All of my plants were in pots because I was living in the city. Then I moved out of town and made a really impressive garden, if I do say so. There were terrible problems with that house, though, and I was forced to move again two years later. I had to leave some huge agave there, but took most of my succulents with me or gave them away.
So, when S. beneckei bloomed in October of '08, it had been in the ground for at least a year in full sun. Then it was moved into a pot in Easter of '09, got less light, and still bloomed in late September.
I'm sure mine was over 3' when it bloomed, so yours is probably not quite ready. Are you in a cool or rainy area?
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2010 14:40:00 GMT
All of UK is a cool or rainy area................ ;D
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2010 15:11:56 GMT
Some of mine - Huernia zebrina v magniflora Acanthocalycium glaucum- Ferocactus viridescens -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2010 15:22:56 GMT
That's a fabulous, varied, and beautifully cared-for collection, Mick! You have some jewels that I've only seen in books, such as the Huernia. Is that a melocactus I see on the back of the Aloe table, on the far right? *envy*
What is the blue-blushed-with-purple aloe with the wide leaves, please? The spout of the watering can is pointing right at it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2010 15:30:38 GMT
Welcome Mick! Looking forward to having another fellow plantsman on board.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2010 15:47:36 GMT
Thank you guys. Much appreciated.
Bixa, that is a Melocactus - spot on.
The Aloe is Aloe parvula.
The Huernia is a Stapeliad and I have a sizeable and growing collection of them. Just received a parcel of plants from South Africa last Saturday. I supply plants of this family to Kew Gardens.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 7, 2010 6:08:21 GMT
That's a truly remarkable and desirable Huernia. Here is my Stapelia gigantea growing in the ground at my previous house, where it became impenetrably robust. This first one is not a good picture, but does show all the stages of the "balloons" and lots of the tell-tale flies ~ and in all its bizarre beauty ~
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 16, 2010 12:55:56 GMT
Bixa, that isn't Aloe parvula. I'll check tonight and let you know. The blue one with the little leaves is parvula.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 16, 2010 16:09:17 GMT
My Stapelia gigantea isn't big enought to flower yet (nearly lost it one winter and had to start it again) but I do have a Stapelia hybrid which must have it as one of it's parents -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 17, 2010 4:28:40 GMT
That puts on a really nice display! Does it smell as bad as S. gigantea?
What I'm eying are the gorgeous Astrophytum (yes?) on the far left.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2010 12:14:48 GMT
Bixa, that isn't Aloe parvula. I'll check tonight and let you know. The blue one with the little leaves is parvula. It's Aloe imalotensis -
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2010 12:19:46 GMT
That puts on a really nice display! Does it smell as bad as S. gigantea? What I'm eying are the gorgeous Astrophytum (yes?) on the far left. It does I'm afraid. It spends it's summertime in the garden. Here's some of my Astrophytums -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 17, 2010 15:48:38 GMT
"some of my Astrophytums" ~~ some?!
Mick, that is an outstanding array of happy, healthy plants. You are light-years ahead of me in cactus cultivation, and surely laboring under more difficult conditions. Do you keep them under glass all year, opening the greenhouse during the summer? I can't believe so many are blooming! They certainly must be getting what they want.
Thanks for the Aloe i.d. That's a real beauty.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2010 15:56:16 GMT
I cheated slightly Bixa as the last picture is one of mine at a show - the centre one.
I have about 6 more smaller ones as well. Mainly capricorne varieties.
Yes, under glass all year with the greenhouse open all summer day and night.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 18, 2010 7:16:27 GMT
Oh how perfectly dreadful of you! I'm wondering if the more stable environment of the greenhouse and how they're placed has any bearing on their amazing synchronized blooming. Mick, what medium do you use for planting?
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 18, 2010 12:32:43 GMT
Planting medium - I'll try to explain as best I can.
Equal parts peat based compost and soil based compost. An equal amount of grit sand mixed in.
To every bowl full of that I add a generous handful of perlite and (wait for it) cat litter (not the clumping sort) and perhaps some alpine grit and for some cacti, limestone chippings.
I use tap water and add a capful of clear vinegar to 2 gallons to acidify it and tomato fertilizer at a quarter strength.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 18, 2010 12:35:12 GMT
Some more Astros - senile v aureum at the back and 2 nivea seedlings at the front - Outdoor cactus area -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 19, 2010 20:34:21 GMT
Thank you SO much for that formula, Mick -- very valuable information. Is non-clumping cat litter the kind that is not clay based?
