A small collection: 2015 and beyond

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Nic
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by Nic »

I know you have said it several times throughout your posts, but what fertilizer do you use?
There is no cactus you can't eat, but you just might regret it if you eat the wrong one.
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Steve Johnson
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by Steve Johnson »

Nic wrote:I know you have said it several times throughout your posts, but what fertilizer do you use?
I'm just now beginning work on my big end-of-summer review -- Part 1 will include the rundown on my growing practices, so stay tuned for the answer. Hopefully I'll get the party started here by this weekend.
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Steve Johnson
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2017 End-of-summer review (Part 1)

Post by Steve Johnson »

Wow, my 6th annual already! Since there may be a "tune-in" factor for newer members who aren't familiar with my work, I'd like to give you some background that'll set the table on how I got from there to here...

"There" began in 1970, when I fell in love with cacti at the tender age of 12. So much I didn't know in my first 21 years of collecting, although truth be told, there wasn't much in the way of good advice coming from the local cactus & succulent community back then. Circumstances forced me out of the hobby in 1991, but more fortunate ones got me back in 20 years later. Starting from scratch, my go-to place turned out to be the California Cactus Center in Pasadena. I did some business with the CCC when it was Maleenee Desert Gallery in the '80s, and I was thrilled to know that one of my old c&s nurseries is still going. Time for serious cactus shopping, as the CCC set me up with a nice group to build the new collection in June and July 2011. Great, but what should I grow the cacti in? Here's a sample of what the CCC had to offer:

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Being used to the soil-based mixes I knew from my younger days, the CCC's mix seemed to be fine. Although the good folks there did recommend leaning it out with pumice, I was still too much of a newbie to figure out how lean it should be. This brings us to "here".

I instinctively felt that I was doing something wrong. What that something might be, I hadn't a clue. Then I discovered the CactiGuide forum in November 2011, and that's when my true learning started. Darryl Craig of CoronaCactus Nursery was still active on the forum then -- I give him endless amounts of credit for:

1. Recommending a pure mineral mix of pumice and decomposed granite (DG). I'll expand on this point in a moment.
2. Turning me on to Dyna Gro All-Pro 7-7-7, it's the only fertilizer I'll use. However, we can only buy it by the gallon, so that may be a bit expensive for some of you. Dyna Gro sells a 7-8-6 (called Orchid-Pro) in smaller quantities, and with the same excellent profile of minor and micronutrients we'll find in the 7-7-7. I highly recommend either fert. Dilute 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water.

DG is about 60% "play sand" fines that need to be sifted out and thrown away...

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...yielding about 40% usable as granite gravel:

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When I started using the pumice-DG mix, I made the mistake of thinking that dry-sifting was sufficient. When you look at the above photo, it may not seem like much of a problem. Negatory, my friends -- there was still too much of the "play sand" clinging to the gravel. After repeated waterings, the residual fines settled down in the pots and turned into a root-clogging mess. The solution (and it's an easy one), always rinse mineral gravels thoroughly before use. Here's an example of the mix "dirty" and clean:

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Starting in 2015, I spent the better part of 2 years gradually replacing the "dirty" mineral mix with clean mix. While I don't want to belabor the subject too much, this'll come up when we review the cacti that have benefited the most from the cleanup. A number of people do well growing their cacti in straight pumice -- the addition of granite gravel is purely optional. My collection is outdoors 24/7/365, and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having small pots tip over in the wind (same problem Darryl has out in Corona), so for me it's a 3-2 ratio of pumice to granite. (Granite is granite -- there's nothing magical about DG. Crushed granite poultry grit does the same job, easily available online or at livestock supply stores.)

Straight pumice and pumice-granite gravel mix have a couple of major advantages over soil-based mixes. First, pumice is the ideal mineral for cacti because it has a unique combination of open porosity and good water retention. (IMO way better than Perlite or Vermiculite, by the way.) And second, plenty of airspaces around the grains provide excellent aeration for optimal root growth. If you compare the root systems of cacti being grown in mineral mix with those growing in soil-based mixes, you'd be pretty impressed by the difference. With that said, a soil-less approach won't work for certain cactus species. I have a few of those, so as the review unfolds, I'll point them out and give you the "recipes" I'm using.

