A small collection: 2015 and beyond

[thveigas]

This topic never stops to amaze me. It's amazing how you manage the little space you have to fit so many healthy and cool looking plants. Congratulations!

[Steve Johnson]

This topic never stops to amaze me. It's amazing how you manage the little space you have to fit so many healthy and cool looking plants. Congratulations!

Thank you so much! It's hard to believe how many new page views I see whenever I post, and I have heartfelt gratitude for all the good people who've turned this into such a popular thread.

I'm not ready for our next installment of the 2018 review yet, so hopefully some more recent events will tide y'all over...

These pics are from 1/24/19 -- first up, Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus:



Last winter, the pseudopectinatus set a couple of buds that went nowhere. Maybe we'll have better luck with this one.

Turb valdezianus:



What you're not seeing here is a 2nd bud that popped its tiny head up at the beginning of February. Don't think it'll happen at the same time, but both buds should go into bloom soon.

Mammillaria perezdelarosae, AKA "the limbo king" (how low can he go?):





The "limbo king" is a reliable and fairly prolific bloomer, and I have a feeling that you'll get to see a wreath of pretty little flowers on that head in the near future.

While I have no complaints about the marvelous amount of rain SoCal has been receiving this winter, it's kept me from doing anything in the way of cactus photography since the end of January. A break in the weather today would've been nice, but winds made it impossible to lift up my portable greenhouse's "hood" for some camera work. Didn't keep me from getting a decent side shot, though:



We'll zoom in on Eriosyce senilis Sr. getting ready to put on a show:



Okay, not the best quality, but I was able to pull this out of the group pic you just saw -- the Mamm perezdelarosae with more buds coming in:



We'll get back to our beautiful summer of 2018 in the next post.

[Scrap]

Hi Steve, what a lovely collection you have and also such an interesting and personal account about your endeavors with it!
I read in one of your earlier posts that you soak the roots of newly purchased plants in hydrogen peroxide before introducing them into your collection. If you have time to consider some thoughts i have about this i would be very grateful:
* you mention 1% hydrogen peroxide solution for 30 minutes. i have managed to aquire 3% solution, have you any experience about difference in/appropriateness of use (i.e can i substitute it for 1% solution and use for 30 min?)
* do you use this on all cacti? (Species, ages, types of rootsystems)
*why not dip the body of the plant also? Do you treat it in some way too before introduction to your collection?

Ty in advance /Malin

[Steve Johnson]

Hi Steve, what a lovely collection you have and also such an interesting and personal account about your endeavors with it!
I read in one of your earlier posts that you soak the roots of newly purchased plants in hydrogen peroxide before introducing them into your collection. If you have time to consider some thoughts i have about this i would be very grateful:
* you mention 1% hydrogen peroxide solution for 30 minutes. i have managed to aquire 3% solution, have you any experience about difference in/appropriateness of use (i.e can i substitute it for 1% solution and use for 30 min?)
* do you use this on all cacti? (Species, ages, types of rootsystems)
*why not dip the body of the plant also? Do you treat it in some way too before introduction to your collection?

Ty in advance /Malin

You're welcome, and thank you for your kind response!

Re. Hydrogen peroxide, 1% was recommended to me by a senior member of the forum about 6 years ago. I honestly can't tell you if there'd be a problem with 3% peroxide, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If you dilute 1 part peroxide to 2 parts water, that'll give you the 1%. Peroxide is there purely to treat the roots, and I don't know what it would do to the rest of the plant. You could end up with a bleached cactus, so IMO it's not worth taking a chance on results we may not like -- once again, better safe than sorry. I treat the roots of my cacti with peroxide only if I see organic materials clinging to the roots before they get repotted. This is a given whenever I buy potted plants from a brick-and-mortar nursery. When I purchase bare-root cacti, it depends on the source. Some online nurseries do a marvelous job of thoroughly cleaning the roots of their plants before they ship -- Miles' To Go and CoronaCactus Nursery are a couple of excellent examples. No need for the treatment there. Kyle Williams of Kyle's Plants does a pretty good job, although I treat his cacti with peroxide since I notice bits of peat clinging to the roots. When I repot cacti that have already been growing in my soil-less mineral mix, their roots don't need the treatment at all.

[Scrap]

Thankyou so much for your response! I will make sure to dilute it just in case and avoid getting the body wet then! /Malin

[Steve Johnson]

Okay, now it's time for the...

Copiapoas

I'm making kind of a big deal out of this, because the first entry is a sad beginning that led to a happy ending.

