Does anyone know?
It is in a free draining compost and has even light all round on a very wide and deep window ledge with a large window,the sunlight is there for slightly more than half the day but never full blast! It looks as though it is reaching for light? I do know that they can sometime become columnar with age but this is quite a youngster.
Any thoughts much appreciated
Perry
'No-one can make me feel inferior without my consent'
Hi Perry, I know what Angus means about what looks like etoliation (this simply mean long straggly growth caused by lack of light), but in this case I am not sure that is the answer. The unnatural growth looks a good dark green colour. If it was lack of light it would probably be a much lighter green colour.
My own feelings are it may have been overfed, which is probably unlikey, or it is starting to grow monstrose, a more likely scenario.
John, thanks That certainly sounds a more likely scenario.There is a chance it may have been overfed as I was definitely led astray on the care stakes ( It was my first year with cacti and succulents) and I read a textbook which I now realise had most of the care instructions very wrong! ( I lost 60% 0f my plants I will keep an eye though, the feeding, watering regime should be OK now so any further development along the same lines and presumably I have now a monstrose! Watch this space
Perry
'No-one can make me feel inferior without my consent'
Perry,
Your plant is happy, just growing strangely. John's right about the color, it is very happy. I have a friend who planted 7 of them in one 16" bowl to show at a local garden show. The first year, it was a smash. By the second all 7 were still beautifully green, but even more etiolated that yours. They looked like a little family of schmoos. Very interesting, but not a show winner. We'll all be interested in the future of this little guy.
By the way, you really need to watch what practices you use in the culture of these plants. Read more and use a composite of cultures and you'll do well. A vendor friend of mine had a client complaining that his plants were dieing even though he was following his text to the letter. After much head scratching, they determined that the book was written in the UK and this guy was growing his plants outdoors in Palm Springs, CA, which as has AVERAGE high temps of 108 deg F (42 C) in the summer. No possible way to equate the growing conditions.
Once again, it is perfectily natural for some of these plants to go columnar. I had a pic of one about 12 or 16 inches tall. I'm going to look for it..
Bill in SC