When we grow cacti in pure mineral mix, they'll need to be fertilized every time they're watered in the growing season. Which brings me to another important topic -- water quality. If you water your plants from the tap or a well, you'll be dealing with hard water. This can be a big problem for the long-term health of all plants (not just cacti!) because mineral build-up in the mix slowly robs their roots of the ability to efficiently take up water and nutrients. (Calcium bicarbonate is the primary culprit in tap water.) Can't remember where I found it, but an article by Elton Roberts in the Cactus & Succulent Society Journal was a major revelation that led me to acidifying my tap water in early 2012 -- and I've been doing it ever since. I posted a pretty good tutorial on acidification last year, and you can find it here.

Okay, the table is now set, so let's get the party started with...

The 2011 cacti

When I went about building a new collection, favorite species from the old one were in the back of my mind when it was time for cactus shopping. And before I got reacquainted with the CCC, the humblest of beginnings happened to be 2 plants I found at a local Armstrong Garden Center in May of that year:

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That's Espostoa lanata on the left, and Mammillaria spinossissima on the right. Both are old favorites -- in fact, the famous "red-headed Irishman" was one of the cacti that first got me into the hobby 47 years ago. From the end of summer, here's the most recent pic of the Irishman along with 2 other cacti you'll see a bit later:

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2 years of growth -- 9/19/15 and 9/17/17:

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Wow, the Irishman sure is big, isn't he? Next, we'll check in on the Espostoa:

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A young "old lady of Peru" aging quite gracefully -- 10/12/13, 9/20/15, 9/17/16, and 10/8/17:

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The old lady started growing a fuzzy-wuzzy little something in April, so let's investigate -- 4/30 and 10/8:

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What could it be? Yuppers, that's a new stem -- what a pleasant surprise!

The Gymnocalycium ochoterenae vatteri you saw next to the Espostoa was one of my finds from the California Cactus Center in June 2011, which is when the collection really got going. At the end of its first summer under my care (such as it was):

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Now that the vatteri has 6 more summers under its belt, we'll review this before-and-after on 9/20/15 and 9/17/17:

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The view from above, what the plant's active growth point looks like when it's not covered with flowers:

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Before I was able to take that shot, here's another one you might prefer (9/5):

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Going back over to the red-headed Irishman's immediate neighborhood, you'll notice 2 other old favorites I found at the CCC, so next up we'll look at...

Tephrocactus articulatus papyracanthus, AKA the famous "paper-spine". It was the only plant that struggled in pure mineral mix, showing no signs of new growth at all in 2012. When I posted an inquiry seeking advice on the forum, one of our most experienced members suggested that Tephros may not do well in a soil-less mix given their very fine root systems. Sure enough, he was right, and when I gave the paper-spine a good dose of soil in the mix, 2013 was the year when it started growing new segments. Holding onto that big bag of mix from the CCC came in handy -- all I had to do was pull out the big chunks of tree bark and rocks, and it was perfectly suitable as the soil component for a 50/50 soil/pumice mix. Things were getting better and better in 2014, as the plant was on track for producing 2 new segments per year -- our "high water" mark (so to speak) on 9/17/16:

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Tephros are known for dropping segments, their #1 method of self-propagation. Great for increasing the number of plants, but annoying when the idea is to keep yours intact. I don't water my Tephros at all during winter, getting shriveled and pruney -- if they could talk, they'd be saying "oh no, drought!" About a week after I gave the paper-spine its first deep drink of 2017, it responded with "drought's over, time to propagate!" (3/29):

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As we see here, one branch dropped 2 segments. Then the other branch dropped 2 more not long after that. I don't have enough space to accomodate duplicates of the same species, so I donated the dropped segments to Desert Creations in Northridge. No worries, though -- my paper-spine is great about growing new ones. This year's progress going from 4/1 and 4/29...

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...to 5/13 and 5/20:

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Take the "after", turn it into a "before", and we'll see the summer's result on the right (10/9):

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It may have been a mistake to keep my Tephros dry over the winter, so I'll try watering them every 4 weeks this winter to see if this is enough to prevent dropping. You saw my other Tephro in front of the Espostoa, and we'll give it a more in-depth look when we get to the 2012 cacti.

