Since I'm making a big deal about what I hope to achieve now that my mineral mix is prepped with a good flush, it'll be interesting to find out if 3 very slow-growing cacti may not be quite as slow after a growing season in the open mix...
Ariocarpus fissuratus -- in my younger days, the only talent I had with Arios was knowing how to rot them. Such being the case, it's wonderful to see one actually growing for a change. And not just growing, because the fissuratus blessed me with my first-ever Ario flower in November. Fat, healthy taproot and a nice new home to put it in:
Next we have 2 Pelecyphoras -- aselliformis...
...and strobiliformis:
Neither one of them did anything in their first year, but I wasn't expecting much. Then last summer both plants started showing signs of new apical growth. If clean mineral mix leads to stronger activity this year, then it'll be a safe bet to say that the sludgy fines were holding back their growth potential. We'll get the results by the end of summer, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens with the Pelecyphoras. If it's good news there, I have a feeling it'll be the same for my Ario. (By the way -- my strobiliformis has gotten awfully corked, but there's a reason behind why this happened. I'll explain further when I post a progress report later this year. And yes, I guarantee y'all there
will be progress!)
Here's another slow grower for you -- Copiapoa
hypogaea. If you haven't heard this story before, it's kind of a heartbreaker since an offsetting beauty I found in summer 2011 fell to rot 2 years later. After the rest of the pups I saved went to a good home, here's the one I held onto:
Now here's what came out of a year and a half being in a 2.5" plastic pot:
Wow, those roots really went to town, didn't they? As you can see, the taproot came all the way down in the pot and wrapped itself around the drain hole screen. Here's a different angle, and color me impressed!
I was going to put the plant into one of my new Sage & Co. pots, although I decided that trying to cram the long taproot in wouldn't be a good idea. I had a deeper pot reserved for my Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus, but the
hypogaea needs it more:
The rubispinus is doing just fine in its current pot, so finding a glazed ceramic pot for it isn't urgent. As to the
hypogaea, I think it'll be happier in its new pot. And don't be surprised if we see another pup in the near future! Speaking of Copiapoas and pups...
C. laui is an absolute gem, and in contrast with the slow offsetting rate of
hypogaea, the smallest of the genus also happens to be generous about producing pups. Here it is in early February, and mine already pushed out 2:
A common aspect of Copiapoas is the fact that their pups start growing below the surface before they suddenly announce themselves. A revealing look at my laui when I unpotted it:
Yep, that's pup #3, but what about the little fuzzball on the right? #4 perhaps? If so, it remains for the moment as a mystery being hidden in the top dressing:
As amazing as it was to see the taproot developing on my
hypogaea, I'll show you one more that took off. That would be Frailea castanea. I hadn't tried growing Fraileas in the past, and castanea was at the top of my wish list once I spotted photos of it on Cactuspedia a few years ago. CoronaCactus had a few available in December 2012, so I snapped one up. The plant was very easy to establish, showing good growth plus flower buds in its first year under my care. (The last couple of summers apparently haven't been hot enough for it -- going straight from buds to seeds is typical of castanea if they don't get a lot of heat in summertime.) Now we'll see what comes out after 2 growing seasons in a 2" waterproofed terracotta pot:
Holy crap! If you wanna see how far the castanea has come, this before-and-after tells a really nice story:
The plant came from Darryl Craig's GH, so aside from tremendous taproot growth in straight mineral mix, the before-and-after also demonstrates a significant change in above-ground behavior going from his GH conditions to being outdoors all the time.
Some of the pots I found at the California Cactus Center have been perfect for my smallest charges -- the castanea should love this one:
"Beauty marks" are an inevitable part of outdoor living, but a small price to pay as I see it doing so well otherwise. In fact, I prefer my castanea's top-shelf appearance in full sun over what I've seen coming out of shaded greenhouses. While the plant has been undergoing some winter shrinkage, it's not bad at all. Then just add water for a good soak, and it'll plump right up as it gets ready for business in the new growing season! Don't know how big castaneas get, but since mine has only 4 years under its belt, my guess is that the plant will need a bigger pot in 2 years. Maybe sooner? Too bad I won't know for sure, but it'll be interesting to speculate on whether the sludge-free mix makes a difference.
The repotting project continues...