Ron's Collection Rebuild

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piyeron
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Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

Hi all. Haven't posted here in a good loooong while. =) I'm Ron from the Philippines, and I've been collecting cacti since the late 1990's, though about 5, 6 years back I stopped acquiring new plants as the place I lived at wasn't conducive at all to growing and taking care of water sensitive plants. I moved to Metro Manila (our "Big City") in 2004 for Uni, and my main collection stayed in the countryside in the province, and since I only went home for several days a couple of times a year, most of my collection died due to a mix of neglect and/or incorrect care (my dad and mom tried to look after my collection, but they're also very busy and not well versed with succulent care) ](*,) . All that remains of what I had are about a dozen indestructible Gymnocalyciums :shock: , and even those aren't really potted, just strewn ound the area where my collection was previously situated.

Now, I'm working so I don't have to rely on measly student allowance to buy plants and related paraphernalia, plus the place I'm living at has this nice rooftop where my landlady allows me to put plants on. I decided to buy a few plants, nothing exciting, last November 2014 just to get a feel of taking care of succulents again, and earlier today I passed by this annual plant/orchid show in my city and got myself a bunch of new plants too.

Well, the Philippines being a tropical country isn't exactly an easy place to take of cacti and succulents, but I can always try to grow plants and reach a compromise between what I want to grow and what actually grows here. This time though, I want to try on the harder stuff (mesembs, some of the more difficult cacti, etc), and see if I can get a bigger and better collection than last time, or maybe even help further the hobby here locally. :)

Here are some pictures from several vendors/booths from the show
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Something I was looking for in particular:
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A nice lot of Pseudolithos
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

Some more photos from the show:
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Something I was really surprised to find here:
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Unfortunately the big one wasn't for sale, but the owner gratuitously offered to bring some propagations the next day:
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

And these are some of what I took home with me:
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These two I've been on the hunt even before I went on hiatus. I used their old soil and the small containers to just prop them up for picture taking
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This was both the Lithops' and Pseudolithos' mix, and they were obviously just repotted in the mix a day or so before the event/show. I repotted them immediately using a perlite, crushed scoria, gritty sand and some soil mix.
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This is what practically all the other cacti came in. Pure leaf mold and soil
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gemhunter178
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by gemhunter178 »

Nice new additions! At least you got to check the roots when you repot them.
A cactus and succulent collector who especially likes Ariocarpus. …Though I have a bit of everything! Want some pictures? See my flickr! I also do art and such.
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Aiko
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by Aiko »

piyeron wrote:I want to try on the harder stuff (mesembs, some of the more difficult cacti, etc)
Funny, what is easy for you is quite hard for people in northern Europe, and vice versa. Mesembs are easy / easier to grow here, but many plants that are very rot prone when wet or need a high temperature are harder to keep. We can provide mesembs cold nights, and you are probably capable of getting a watered plant to dry out fast.
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

@gemhunter

Thanks. :) And yes, I took the time to look at what's normally underground and not visible, and found out that the Pseudolithos didn't have any roots at all. I'm hoping it will establish before the hottest part of summer comes (we're already getting 32C/89F, and that's still considered "mild"). I take it they really like it warm/hot though, so I should have no problem, at least until before our very wet monsoon season comes.

@Aiko

Indeed. Stuff like Adenium and other tropicals grow very enthusiastically here, whereas those that need cold rest expires after a while, or don't flower reliably, if at all. My current locale does not experience much temperature variation throughout the year, but in the provinces or with some altitude night temps can still go in the low 10's C (~50F), though day temps will still reliably be 20C above. The biggest obstacle I can think of would be our summer monsoon, from late July stretching to October. Here's to hoping I work out a custom system that'll let me keep the advanced stuff alive :))
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Aiko
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by Aiko »

You might try to put the cold night loving plants in the fridge every night? It does not matter if they are in the dark during the night.
I use heaters in the winter, why don't you cool your plants when it is warm.
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7george
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by 7george »

O, yes - you should protect the plants in collection from excessive rain. You need a shelter or something. I would stick to tropicals or wet-resistant only.

I liked that Gymnocalycium (prob. striglianum) and the Discocactus (boomianus) at "Show7.jpg (59.61 KiB)". That will be easy to grow there.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

Unfortunately I can't get too ambitious with any cooling yet-- I don't have my own ref :lol: Also, electricity here is very expensive. I'll just see what I can grow in the next two or three years with our natural temperatures in the mean time

george, I plan exactly that, make a shed that should keep out all water except possibly the most ridiculous typhoons (and we have a lot of ridiculous typhoons here, year in year out). :)
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AdeniumRose
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by AdeniumRose »

Excess rain is not a problem with cactus its the soil and containers. We grow all type of cactus and succulents. Like the Philippines we get tons of rain from June through most of October. It is not unusual to get downpours of several inches daily. Its always wet hot and humid during the raining season (South Florida is a TROPICAL climate). We use our own soil mix that drains fast. All our plants are 100% grow outdoors with NO protection. Name of a few of the types we grow: Adeniums, aloe, euphorbias, echeverias, golden barrel, cholla from Arizona/NW, pachyphytum, optunia from from Texas/NM/Colorado/AZ and many others. The trick is to make sure the roots get plenty of air so they are not constantly damp.
http//:www.Adeniumrose.com Adenium Company rare and unusual cactus, succulent plants, exotic plants and supplies.
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

Hey AdeniumRose~ Yes, I am aware that using a very porous and open mix will help alleviate issues of water logging, though some of the species I want to try this time will probably still not take too kindly on consistently wet media, even if it's warm. I'm trying to perfect a suitable, not too expensive mix right now that should be fine both for our dry and wet seasons in any case =)

Very nice Adenium gallery by the way, I checked your site. Coincidentally, I've recently been very enamored with rosy adeniums and the newer cultivars, and already contemplating on purchasing seeds and try to take a stab at growing them :lol:
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

In the middle of the rainy season this year in my country, and I've moved place a couple of months ago as well. Trying to get used to different conditions (mostly lower light levels due to location), but also working on having a greenhouse/shadehouse set up in the country side. Collection rebuild somewhat stalled since last year, but once the shadehouse is up, that should kick things up a notch. :) Some interesting stuff from the weekend:
vatteri
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Vipassana
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by Vipassana »

G. vatteri with the single downward spine has to be one of my favorite cactus. Wonderful collection.
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Grimm
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by Grimm »

Are the forest cacti allowed in the Philippines? I would have thought that Schlumbergera, Rhipsalis and Hylocereus would do well in that climate but I guess that there may be concerns about them escaping into the wild if people carelessly dispose of cuttings.

On a related subject, would Hylocereus grafting solve any of the climate issues? It doesn't seem to mind having damp roots all the time and would make the more xerophytic cacti more achievable.
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piyeron
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Re: Ron's Collection Rebuild

Post by piyeron »

The greenhouse that started to go up July last year finally got finished last December. All custom frame bent and constructed/welded on-site, with thick polyfilm top and full insect netting all around. I started to transfer plants inside right after it was finished, though since it's in the countryside 4 hours away from the city, I only get to go visit it every 2-5 weeks. I squeeze in propagation and maintenance whenever I'm there, though my father willingly checks on my plants, and does the maintenance (some repotting, watering, etc) in my stead.
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It's not like he doesn't get anything from it-- he has since made use of the space underneath the shelving to grow some seasonal vegetables, and also germinates a good crop of Adenium obesum inside.
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Some plants that I had difficulty growing in the city almost immediately responded to the better conditions inside the greenhouse/in the countryside

Stenocereus eruca showing cool, intense spination
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Flowering Aloe hybrid
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Tephrocactus alexanderii growing new cladodes, after more than a year of doing nothing
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I'm still not done transferring plants from the city (because I don't have a car and it's bothersome and a complete PITA to manually transport crates of plants via public bus). It works fine because the ones that need constant specialized attention currently remain with me since I can check on them daily.

Gymnocalycium friedrichii LB2178 Agua Dulce seedling
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Gymnocalycium CV 'Pearl' seedling
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Trichocereus f. variegata (this was actually a cristate, but decided to grow two "normal" heads)
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Echidnopsis malum, flowering in the humid city conditions
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Adromischus marianiae in one of the custom ceramic pots I made last year.
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Turbinicarpu lophophoroides also flowering in the tropical megacity that is Metro Manila.
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I've also started doing workshops in my locality and other areas in the country. Grafting knives anyone?
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Some of the seedlings I currently have going
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