Aside from ornatum (which I never cared for), Astrophytums fascinated the heck out of me as a young cactus collector. The 3 species I grew (or at least tried to) were asterias, capricorne, and myriostigma. Old favorites I wouldn't be without, and I found all 3 at the CCC. Sadly, the asterias didn't survive its first summer on the plant bench, but the other 2 were remarkably tolerant of my ignorant "old school" ways. The capricorne went through a marvelous transformation as soon as I got my act together, but I'll save the story for my next installment. We'll end today's post with myriostigma. When I went to the CCC, both the 4-ribbed and 5-ribbed kind were being offered. The 4-ribbed variety is fairly uncommon, so of course my interest in the unusual led me to choose a quadricostatum. Such a small thing it was back at the end of summer 2011:

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Not so small these days -- progress going from 9/22/13 to 9/17/17:

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A bird's-eye view on 3/16/13 and 9/17/17:

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A prolific bloomer strutting its stuff with 2 big, beautiful flowers on 9/12:

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I've shown you only a few of the plants coming home from my trips to Pasadena, so stay tuned for more heading your way soon.
Last edited by Steve Johnson on Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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toadstar
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by toadstar »

Your Tephros are adorable.
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ElieEstephane
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by ElieEstephane »

Wow steve such an interesting history! It's always nice to know how other members got in the hobby and the methods they use to grow. We can learn so much from you! And of course beautiful plants!
I have noticed that all opuntoids in my collection don't like very gritty porous soil and look shriveled with very slow growth.
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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mruiz
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by mruiz »

so beautiful!! love your tephros!!!!
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Steve Johnson
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2017 End-of-summer review (Part 2)

Post by Steve Johnson »

elieestephane wrote:Wow steve such an interesting history! It's always nice to know how other members got in the hobby and the methods they use to grow. We can learn so much from you! And of course beautiful plants!
Thanks so much for your kind feedback! :D And a nice segue to...

More 2011 cacti

Old-timers on the SoCal scene may remember a legendary place in the Antelope Valley called Cactus Data Plants -- a massive and incredible collection owned by renowned cactus expert Woody Minnich. When he pulled up stakes for New Mexico in 2007, he sold almost all of it to the California Cactus Center. This led to "the mother of all cactus sales", which I didn't even know about until I rediscovered the CCC 4 years later. Although the bulk of Woody's collection had been dispersed throughout other collections long before then, I was pleased to find out that some of his cacti were still there and available for sale. The paper-spine Tephro I showed earlier was one, so we'll begin today's post with another.

The one and only Turbinicarpus I had in my old collection was a T. polaskii I purchased from Maleenee Desert Gallery in the '80s. Fast-forward to 2011, and Cactuspedia was giving me plenty of ideas on what I should look for -- Turbs most definitely included. Oddly enough, one of the Turbs I found in June of that year happened to be a polaskii originally from Woody's old Antelope Valley collection. And sadly, it was my first casualty of 2011, when the poor thing rotted about 5 months later. At least something good came out of it as the experience got me into the CactiGuide forum. Think this might've been my first post on the forum, so if you'd like a trip in the "way-back machine", you can see it here. And there was a happy ending of sorts, because I was able to save 3 seedling volunteers that came with the parent plant. I held onto the biggest (and I assume oldest) when the other 2 eventually went to a local cactus club. Given the doubts I had about their survival in early 2012, I decided to buy a new polaskii from CoronaCactus that April (an "insurance" plant, if you will). Here's both of them side-by-side on 9/29/17:

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You'll see more of the CCN polaskii in a later post, so we'll concentrate on the CCC plant's story going from then to now. To set up the following shot, I'll briefly mention the fact that the CCC polaskii went through a couple of repots -- 1/4/15 and 3/14/17:

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In the first repot, the polaskii was going from "dirty" mineral mix to clean mix. After 2 years of growing in clean mineral mix, the second repot shows us good qualitative improvement in the roots. Of course they've had to establish again, so any growth this year would be most likely to take place pretty much below-ground. Our primary concern for the moment -- if the plant is taking up water, we'll know that those roots are working. We'll run a comparison check on 3/14 and 9/29:

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Yes indeed, they're working. Believe it or not, the polaskii actually became rootbound in the first pot you just saw. Since the new pot has given the plant more room for new roots to grow in, I have a good feeling about the growth we'll see above-ground next summer. In the meantime, here's a before-and-after we'll benchmark going from 9/20/15 to 9/29/17:

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I was fortunate to find another Turb from Woody's old collection, ending its first summer on my plant bench (9/27/11):

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Yep, T. pseudomacrochele krainzianus -- and the little dickens started growing a pup after it came home with me. Repotting day on 5/18/15, as the plant went from terracotta and "dirty" mineral mix to glazed ceramic and clean mix:

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Two observations worth noting -- first, that isn't a pup, but a seedling which fused itself to the parent plant's taproot. However, for our purposes we'll continuing saying it's a pup. Second, the relative absence of fibrous roots coming out of the big, fat taproot tells us that a "brick" of DG fines in the dirty mix held the krainzianus back from the growing it should've done. Since Turbs are slow growers anyway, I figured on a growing season for the plant to essentially rebuild a healthy fibrous root system in clean mineral mix before I would see any significant progress on top. This year may be the time, so let's see if I'm right -- the before-and-after results on 9/24/16 and 10/8/17:

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Oh, yeah! Although you may not know it, my krainzianus has really perked up. Even better, the pup is finally growing:

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Going back to the Turb polaskii situation -- this was a case of disaster recovery, although not the only time when one of my 2011 cacti came to a similar end:

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That's a beautiful little Copiapoa hypogaea shortly after I bought it from the CCC in mid-July. The plant did well until it rotted on me in August 2013, so what the heck happened? It was a lesson I learned the hard way, and you can get the details here. You'll find my story on the disaster recovery here. The surviving pups I kept (8/18/13)...

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...are still very much with me, and where we saw 2 in the above photo, we'll see 3 going from 3/16/14 to 9/29/17:

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While I do like the results, I'm a bit surprised that the hypogaea hasn't grown any new pups since 2014. Not that I'm worried, and this "earth cactus" could be hiding something in the pot we won't see until March or April. If you've been around Copiapoas for awhile, you'll know it's what they like to do when they're in the right mood.

The list of selections I made for 2011 wasn't just about old favorites, and something I hadn't tried before really caught my eye. Howzabout Sulcorebutia rauschii? You got an eyeful of this lovely cactus when it was blooming earlier in the year, but you may not believe it's even the same plant if you saw what it looked like at the end of its first summer (9/27/11) and seemingly near death on 4/2/12:

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Funny thing about my rauschii -- this happens every year, and the difference between winter and summer is quite remarkable. A 2017 demonstration for your approval, 3/13 and 9/17:

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Now I'll give you 3 years of marvelous growth -- 9/20/14 and 9/17/17:

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The view from above on 9/1/14 and 9/17/17:

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Also at the end of summer 2017 -- an old favorite flanked by 2 finds that were new to me in 2011:

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The plant on the left is none other than Eriosyce senilis, with 4 years of growth going from 10/26/13 to 9/17/17:

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My senilis is the only cactus that did well growing in the CCC's mix. However, not a bad idea to lean it out some, so when I repotted the plant in 2013, it got a 50/50 mix of pumice and CCC soil. Interestingly, it's the only species I know of that does best with full watering once a month in winter. E. senilis starts setting buds in February, and its drop-dead gorgeous flowers in March are a major event I look forward to every year.

I've always loved fishhook Mammillarias, and when I went to the CCC in June 2011, I couldn't resist the unusual burnt-orange central spines on the grahamii I found there. That's the cactus on the right, so we'll zoom in to give it a viewing on 9/19/15, 9/26/16, and 9/17/17:

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Here's the grahamii sitting next to a truly sentimental old favorite -- Cephalocereus senilis:

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The "old man" cactus turned out to be a tough one to keep in my younger days, and they never lasted long enough to grow more than a little before they rotted. My growing practices are light years ahead of where they were back then, so when I was lucky enough to find one at the CCC, those practices turned a 4-incher into a grand old man standing 13 inches tall at the end of this summer. Here it is on 9/20/14, 9/20/15, 9/17/16, and 10/8/17:

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We'll end today's post with one last old favorite I found at the CCC. They normally didn't keep the species in stock, but as luck would have it, one of the helpful ladies there brought out -- what a coincidence -- an Astrophytum capricorne from Woody Minnich's old Cactus Data Plants collection. A surnburned, stressed-out little thing it was, seen here on 9/27/11:

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In 2012, the capricorne started going through a wonderful transformation thanks to pure mineral mix and a regular diet of acidified water and Dyna Gro All-Pro 7-7-7. Spanning 3 summers of growth going from 9/20/14 to 9/17/17:

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It's no coincidence to see a September bud in both shots, and we'll watch the one on the right go from bud (10/11 and 12)...

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...to bloom on 10/13:

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Before we move on to the next installment, I'll leave you with a nice photo I lifted from Bing -- the holidays Arizona-style:

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Best wishes to you and your families for a very merry Christmas!
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Last edited by Steve Johnson on Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Steve Johnson
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Getting ready for 2018

Post by Steve Johnson »

I'm in the middle of putting together the next installment of my big review, and it looks like I won't be ready to post it until after we ring in the new year. And there's still a lot more to go, so maybe we should call it the "endless summer" review? :lol: Anyway, this thread has turned out to be more popular than I could've imagined. My sincere and humble thanks to all of you who are following the exploits here at Casa de Jefferson Park. :D

Happy New Year -- may 2018 be kind to you and your cacti!