• C. hypogaea (California Cactus Center -- July 2011)

First photo on 7/16/11:



When I moved the collection from the CCC's soil-heavy mix to a pure mineral mix in 2012, I still had a lot to learn. This is a teachable moment for those of you who are new to the hobby. Lesson #1 -- whenever you change from someone else's cactus mix to a different mix, be sure to thoroughly clean the roots first. And I mean dig up into the root ball and clean out as much of the old stuff as you can. Newbie in 1970, and here I was still a newbie 42 years later as I cleaned the peripheral roots without giving the root ball some serious attention. Here's the hypogaea in its first summer with mineral mix -- 8/19 and 9/17/12:



The plant lost its lovely suntan, although I chalked this up to the fact that it wasn't getting the high summertime heat it received in somplace like Pasadena. Never occurred to me that we might have a problem. That was then -- looking back on it now, what I see is a flabby, bloated hypogaea with unhealthy pale skin. Any clues yet? I repeated the same mistake when I left a bolus of the CCC soil sitting under the plant's base for another repot in March 2013. Let's find out what happened that summer -- 8/7 followed by the day after it got watered on 8/12:



Yuppers, that's rot, and now we have the clue -- the mineral mix was drying out between waterings (as it should), but the soil bolus held too much moisture. After 2 growing seasons of that inattention, 20/20 hindsight tells me there should be nothing surprising about all this. Hard lesson, but at least it was a good learning experience. I didn't waste any time going into disaster recovery mode, and you'll find more to the story here. Nice as it was to save all the pups, I had only enough growing space to keep one, so the rest went off to a member of the Long Beach Cactus Club. Here's the keeper on 8/18/13:



This is pretty impressive -- going from 3/16/14 to 9/29/18:




Clean mineral mix and no soil bolus to mess things up has led to nice compact plant form, with dense, well-defined turbercles, and a beautiful healthy dark brown skin. But that's not all, folks! The parent stem showed signs of maturity when it started growing a pseudocephalium last spring, and the older pup followed suit in the summer. Here's the parent stem smiling for the camera:



And now for the kicker -- the hypogaea with its very first bud going into bloom on 8/19 and 8/29:




That, my friends, is a happy ending! The older pup wasn't quite mature enough to flower yet, alhough I think it might bloom for us this summer. The younger pup appears that it's just starting a pseudocephalium of its own, and wouldn't it be sweet if we have a trifecta of hypogaea flowers?

This pretty shot sets up our other 2 Copiapoas for review:

• C. tenuissima (Miles' To Go -- July 2013)

First photo on 7/7/13:



Most growers in the southwest US can't go soil-less because their blazing hot, bone-dry climate prevents it. I don't have that problem, so it's interesting to notice the change when my tenuissima went from Miles Anderson's soil-based mix to pure mineral mix -- demonstrated on 7/28/13 and 9/17/16:



The view from above on 5/25/15 and 8/28/16:



A couple of things to observe here. First, the plant has flattened out a bit, which is consistent with growing in mineral mix. (We can't argue with its nice, fairly big flowers, either!) And second, I didn't realize that the species is self-fertile until I noticed seed pods dehiscing. So far, so good. With that said, I sorta kinda thought the DG play-sand fines in "dirty" mineral mix might be holding the plant back from achieving its optimum growth potential. The tenuissima hadn't responded to the change from "dirty" to clean mix yet, so let's see if we get a response going from 9/23/17 to 9/29/18:




Oh yeah, we got a response! In fact, the amount of new growth in 2018 is rather remarkable, and ditto regarding the difference between the new and older growth. While sunscorch caused by the record-breaking heat wave last July is unfortunate, I do have to wonder if it was due (at least in part) to the tenuissima complaining about its time in "dirty" mix. Neither here nor there, I suppose, and I'm just pleased to see it doing well overall. Nice growth on the pups too!

Copiapoas are generally slow growers, but such is not the case with this member of the genus...

• C. laui (CoronaCactus Nursery -- July 2013)

First photo on 7/14/13:



C. laui is known for its prolific offsetting. Mine was a singleton through 2014, but that was about to change -- the view on 2/15 and 9/20/15:




Pups in February? The winter of 2014/15 was unusually warm and dry, so yes. The laui kept growing more pups, as we'll see here on 10/15 and 11/12/16:



The plant already outgrew one pot, and it was outgrowing another -- time for repot #2 on 3/13/17:



That wonderfully funky pot was vacated by a Frailea grahliana you'll see in a later installment. The oblong shape is perfect for the way the laui has been growing, and I sure guessed right on this one -- 10/8/17 and 10/21/18:




The first and only time the laui bloomed was in October 2014 -- seen here on 10/10/14:



Still open for business a day later:



What, no flowers since then? Nope, the plant has been too busy offsetting! My laui is the most opportunistic cactus I have in the collection -- give it some warmth, and new pups will appear. Doesn't matter what time of year it is, either. If you're a Copiapoa fan and you don't already have one, I highly recommend C. laui for your collection.

