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Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2023 3:23 am
by MrXeric
Managed to catch this in bloom between the rains (it's been very wet here in California!)
Reicheocactus famatinensis (=Lobivia famatimensis)
Mammillaria huitzilopochtli subsp. niduliformis L 1495, found two fruits on it the other day. The seeds were tiny and unfertilized. Likely it failed to self or was pollinated by something incompatible (several Mammillaria were in bloom at the time.)
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2023 10:52 pm
by MrXeric
Trichodiadema densum
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 2:45 am
by MrXeric
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 2:21 pm
by keith
Reicheocactus famatinensis (=Lobivia famatimensis) are these hard to grow ? I have many of the other cactus shown with the turbinicarpus being the tricky one doing better in a sandy mix versus a pumice inorganic mix I tried and failed at.
What are the pots ? Some look like stoneware .
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 2:01 am
by nes
I forget how pretty Sulcorebutia rauschii is, mine didn't survive through the winter
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 3:16 am
by MrXeric
keith wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 2:21 pm
Reicheocactus famatinensis (=Lobivia famatimensis) are these hard to grow ? I have many of the other cactus shown with the turbinicarpus being the tricky one doing better in a sandy mix versus a pumice inorganic mix I tried and failed at.
What are the pots ? Some look like stoneware .
Hi keith, I keep that pair in the same mix as most of my cacti, pumice and other grit with little organic matter added. This is their third growing season with me and I haven't had any issues yet. They're one of the first cacti to respond to water after a dry winter and can take direct sun all year long. Because of the size of the pot, a 6in. non-porous ceramic bowl, I water around every 18 days; really whenever they start shrinking from thirst. They would probably be bigger if I watered more often and protected them from direct sun, but they seem happy in my care, flowering every year and I haven't scorched them yet!
The other pots you see are low-fired clay jars (very porous!) from a local Mexican grocery store. The chain goes by El Super around here. They're about 6in. tall and have an inner diameter at the rim of about 4in. I think they're meant to be used as tumblers for drinks? I drill a hole in the bottom for drainage.
Here's how they compare to a standard 4in. terracotta flower pot.
The walls feel thinner than the 4in pot. Quality seems to vary from jar to jar, some being thinner and/or misshapen. I haven't had any issues yet but they are pretty deep and take quite a bit of substrate to fill. Probably not good for plants with shallow roots.
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 2:04 pm
by keith
Sulcorebutia rauschii I bought a plant from kyle's plants last year its still alive and I've heard its not the easiest plant ? He grew it in a fine peat based soil so I kept it in that .
I will have to look for the Reicheocactus famatinensis they were a lot of them for sale last year but maybe all gone by now ? The big growers must grow hundreds of certain plants and then all the retailers have them and once they are gone they are gone. I have a lobiva densispina I got from C and D plants with the small spines and compact growth kinda reminds me of this plant except it has red flowers. I ordered a bunch of seeds from Mesa
Lobivia desnispina but only a couple sprouted. Mostly I grow Mexican cactus these S American ones like some compost which is hard to find these days most of whats for sale now is crappy and only good for growing tomatoes and even then I add sand to it.
the clay pots are cool I've noticed clay pots are 5x or more expensive now than when I bought a load of them years ago.
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 2:54 am
by nes
keith wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 2:04 pm
Sulcorebutia rauschii I bought a plant from kyle's plants last year its still alive and I've heard its not the easiest plant ? He grew it in a fine peat based soil so I kept it in that .
I'm not sure why it died. It was outside for 3 snows and low 30's every night here in Tucson. I honestly think it dried out since I completed halted watering.
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 9:28 pm
by MrXeric
nes wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 2:54 am
I'm not sure why it died. It was outside for 3 snows and low 30's every night here in Tucson. I honestly think it dried out since I completed halted watering.
Perhaps the snowmelt kept the soil too wet? I also keep mine dry for the winter.
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 9:43 pm
by MrXeric
keith wrote: ↑Tue May 02, 2023 2:04 pm
I will have to look for the Reicheocactus famatinensis they were a lot of them for sale last year but maybe all gone by now ? The big growers must grow hundreds of certain plants and then all the retailers have them and once they are gone they are gone. I have a lobiva densispina I got from C and D plants with the small spines and compact growth kinda reminds me of this plant except it has red flowers. I ordered a bunch of seeds from Mesa
Lobivia desnispina but only a couple sprouted. Mostly I grow Mexican cactus these S American ones like some compost which is hard to find these days most of whats for sale now is crappy and only good for growing tomatoes and even then I add sand to it.
I'm sure they'll grow just fine in your care. Their habitat is described as "high altitude grasslands on rocky soils".
Not my pics
This one even looks like it's on limestone (with a nice fossil!)
The other species, Reicheocactus bonnieae, seems to grow on pretty barren land in Fiambala, Argentina.
Not too different from our Mojave desert I would say, just without the Joshua Trees.
Source of the last two pics:
https://www.facebook.com/slabatalin/pho ... =3&theater
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2023 6:35 am
by MrXeric
A second flush of flowers on my
Parodia haselbergii. Rather late in the season too.
Female flower on
Weingartia rauschii 'Yellow Spines'.
Echinocereus pulchellus. Strong floral aroma.
A closer look at the stem. I recently repotted it and it has yet to plump up.
I had it in one of the large clay jars shown above. Decided it was too big for this plant. Here it is before cleaning/trimming the roots.
Clean roots. It grows pretty slow for me. I shaded it one year, thinking maybe the sun was too much for it, but it started etiolating (hence the odd conical shape), so back into the sun it went.
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 9:48 pm
by MrXeric
xSedeveria 'Letizia'. Flowers smell like honey.
Seed pods on
Mammillaria hernandezii. That third plant without fruit flowered much later than the other 2.
Eriosyce villicumensis DJF 362. Degrafted on a short Pereskiopsis stock.
Mammillaria bocasana 'roseiflora'.
Aylostera heliosa. Seems that it goes by Aylostera deminuta now? Or at least one "authority" seems to think so...Anyway, flowers here struggling to open on a cloudy day.
...and on a sunny day
...and spent flowers a few days later
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 1:08 am
by Tom Kraemer
Your collection is quite beautiful
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2023 12:25 am
by MrXeric
Tom Kraemer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 1:08 am
Your collection is quite beautiful
Thank you!
Re: MrXeric's flowers and things
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2023 12:32 am
by MrXeric
We've been having rather persistent marine layer events this year, resulting in less than average cool temperatures and continuously overcast skies (we call it May Gray and June Gloom), so a lot of my plants have been struggling to flower. I've been lucky to catch a couple blooming on the odd day the sun manages to burn through the clouds.
Here's one,
Cochemiea theresae, the smaller of my two plants. The flower a bit misshapen, I don't know why. It aborted its buds last year, but the year before that the flower was normal. Anyway, I saved the pollen to pollinate the larger plant.