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Re: Getting ready for 2018

Post by ElieEstephane »

Steve Johnson wrote:so maybe we should call it the "endless summer" review?
Don't we all wish it was still summer and living in these photos!
Steve Johnson wrote: Happy New Year -- may 2018 be kind to you and your cacti!
Same to you Steve!
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Re: Getting ready for 2018

Post by majcka »

Steve Johnson wrote: And there's still a lot more to go, so maybe we should call it the "endless summer" review? :lol:
As years pass I wish more and more to meet this "endless summer". It would do vell for my cacty and for my bones. Image

And Happy New Year to you too Steve. Image
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2017 End-of-summer review (Part 3)

Post by Steve Johnson »

In my first 21 years of cactus collecting, brick-and-mortar nurseries were the only game in town. Things sure have changed since then, and thanks to the Internet, it didn't take long to broaden my horizons beyond the confines of Pasadena. No disrespect to the California Cactus Center, but the spring of 2012 was a time of transition as I leaned away from their nursery toward the online nursery of CoronaCactus. I'll break up the 2012 cacti into two installments, so in today's post we'll review...

The CCC plants

Ah, the constraints of apartment living -- as we'll see in the collection's first summer (7/16/11):

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Not much in the way of empty space on that old bench, although a lifelong fascination with miniature species allowed me to make the most of it throughout 2012. Two vacant spots were taken in early March. Here's the first one, a month after it settled in (4/10/12):

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Yuppers -- Tephrocactus articulatus inermis, AKA the "pine cone" cactus. Unlike my paper-spine, the pine cone actually grew new segments in pure mineral mix. However, the plant still needed soil in the mix to support its very fine roots for better growth, and it went into the same 50-50 pumice-CCC soil mix I use for the paper-spine when I repotted both Tephros in March 2013. 4 years later, here's the view on 4/1 and 5/13/17:

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2 segments per year is par for the course with these Tephros, so the pine cone is on track. (The long one on the right is pretty wild, isn't it?)

Turn the pine cone around, and things look a bit wilder -- 5/13 and 5/29:

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I was really looking forward to an intact pine cone with not 2, but 3 new segments to end the year. Had no reason to expect otherwise -- then, oops (9/5):

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So, why do Tephros do this? Thought I figured it out (see my Part 1 discussion regarding the paper-spine), but apparently not. Maybe they just drop segments whenever they feel like it? Oh, well -- the 2 dropped segments went off to a local nursery, and we can enjoy the remaining new ones going from 5/29 to 9/30:

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A wide-angle view on 9/30:

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Here's the other spot I filled in March -- repotted and ready for action on 4/3/12:

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Sulcorebutia callichroma longispina (often misidentified as S. pulchra) is a very attractive species, easy for Sulco fans to fall in love with. I was lucky enough to find one at the CCC, easy to grow too. And relatively fast, as I came to find out once I moved the plant from terracotta and "dirty" mineral mix to high-fired ceramic and clean mix on 4/26/15:

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At the end of 2 summers -- 9/20/15 and 10/8/17:

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2 other sides of the longispina on 10/8:

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I made my final purchases from the CCC in early May 2012, and both turned out to be remarkably pleasant surprises in their own ways...

Epithelantha micromeris. Epithelanthas were almost impossible to find in the early 1970s, but I managed to get ahold of one from a senior member of The Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society. Not for beginners, and of course this young beginner managed to kill his in short order. When the CCC had micromeris available, my greatly improved growing practices emboldened me enough to try again. Here it is potted up the day after the plant came home with me (5/6/12):

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Seemed like forever to get the roots fully established, but the micromeris finally showed signs of progress in the 2013 growing season. Even better, more progress led to the growth of a brand-new pup in September 2014, followed by another one in October. 3 years of growth going from 10/25/14 to 10/8/17:

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Wowza, better than I could've imagined! The pup you see on the base popped its tiny head out at the end of summer 2015, and the 3 seedlings are the successful result of a pot-sowing experiment I started in 2014. And those 2 pups from 2014 might be hiding something in the "after" pic. What could it be? Let's find out -- a bird's-eye view on 7/30/15 and 10/8/17:

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Mammillaria deherdtiana. Rarely encountered in US collections, it was a complete surprise to find one at the CCC. Bunking with my E. micromeris on 5/6/12:

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Knowing absolutely nothing about the species, I kinda assumed that it would have the pleasant, albeit nondescript flowers we see on many Mamms. Boy, was I wrong! My deherdtiana puts on quite a display of drop-dead gorgeous blooms every spring and summer, seen here toward the end of its 2017 flowering run (9/5):

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As to deherdtiana's growing behavior, the good folks at the CCC said "solitary plant, and a very slow grower". Wrong again! Going from 4/12/14 to 9/30/17, on the east-facing side...