[spok]

Hi Steve. A very informative post as always. I like copiapoas a lot and I have those three like you. I bought my laui after seeing your older posts but it is still very young to bloom, I think. You do grow them well.

[Steve Johnson]

There's some flexible thinking for you -- why not alternate between summer and winter? I've had to keep the front of the portable GH on due to the wonderfully persistent rains, but this doesn't prevent me from poking my head in for some camera work whenever there's a break in the rain. With that in mind, here are a few recent items of interest...

Turbinicarpus valdezianus going from 1 bud on 1/24 to 2 a month later:



The buds again on 2/24, then the bigger bud just starting to open on 3/1:



Gymnocactus ysabelae setting buds on 2/24:



Going from buds to blooms on 3/1:



A nice side view, close-up of the flowers included:



Epithelantha micromeris setting its first bud of the year -- in February?



Yes indeed, the micromeris is getting an early start on its springtime blooms. Think it might be just starting to grow a little bit too.

One more set of photos from 2/24 and 3/1 -- Mammillaria perezdelarosae:





Pointing in the direction of Shady Glen as the perezdelarosae begins round 1 of its blooms:



Now we'll zoom in on the "limbo king":




It appears that SoCal's big rainy season is tapering off, and for those of us who love cold, wet winters, this one has been absolutely marvelous. However, it would be nice to get the new growing season started. Once I'm able to take the front of the portable GH down, I'll get busy with the camera and see what the collection is up to these days. In the meantime, we still have plenty of summer 2018 left to review.

[Steve Johnson]

Looks like it'll be several weeks before I can get to our next installment of the 2018 review, so in the meantime, we'll keep the party going with this...

Our wonderful winter is coming to an end, and there are signs of an equally wonderful spring about to begin. In fact, the high on the plant bench was 90 today, and I simply couldn't resist posting these photos as I took advantage of the winter-to-spring "preheat". Mammillaria deherdtiana setting its first buds of the year:




The deherdtiana blooms a lot, so this is a small down-payment on a big display that'll go on throughout spring and summer.

Stenocactus lloydii in full flower:






The bottom shelf facing west:



Eriosyce senilis Sr. and Jr. got a good drink today, although the overnight lows are still a bit too chilly to give the rest of the collection their first soak of the growing season. That'll change in a couple of weeks, so along with everything else we have going on, I may treat you to a small winter shriveling-spring plumping demonstration. Been a long time since I've done that -- hopefully I can do it again, and especially for those of you who might get a kick out of seeing what happens when thirsty cacti get their first drench after the winter is done.

[hegar]

Hello Steve,

looking at the images of the Stenocactus lloydii, with its fierce, long spines sticking out from its body I almost feel bad for the insects, which are trying to pollinate it, i.e. how do they do this without getting stabbed in the process?

Harald

[thomas]

Great pix Steve. Your Melo and astrophytum look great,

[Steve Johnson]

...The grass has riz. I wonder where the birdies is! So much for Poetry Corner.

I'm now in a position to post more regular installments for my 2018 review, but there's no reason why I can't intersperse them with recent events. This one is really recent, as in today. Mammillaria deherdtiana going a bit nuts:






Interesting to note that the flower way down on the corner is a monstrose bloom. I haven't a clue as to what causes that, but if you have any ideas, I'd like to hear from you.

[spok]

What a sight! Amazing flowers. It has grown a lot, are you going to repot it soon?
It is on my wish list thanks to you!

[Steve Johnson]

What a sight! Amazing flowers. It has grown a lot, are you going to repot it soon?
It is on my wish list thanks to you!

Interesting thing about Mamm deherdtiana -- they're solitary plants in the wild, but they can offset well under cultivation if they're treated right. I repotted mine into a bigger pot last April, and here it is on 4/10/18:



From the looks of it now, the plant could use an even bigger pot already. However, the species is a fairly slow grower, so I'm not too concerned about this at the moment. I figured out a way to increase my growing space, so once I do that, I'll have enough room to give the deherdtiana a bigger pot.

[Steve Johnson]

And we're back.

In today's post, we'll review the...

