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Figured I'd start sharing some of my plants. I try to take dedicated progress pictures when I remember. Should probably schedule it for the same day each month or something.

Having to resize these photos so drastically really makes the quality tank and that's a bummer.

Sinocrassula yunnanensis on October 10th 2022
And here it is today, January 26th, 2023
And here's a Haworthia cymbiformis f. variegata pretty soon after I got it in a trade. Picture was taken on August 9th, 2022
And here it is today
Lucky for me, both of these plants are glorified weeds and grow as such.

Nice before and after shots. You did well with your weeds.

Really great work. It's an incentive, and weeds or not, they're great-looking.

Nice progress, great looking plants.

Jerry, Minnesota, and Bbarv,

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. I try to stay out of the way and let the plants do their thing.

I've got some more plants to show this evening.

First is this Lobivia arachnacantha I received this last fall in a trade. I looked for a picture of when I first got it but I can't find one. It was about the size of a penny and had no roots. This first picture is after I had it for about a month, got it rooted and you can see the brand new growth coming in.
The second photo is from last night.
Next is one of my absolute favorites. It's quite common but I rarely, if ever, see it grown to to it's full potential when offered in stores. Echeveria 'Dionysos' is a very easy to grow hybrid and tolerates an incredible range of growing conditions; it's particularly tolerant of low light and doesn't tend to stretch like many other Echeverias do. However, I consider the plant to be at it's best when grown in as high of light as possible without damaging it, with ample airflow and cool (bordering cold) night temperatures to bring out the colors. The plant has an irridescent sheen that's particularly vibrant when grown in the conditions described above. It glitters like a ruby with a thousand stars embedded in it's skin. I find it truly stunning.

This first photo is not so impressive but I think the second one is.
It really is a shame I'm not a good enough photographer to capture the shimmering effect the light has when it dances over the leaves but the distinctive blood red colors are just beginning to come through as the props grow.
Another aspect of these props that I'm so excited by is the fact that E. 'Dionysos' and, more broadly, any hybrid with E. purpusorum as a parent, are strongly solitary plants both in situ and in cultivation. I love a good clump so having a couple multiheaded specimens is something I find inordinately pleasing.

Stunning successes! Fairly certain you've found your niche, and your passion is evident in your study of your Echeveria in look and preferred environment. Fantastic work.

Excellent progress pics! I really like the markings on the E. 'Dionysos'. Intricate and beautiful.

Minnesota wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:00 pm Stunning successes! Fairly certain you've found your niche, and your passion is evident in your study of your Echeveria in look and preferred environment. Fantastic work.

Thank you so much. I've only been growing for a couple of years so still have pretty much everything to learn but it's been the most fun I've ever had with a hobby.

MrXeric wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:35 am Excellent progress pics! I really like the markings on the E. 'Dionysos'. Intricate and beautiful.

Thank you, I really like them as well. They're so unique for an Echeveria; most other Echeverias have varying levels of epicuticular wax or hairs that I'd wager are more common morphological responses to environmental extremes while E. purpusorum and its various hybrids have neither.

Next up, I have this Haworthia joleneae that was a surprise to find at a local nursery. This was when I got it on April 14th, 2022
And this was a few days ago on January 28th, 2023

I found some old pictures of my Haworthia maughanii x truncata so it's time for a good before and after.

January 3, 2022, shortly after I got it from a friend who was moving out of town.
And on January 8th, 2023. Not bad for a year of growth.

It is nearly time to bring all the plants back outside and I'm chomping at the bit quite frankly. Spent some time repotting a few things this weekend to keep me busy.

I've been wanting to try some new things for my indoor growing adventures. Some context is that I've been growing many plants indoors under lights in our basement. I run a dehumidifier down there and some plants are on a heat mat on top of various fans that I have going to provide good air circulation. Typically, I use a rather gritty, coarse mix for my plants because I want to be able to leave them outside all spring/summer/fall and not worry about them getting rained on. However, this same mix is drying down too fast for my liking in the basement due to the relatively low humidity, decent airflow, and light levels I like to grow my plants at.

This is my standard mix. And this is the new "mix" I'm trying. It's just clay, unfired I believe, larger than 1/16" and smaller than 1/8". And here's some plants. First is Haworthia 'Crystal Ball'. And the roots. Fairly good development all in all. In the center of the picture there are a couple of roots that have a slightly wrinkled appearance. These are dead roots, dry as paper and hollow. I noticed maybe 1/4 of the fine roots on this plant were dead, and my assumption is that it's due to my sometimes lackadaisical attention to watering. I'm hoping to correct this with the new substrate and being a little more attentive to watering. And here's a passable photo of the root hairs on a different root. I probably pay more attention to the roots of a plant than to the leaves when considering care, overall. If I can grow a healthy root system, I can grow a healthy plant. And here's the plant ready to be repotted. Most of the time, I prune all of the fine roots when repotting. This is because once unpotted, the root hairs will die off rather quickly and while the plant could (and sometimes does) regenerate root hairs on that section of the root, what is more likely is that the bulk of root hairs will be on any newly generated fine roots following repotting. It is very likely the fine roots themselves will die and dry up like the one I showed previously. Then it is just organic matter that is held in the pot, retaining water and reducing overall aeration. Depending on several factors the dead root may provide a breeding ground for pathenogenic bacteria or fungi directly next to healthy tissue that may or may not be fully healed over. Plants constantly generate new roots so all I am doing is leaning in to the habit and providing a stimulus that encourages the plant to generate new fine roots. And here is the plant repotted. I didn't intend to pot it this low but I rather liked the look of it so I left it.

I prune all of the fine roots when repotting" I also do that, less chance of rot after transplanting.

keith wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 2:46 pm I also do that, less chance of rot after transplanting.

For sure. I've had good results across the board with root pruning. Any plants you avoid doing it to?

Don't cut fat tap roots that could be a problem and its why I don't use window screen at the bottom of pots of species with tap roots. the roots get tangled up in the screen and can break off. Not good . Like Ariocarpus or turbinicapus.

lithops you can cut the tap root .

Good to know Keith, I appreciate it.

Spring is looming and I'm desperately looking at the weather to see if there are any more hard freezes in the forecast. Checked on the plants in the garage and my Mammillaria microhelia (happy to be corrected, not positive on the ID) is going off.
Most of the plants that have spent the winter in the garage are looking a bit worse for wear but a majority of them are sending up flower stalks or rapidly forming buds. Last year was the first year all of my jades bloomed right before winter truly got here. Never had that happen before so that was nice.
Really going to try and get my little makeshift shade-house finished up so I can pop a lot of these outside. The low for Saturday is projected to be 27° but I'm betting most of the plants could take it if I kept them mostly dry and up against the brick on the south side of the house. Decisions, decisions.

Unfired clay? Does it turn to mush if you soak it? Or break apart?