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...the south-facing side...

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...and the west-facing side, where most of the offsetting action has been:

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The deherdtiana outgrew its 3" terracotta pot by the end of summer 2014, so that gave me the opportunity to change out its "dirty" mineral mix for clean mix and a bigger glazed ceramic pot on 1/31/15. The view from above on repotting day, followed by 9/30/17:

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We'll zoom in on the plant's last flower of the year, from bud on 9/29 to bloom the next day:

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And the birth of a brand-new pup to boot!

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The entire 4th quarter of 2017 was persistently hot, and believe it or not, my deherdtiana hasn't stopped growing yet. Time for an even bigger pot, so I'll have to do something about that real soon!

Before we move on to review what Darryl Craig had for me, we'll end today's post with...

Eriosyce senilis -- don't I already have one? Well, yes, but the senilis I got from the CCC in 2011 included a little gift I didn't even know about until I saw this on 9/22/12:

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That's right, a seedling volunteer! We now have E. senilis Sr. and Jr. Repotting time on 3/17/13:

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When I did the repot, I wasn't sure if I should keep Sr. and Jr. together, or move Jr. into its own pot. The smallest one I had was a 2.5" terracotta pot. Might as well take a chance as I opted for the latter, not knowing if the seedling would survive being over-potted. No problemo, and the tiny guy was a strong grower that did well in pure pumice-granite gravel mix -- looking peachy on 9/21/13, then on 4/17 and 9/20/14:

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Jr. has gone through a couple of repots since then. First, a glazed ceramic pot to replace the terracotta on 3/22/15 (top), and again with a bigger pot on 5/29/17 (bottom):

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Jr. was ready for "big boy" mix in its latest repot, so the plant is currently growing in the same 50-50 pumice-CCC soil mix Sr. gets. A before-and-after comparison on 10/26/13 and 9/30/17:

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Aerial view with the growing point open for springtime business on 5/29, and new spines on top closing it up at the end of summer:

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As I mentioned in Part 1, I don't have enough space to accomodate duplicates of the same species. I'll modify that by saying "usually", and I'm willing to make a couple of exceptions. Jr. is one, and I'll show you the other to lead off my next installment.

Nice way to start the New Year, isn't it? :cheers:
Last edited by Steve Johnson on Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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2017 End-of-summer review (Part 4)

Post by Steve Johnson »

After I lost Woody Minnich's old Turbinicarpus polaskii at the end of 2011, this led to my first experience in disaster recovery. As we begin today's post, we'll pick up where we left off with the polaskii side of the story in Part 2.

The 2012 plants from CoronaCactus

I was thankful to have the 3 volunteer seedling survivors, but they were way too small to be in their own pots. The smallest I had was a 3" standard terracotta pot, so in they went. The move from the California Cactus Center's mix to mineral mix would certainly help. But would that be enough? Hmmmm, that pot seemed awfully big, so I put the call out for a new polaskii "mama" to keep the seedlings company. Unfortunately the CCC wasn't able to answer, but Darryl Craig of CoronaCactus Nursery sure did, as the "mama" polaskii arrived at the end of April 2012. The polaskii family on 4/27/12:

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Those seedlings looked like raisins, and I had doubts about whether or not the tiny one would make it. Well, no need to worry, as we'll see here at the end of that summer:

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Fine so far, but this had to be a temporary situation -- when multiple cacti are grown in the same pot, competition for water and nutrients will eventually lead to problems. In my case, I could tell that the polaskiis were struggling in the 2014 growing season, so I broke up the family as the 2 smaller seedlings went to a good home in January of '15. The CCN polaskii got the same dealio as my CCC keeper -- the move from terracotta and "dirty" mineral mix to glazed ceramic and clean mix on 1/4/15, then another repot on 3/14/17:

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While the results may not seem obvious, I could tell that 2 years of being in clean mineral mix did the roots a lot of good (especially the taproot!). These results above-ground are a little more obvious -- at the end of 2 summers on 9/20/15 and 9/29/17:

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A couple of things worth noting -- first, the CCN polaskii has flattened out, and we'll see this with another cactus I'll show you in a moment. Clean mineral mix means good aeration -- when the roots respond accordingly, plants that should naturally look (at least somewhat) flat will be. And second, most of the new activity you see on the growing point took place in 2017. Now we'll go back and do a side-by-side comparison of the CCC and CCN polaskiis:

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Two individuals of the same species, and I find the variability rather striking -- referring to something I mentioned at the end of Part 3, that's the other duplicate I'll most definitely keep!