Super pictures, once again. Sorry for only now responding. I haven't had internet service for over a day and a half. It looks as though Astrophytum as a big a part of your heart as the Stapeliads.
Do you leave the outdoor succulents there until the temperature gets down to the low 40s, or will they take even more cold? Nice agave! The smallest one appears to be Agave americana variegata. For a quick shock, turn it out of the pot and goggle at the amazing amount of roots that one little plant will have. Is that Aloe juvenna front left? Also, what's the name of the plant between the first agave on the left & the next one over? I have that plant, which is either gorgeous, full, and flowering, or looking like crap, depending on its mood, as far as I can tell.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 20, 2010 8:22:20 GMT
Thank you SO much for that formula, Mick -- very valuable information. Is non-clumping cat litter the kind that is not clay based? Super pictures, once again. Sorry for only now responding. I haven't had internet service for over a day and a half. It looks as though Astrophytum as a big a part of your heart as the Stapeliads. Do you leave the outdoor succulents there until the temperature gets down to the low 40s, or will they take even more cold? Nice agave! The smallest one appears to be Agave americana variegata. For a quick shock, turn it out of the pot and goggle at the amazing amount of roots that one little plant will have. Is that Aloe juvenna front left? Also, what's the name of the plant between the first agave on the left & the next one over? I have that plant, which is either gorgeous, full, and flowering, or looking like crap, depending on its mood, as far as I can tell. They'll stay there until early October then all into the greenhouse. The americana variegata is very variegata and very slow to grow. I found it in a florists shop a few years ago. My Agaves badly need repotting. Yes, A. juvenna - it was a lot bigger but next doors children's football put paid to that. That other plant you mention is Aloe ciliaris which is also badly in need of a repot. Incidentally I liberated both Aloes from very overgrown and weedy troughs when I was in Marbella, Spain...
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 20, 2010 12:59:40 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Aug 20, 2010 15:31:36 GMT
Oh, that Stapelia is exquisite. I've never grown succulents more demanding than common sedums or jade plants, nice to see some of the more interesting varieties.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 25, 2010 12:18:10 GMT
Here's a sedum, Sedum morganianum, a native of Mexico. Probably as big a plant as I've seen as they tend to fall apart if you look athem wrongly. This was taken at La Cala de Mijas in S. Spain.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 25, 2010 16:16:33 GMT
Another Mexican native - Calibanus hookeri
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 25, 2010 16:18:13 GMT
The other plants in the picture are Pelargonium transvaalense in the foreground and 2 plants of Ficus ginseng in the background.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2010 5:34:40 GMT
All of the varieties are really fascinating. So, just about all of them will grow in England as long as they don't freeze? I have always imagined that some cacti would demand extreme sun and heat, just because they are seen the most often in such places. Then again, maybe they were just never given a choice.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 26, 2010 6:11:00 GMT
I killed several succulents when I first started growing them, out of ignorance of what they like. Extreme sun & heat is all wrong for some of them.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 26, 2010 8:14:09 GMT
Indeed Bixa. Our sun is generally not that strong and I never shadfe them but Haworthias,say, in your sun probably wouldn't last long.
The most important thing is fresh air so my greenhouse has all windows and doors open all the time in summer (mind you the doors are shut at the menont as it has been raining non stop for 2 days now).
Most are happy at around 40f in winter but Stapeliads and Brazilian cacti are happier at about 60f which I can't afford to maintain so they have to make do at about 54f which just about works but it is rare that I don't get the odd winter casualty.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 26, 2010 16:13:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2010 16:57:26 GMT
The symmetry of most of those is incredible. Nature is full of organizational surprises.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 26, 2010 18:22:21 GMT
I am ill with desire, Mick! Creme de la creme, indeed. Is the first one some kind of Haworthia venosa maybe? It is so beautiful. Below the dragon tree -- is that an aloe in the foreground dish? And maybe your Aloe imalotensis on the left? I recognized the dragon tree because of a Garden Design magazine (Nov. 2000) featuring Lotusland. The use of dragon trees in that landscape is astounding. (check this out) Here is a very long article on Lotusland. excerpt: The dragon trees (Dracaena draco), slow-growing natives of the Canary Islands, ... date to the estate's 19th century owner, Kinton Stevens, a rare-plant aficionado who used part of the grounds as a demonstration nursery. Walska not only preserved these historic specimens but added to Stevens' collection and ordered them grouped in a dramatic circular grove directly opposite her front door.
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