Lancer99's Mostly Euphorbias Topic

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:35 pm

Awwwww

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:54 pm

This year I decided to grow my plants a bit "harder" and water them less. I got the same amount or more of cactus flowers, but far fewer Euphorbia cyathia. But it paid off in terms of keeping some Euphorbias looking more natural: http://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22658[

Pics of the g/h:

Euphorbias & cacti:

Mostly Madagascan euphorbias that don't need as much sun:

Opuntioids:

Mostly taller euphorbias:

Cheers,
-R

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:52 pm

This is the time of year I dread most. Last week, high temps near 90. This week, low temps in the upper 40's.

I'm hoping that by growing my Euphorbias a bit harder, I'll have fewer losses next spring.

This time I'm prepared for the cold!

-R

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:00 pm

Looking good! Last year I invested in a pool cover (glorifed/heavy duty bubble wrap) for that GH. It worked well for making the space easier to keep heated. Ugly but worth it!

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:41 pm

Thx Harriet!

Some late season pics:

Euphorbia fimbriata variegata aka E. mammillaris variegata:

This is supposedly a true E. mammillaris:

A lot of Monadeniums seem to flower late...this is M. renneyi:

And here is my E. polyacantha. No, it's not sick or diseased...that's just what stem cuttings of this species often look like

Cheers,
-R

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:35 pm

A little color from the end of summer.

Leuchtenbergia principis, always a faithful bloomer:

Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele (T. krainzianus v. minimus)...lots of clouds here, so I don't expect to see the flowers more open than this

:

Euphorbia clavigera:

Ariocarpus fissuratus, first time (IIRC!) producing two flowers simultaneously for me:

Although I hate the autofocus of this cam (Canon ELPH 100 HS) it does seem to do well with color rendition...colors seem pretty true to nature.

Cheers,
-R

Post by **daiv** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:02 pm

You should be able to really extend the season with that heater.

I know what you mean about the hot/cold swings in temps. For sure the most stressful time!

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:59 pm

I should be more patient!

What I thought was two flowers turned out to be four, the first one on the left, fading:

As much as I love Euphorbias, I get a little thrill whenever any of my cacti bloom

-R

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:20 pm

Someone shrunk my sunroom!

Last year I had no problems whatsoever in fitting all of my euphorbias into my sunroom, with room to spare. This year? No such luck -- I still have about 50 plants on the floor to find room for:

Part of that is due to the fact that I've given over some shelf space to cactus seedlings. And some is due to repotting most of my euphorbias in larger pots this spring, and changing the soil in the others, with the resultant growth.

Then there's the small matter of finding space for the non-winter hardy cacti, for now in the greenhouse, once temps get down to freezing:

Wish me luck!

-R

amanzed · Post by **amanzed** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:06 am

Good luck!

I hear you about shrinking spaces. We had a workshop at the local club on propagation, and one of the presenters seemed to sigh every time he said, "Of course I could break up this clump. But then it will just take up more space." ... the point of diminishing returns.

--dean

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 1:52 pm

In the end, I made a couple of "runways," boards on top of styrofoam boxes, so the plants will be off the floor and get a bit more sun. Now my sunroom looks a lot more spacious, and there's room to walk around

Patience is a virtue!

These three were all bought more or less three years ago.

This Euphorbia triangularis cutting finally decided to grow over the summer:

Not the most attractive growth form

It will get the chop next spring.

E. atroflora is finally in bloom:

Last, E. baioensis. Its growth slowed to a crawl over the summer (maybe because I was growing it harder), but finally produced some flowers. Not spectacular, but after three years, I'll take what I get

Cheers,
-R

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:56 pm

cool stuff!

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:56 pm

Someone, who might have been me

, pointed out that my "E. atroflora" differs significantly from the original description and is probably a different species. Bob Webb from Aridlands is looking into it, and will ask Len Newton and maybe Susan Carter, both euphorbia heavyweights.

Euphorbia taxonomy is fun, when it's not incredibly frustrating

-R

amanzed · Post by **amanzed** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:57 am

Euphorbia taxonomy is fun, when it's not incredibly frustrating Smile

Agreed! I completely loved the Euphorbia taxonomy talk at Succulent Symposium. Some taxonomy discussions have stopped being fun: the tree and candelabra E ingens vs hybrid, "ex Hort"... debates. At some point they just make me weary.

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:55 am

Clay vs. plastic?

E. mahabobokensis and E. hedyotoides are both Madagascan species, with approximately the same cultural conditions. I couldn't figure out why E. mahabobokensis (left) wouldn't grow over the summer, whereas E. hedyotoides (right) grew fine:

E. hedyotoides put out its tiny (~2mm) cyathia from every branch:

Now I know why....E. mahabobokensis:

-R

Lancer99's Mostly Euphorbias Topic

Incredible shrinking sunrooms

Euphorbia taxonomy is fun