Limited space on my old bench placed a premium on the empty spots I had available, although Cactuspedia really helped me concentrate on a well-targeted wish list of interesting species I hadn't tried growing before. Here's one Darryl had in stock, arriving with the polaskii -- Eriosyce odieri settling in on 5/6/12:

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When Darryl recommended a pure mineral mix, he wanted to do the same thing, although it'd be a big job for him to make the transition from the SuperSoil-pumice mix he was using. My job was a lot easier with mineral mix right from the get-go -- here we are 3 years later on 4/18/15:

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(I couldn't resist that wonderfully funky pot I found at the CCC!) Flattening out, that'll be the mineral mix at work. To get a few (important?) facts down -- I moved the odieri from a plastic pot to a waterproofed terracotta pot in March 2013, but the "dirty" vs. clean issue hadn't even occured to me yet. When I did the repot you just saw, a root inspection indicated that the plant wasn't bothered much by growing in "dirty" mix. Or so I thought. Let's compare the growth at the end of 3 summers -- 9/20/15 and 9/25/16, then 9/25/16 again and 10/1/17:

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Okay, not that impressive from the side, so we'll go for a bird's-eye view on the same dates:

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That's pretty impressive, and the odieri put on its best year of growth in 2017. As it continues to grow, the plant will add some height over time, although I don't think it'll be all that much. 2017 was also the odieri's best year of flowering since 2013, and I don't believe the change to clean mineral mix is just a coincidence either.

The rest of 2012 was all about CoronaCactus. And I was smart enough to start photographing my new arrivals with their plant tags, so without further ado, here's what landed on my doorstep in July...

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I have very fond memories of growing Stenos in my younger days, although I can't remember which species they were -- must've been either crispatus or multicostatus (or both). While the genus is an old favorite, zacatecasensis was certainly new to me. 4 years of growth going from 9/21/13 to 10/8/17:

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In September 2016, I noticed some damage on the plant's south-facing side. We'll have a look here on 9/17/16 and 10/8/17:

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What could it be? Sunscorch? Nope, not on the base -- that's consistent with flat mite damage. I've had run-ins with flat mites before, although I wouldn't expect to see this on Stenos. Maybe I should, so I added my zacatecasensis to the "watch list" for periodic mite inspections during the spring and summer. And oddly enough, the plant apparently reversed a little bit of the damage.

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I had a disappointing experience with a Turb valdezianus I got from the CCC that March, although I can't blame the good folks there for what was most likely a growing mistake on my part. The mistake was corrected for me when I decided to purchase bare-root plants, a practice I continue to follow whenever possible. My valdezianus from CCN has been doing really well, although since the species is a very slow grower, one year of growth won't show up in photos. Howzabout 4? The view on 6/22/13 and 10/1/17:

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The view from above:

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Something interesting here -- valdezianus does its growing in spring, followed by nothing in summer, and maybe a touch in fall. What we're seeing on the right is unusual summertime growth, and also unusual to have buds setting already. Unfortunately they aborted (not surprising), although as of this writing the plant set another bud that'll go into bloom. I'll save the pics for later.

Another very slow grower:

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A side view on 4/6/14 and 9/17/17:

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The earliest benchmark photo I have is from 9/21/13, so we'll compare it with the aerial view on 9/17/17:

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A great way to end the summer -- from bud on 10/8 and 10/11...

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...to bloom the next day:

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You think that's wide open? Give it another day:

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In contrast with other Astrophytum species, asterias is remarkably intolerant of newbie mistakes. I found that out the hard way, when the asterias I got from the CCC in July 2011 lost its roots due to a combination of using their heavy soil mix (should've leaned it out a lot) and indiscriminate weekly watering. Theoretically I could've regrown new roots, and I did try as I followed advice being offered by more experienced members on the forum. Too bad it wasn't part of my skill set back then -- after 6 months of patiently waiting for new roots that never showed, I gave up and started over with the asterias that finally broke a long losing streak I began in the '70s. And believe it or not, the plant didn't waste any time setting a new bud. If it winters over and goes into flower, we could see an asterias flower in May. Wouldn't that be sweet?

