need advice with euphorbias please
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jbmeister18
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:54 am
need advice with euphorbias please
have a Euph. makallensis, canariensis and kibwezensis. Have found pics and info on these plants, but cannot find any growing info... any help please? How do they winter? Direct sun in summer ok? water? Thank you for any help.
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templegatejohn
- Posts: 1198
- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:57 pm
- Location: Leeds, England
Euphorbia info
Hi there,
Most of the Euphorbiacae family can be treated in very much the same way as cacti, i.e. a dry winter period October to March and reasonable watering in the summer months, allowing the compost to almost dry out between waterings.
As regards full sun, it depends where you are located, but a good general rule of thumb is that the spinier the plant the more full sun it will take.
Keep Euphorbias in an open compost, but perhaps a little richer than the normal cactus compost. The globular type Obesa, Meloformis etc. have a large fleshy taproot and should be in a gritty compost, with a little less water.
The growth period of some Euphorbias is Spring and late Summer. They make little or no growth during the hottest parts of the year but this depends upon the species.
Most of the Euphorbiacae family can be treated in very much the same way as cacti, i.e. a dry winter period October to March and reasonable watering in the summer months, allowing the compost to almost dry out between waterings.
As regards full sun, it depends where you are located, but a good general rule of thumb is that the spinier the plant the more full sun it will take.
Keep Euphorbias in an open compost, but perhaps a little richer than the normal cactus compost. The globular type Obesa, Meloformis etc. have a large fleshy taproot and should be in a gritty compost, with a little less water.
The growth period of some Euphorbias is Spring and late Summer. They make little or no growth during the hottest parts of the year but this depends upon the species.
EuphorbiasOne of my favorite groups of plants! Great variety, and just totally bizarre at times.
E. makallensis 60 degree minimum, partial shade, pale lime green, white spines, branches freely which can be removed and allowed to dry then potted to start new plants as is common with many euphorbias
E. canariensis 50 degree minimum, partial shade, could grow 15-20 feet high, clusters nicely candelabra style, can get huge with age
E. kibwezensis 50 degree minimum, partial shade I'm gonna guess this is a cristata form? I have no experience with this one, so I'll be asking for some advice this weekend at a cactus and succulent club meeting and reply back as surely one of our members has this.
Full sun is a bit much for these guys as potted plants. They'd appreciate some partial shade during the hottest parts of the day. They don't like wet soil at all, tho they do appreciate regular
waterings, so the soil mix must be very well drained.
Some euphorbs grow quite quickly while others are very slow in size growth. Faster growers should have more fertilizer than slower growers.