Coryphanthas

• C. hesteri (Miles' To Go, July 2013)
  First photo on 7/7/13:
  
  
  
  Ah, the apartment collector's lament -- so many beautiful cacti, and not nearly enough space to grow all the ones I'd like to have. Don't think I ever grew Coryphanthas in my younger days, so I had to make up for that by selecting a couple I'd find really appealing. This is one of them. Unfortunately the plant struggled when it was stuck in "dirty" mineral mix, clearly in evidence here on 9/21/14, 9/20/15, 9/18/16, and 9/29/17:
  
  
  
  
  When I moved the hesteri from terracotta and "dirty" mix to glazed ceramic and clean mix in early 2015, I was expecting to see signs of improvement by the end of that summer. After 2 years of being in clean mix, the plant went in the opposite direction -- no new growth, actually losing size, and I wasn't at all thrilled about how pale its skin color had become. But if you look closely at the pic from 9/29/17, you might notice that my hesteri was just starting to perk up with a touch of new growth. The view from above on 6/16 and 10/7/18:
  
  
  
  Yes indeed, the hesteri is finally growing again. The skin is darkening up too, and the improvement will be more obvious in this side shot from 9/18/16 and 10/7/18:
  
  
  
  Although it took 3 years to show any positive change, the hesteri has clearly benefited from growing in clean mineral mix. However, there is a small downside -- the plant receives some attention from flat mites, so I have the hesteri on my list of cacti that get regular miticide treatments in the spring and summer. Since the plant is getting healthier, hopefully that plus the miticide treatments will be enough to keep further mite damage down to a minimum. Speaking of healthier...
  
  The hesteri came with a ready-made set of buds that went into bloom (7/19/13):
  
  
  
  The plant flowered again the following summer, and these blooms are all mine (8/16/14):
  
  
  
  
  After that, not even a hint that the hesteri would flower more. No surprise there given the plant's lack of growth in 2015 and '16. Since things are now going in a good direction healthwise, we may see more of those pretty, colorful blooms this summer. Wouldn't that be nice?
  • C. retusa (CoronaCactus Nursery, July 2013)
  First photo on 7/13/13:
  
  
  
  Another rather appealing Coryphantha, and quite different from the hesteri. My retusa was hit by a scale infestation the following spring, and by the time I knocked it down with Imidacloprid, the poor thing's growth point died as a result. We're down, but not out -- when cacti go blind, they'll respond by doing this (9/21 and 10/25/14):
  
  
  
  That's right, new heads! C. retusa is a slow grower, so let's see how much growth we get from those heads -- 9/20/15, 9/24/16, 10/9/17, and 10/21/18:
  
  
  
  
  What we do with the heads growing on blind cacti is a matter of personal preference. Some growers prefer to cut them off and use them as propagation material. On the other hand, people like me enjoy the oddball growth, so I'd rather keep the hesteri intact and growing however it wants. Howzabout this? A brand-new head on 10/21/18:
  
  
  
  Scale insects keep wanting to have a run at the retusa, but I'm more vigilant about it these days. In fact, my experience with scale and mealies led me to the decision that I'll give the entire collection an annual preventative Imidacloprid soil soak beginning this spring. The plant also gets occasional visits from flat mites -- and this is kinda interesting -- whenever I knock them down, its skin repairs the flat mite damage. There may be too much old mite damage to see it reversing on my hesteri, but the situation could be different (and better!) if new damage appears on the retusa. Then again, regular miticide treatments could mean that there won't be any new mite damage at all.
  • Cumarinia odorata (M2G, December 2013)
  First photo on 12/23/13:
  
  
  
  Used to be Coryphantha until the taxonomists reclassified it as a monotypic genus. Split tubercles say "Coryphantha", but the long fishhook central spines and equally long funnelform flowers definitely don't. A winning selection in my book, and I agree with Cactuspedia that odorata deserves to be more widely grown by collectors. The species is pretty good about offsetting, which we'll see here on 4/19 and 9/21/14:
  
  
  
  That's 3 pups, and here's a close-up of 2 others popping their little heads out at the same time:
  
  
  
  The odorata increased its brood a bit over the next couple of years. On 9/20/15 and 10/21/18 -- although you won't see that here...
  
  
  
  ...you will see it here:
  
  
  
  The plant was on the verge of outgrowing its pot in 2015, so I moved it into a bigger pot the following spring. This included a change from "dirty" mineral mix to clean mix. Up until now, my discussions of residual DG "play sand" fines in dirty mix were all about what it did to retard the growth on a lot of my cacti. While the odorata didn't seem to mind much, these photos reveal a different problem caused by the fines, and one I didn't see until I reviewed the before-and-after comparison in 2015 and '18. Simply put, the plant had been taking up too much water in "dirty" mix, and I'm a bit shocked at how bloated it was in the 2015 shots. With clean mineral mix at work these days, my odorata has a more compact form -- and that's the way it should look. Another new pup would be nice as well, so if we zoom in, we'll find that the plant obliged:
  
  
  
  Yuppers, that's a tiny new pup at the bottom -- and silly me, I didn't even notice it until I got a good look at the odorata's latest pics.
  
  Looking back on it now, I can tell that the odorata already got rid of the bloat in its first season with clean mineral mix. Before we move on to the next installment, I'll leave you with this photo on 9/25/16. Catch the sun at the right angle, and those lovely red fishhook spines glow like natural fiber optics: