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I bought a really small Fockea crispa and killed it. So I bought a $35 replacement. And boy is it bigger. I pulled it out of the box and laid it on the table so i could take a picture of the entire caudex. Look at the size of the root system!
The box it came in was 12.25x11.75x8, so its longest dimension, from one corner to the complete opposite corner, was only about 17 inches. It came bare root, and it's 18 inch length was placed in that 17" area, corner to complete opposite corner (and JUST a tad bent), so I mixed some potting soil and perlite (about 50-50) and LOOSELY poured the soil around the roots, not wanting them exposed to too much light.

Unfortunately, at this point I noticed that the foliage was infested with spiders, their webs, and packed full of dirt from shipping ... so I got out my bottle of "Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap Insect Killer" (that I had used with such great success clearing out a scale infestation from my Pachycereus marginatus), thoroughly soaked the foliage and then took it outside and wrapped some tarp around the caudex and over the soil (to keep the soil from becoming too wet) and rinsed it thoroughly with some low pressure water from the waterhose.

THEN I used a my hand-pump powered spray watering car and used about a cup of water to rinse the dirt from the caudex right at the surface of the medium.

So I've use a good bit of "Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap" and given it maybe two cups of water ... into what I THINK is a 3 gallon pot ... so the soil is just barely damp. And in retrospect, I FEAR that I might have done the Bad Thing, capital "B", capital "T". So I came here to ask:

1) Is the "Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap" safe for my F. crispa?

2) SHOULD I have watered it?

3) Should I have given it that MUCH water?

4) Was soaking the leaves the way I did a Bad Thing?

5) What about the soil? is that 50-50 mix of potting soil and perlite going to be OK?

I was SO excited to see it come to my door. NOW, I wish I had come here and asked these questions FIRST!.

Anybody have any comments? I sure would hate to see $50 flow out the back door with next weeks trash.




Here's a couple more pix. The ruler in the pix below is 16" long, the plant extends approx 9 inches above the top of the soil and about eight inches below:

What's done is done, don't sweat it. The insecticidal soap was probably a safe choice, just let it rest in the mix you have now. After it gets over the stress you can explore other potting mediums. It is a great plant with a wonderful caudex, enjoy it!

You are doing fine. These plants like water. Don't go crazy with the water, but they aren't as touchy as cacti. Any idea what killed your other one? That would be helpful to know as you move forward with this one.

Saxicola wrote:Any idea what killed your other one? That would be helpful to know as you move forward with this one.

I'm pretty sure it was water. The caudex of the one I killed was round and only about 1 to 1 1/4" across and it came in some organic rich medium, so I repotted it as quickly as it got here in a high mineral content, QUICK draining soil.

I watered it ONE time ... like you would a cactus ... a good soak and let it drain. Two days later ALL the leaves fell off. Two days after THAT, slimification and rot.

That sounds like it had problems when you got it. Even though you did the right thing, the trauma of transplanting probably pushed whatever problem it came with over the edge. I stand by my comment that they like water, but only relative to other succulents like cacti, not normal plants. Apparently the previous seller didn't get that message! Good luck with your new plant. This is the perfect time of year to be starting with it since the weather is warming up and it has a full growing season to get settled in before winter.

I don't know how similar F. crispa is to F. edulis, but my edulis can easily drink a pint of water a day in Summer. I've just reminded myself that my F. edulis is desperately in need on repotting. It must've quadrupled in size on that treatment over the course of last year. Anyway, slowly work up watering it more and more to see how much it's comfortable with taking up, I'd say. If the soil mix takes more than 3-4 days to dry out, then you should hold off on the water.

That reminds me. Fockea crispa isn't a valid name for that (or any) species. It should be F. capensis. Well, what is usually labeled as F. crispa should be F. capensis I mean. I can't see the leaves well enough on this specimen to be certain of the ID. But as far as cultivation goes, F. edulis and F. capensis are very similar.

I just repotted a few of these. How long do you think it will be before they have rooted sufficiently?

While repotting my fockea I broke off the rooted end 🫢 What is the best way forward with each piece? Thanks!

Trudy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:09 pm While repotting my fockea I broke off the rooted end 🫢 What is the best way forward with each piece? Thanks!

I've never grown these succulents, but based on my experience with cacti and other succulents, I'd say to let each part dry for a week or so and then repot. Hope that the root section will send up new growth and the upper section will root.

A photo would help to get an idea of the size of your plant.

Now I just noticed a reply similar to your question and it seems these plants are difficult to grow from cuttings. viewtopic.php?t=47237