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Darryl was very kind about including these gifts in the July package. Normally hybrids aren't my thing, but if I believed in psychic connections, we have one here as he sent me the one hybrid I'd enjoy having. The split-screen on the right shows the capristigmas a week after they were potted up (7/21/12) and at the end of their first summer under my care (9/22). Keeping them both in the same pot meant the same predicament I had for the Turb polaskii family. Luckily they turned out to be strong little growers, so when they were outgrowing their pot, I didn't have any qualms about regifting capristigma Jr. to a local cactus club in 2015. Here's Sr. in its own pot on 9/20/15, and with a beautiful bloom on 9/24/17:

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I have a few more 2012 CCN cacti to show you, so that'll come up in my next installment.
Last edited by Steve Johnson on Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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7george
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by 7george »

... Astrophytum xhybrid capristigma
I know nothing about these hybrids but these plants look more like an A. asteris hybrid with A. capricorne. Anyway, it's good to see that it grows and blooms among your plants, Steve. :)
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2017 End-of-summer review (Part 5)

Post by Steve Johnson »

2012 CoronaCactus Special

These plants are especially noteworthy for different reasons, so I'll explain...

Arriving in July of that year:

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Somewhat similar to the Gymnocalycium mihanovichiis I enjoyed as a young collector, but I find this species to be more attractive. Not shy about blooming, and my stenopleurum either flowers or grows buds (or both) throughout the year. Clearly in evidence here on 11/23/13 and 10/9/17:

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One of the things I find attractive is the way the stenopleurum's skin color changes going from winter stress to summer beauty with a steady diet of acidified water and dilute fertilizer over the course of the growing season. Now I'll tell you why the plant rates as being especially noteworthy this time.

October was hot, hot, hot. And I mean hot -- a real scorcher in late October dealt the following daytime highs: 99F on 10/22, 109 on 10/23, 109 again on 10/24, 108 on 10/25, 100 on 10/26, and 92 as the temps started coming down on 10/27. It was phenomenally unusual to have desert heat going all the way out to SoCal's coast -- miserable for us humans, but it brought out the biggest, most beautiful stenopleurum flowers I've ever seen. One bloom on 10/22/17...

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...followed by two a couple of days later:

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Many years ago, I subscribed to the idea that winter is a bad time of year for getting and/or repotting cacti. Maybe so for the rest of the country, but not true here in SoCal -- at least if your sources are local. Corona is local enough, so I made my very first December purchases from Darryl -- here's one:

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I fell in love with E. rubispinus from the first time I saw them at the California Cactus Center in July 2011. Unfortunately the poor thing met the same fate as the Astrophytum asterias that lost its roots. I went back to the CCC in May 2012 and got a replacement, but the second effort ended in failure that summer. Can't tell you how disappointing it was, and to be honest I was completely mystified about what the heck happened. You'll see the sad story here, and the mystery solved as I learned a hard lesson here. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again -- I wasn't about to give up on this lovely plant (IMO the best of the genus). Third time's a charm -- my CCN rubispinus on 9/14/13, 9/20/15, and 9/17/17:

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The flowers are drop-dead gorgeous, and it's something we can look forward to every June.

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Rarely encountered in US collections, and I was very lucky to have Darryl offering this item to me when I asked if he had rubispinus in stock. The ysabelae at the beginning of its first spring under my care (3/16/13), followed by the end of a wonderful summer on 10/1/17:

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My ysabelae produced its first flower in March 2014, with more March blooms since then. However, as it apears that the southwest is getting a winter in name only, a persistently hot, dry weather pattern encouraged the plant to set buds ready for blooming ahead of schedule. This brings up a couple of general observations I'll make before I sign off and prepare for our next installment...

First, the amount of rain we had last winter was truly amazing, but aside from a big soak in early January, it looks like SoCal's current dry spell portends another year of drought. Anything unusual about that? Nope, California is a drought state and always has been. For those of us who love rainy winters, this one is kinda depressing. But there is an upside -- I can feel an early start to the growing season, and I think the rest of 2018 should be pretty tremendous.

Second, "Mr. OCD" has insisted on posting the subjects of his presentations in chronological order. Seems rather silly, doesn't it? Soooooo, given how much we have left to cover in this review, I'll mix things up with occasional posts on more recent events.
Last edited by Steve Johnson on Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A small collection: 2015 and beyond

Post by ElieEstephane »

Always a pleasure to read your thread. Please do keep posting!
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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