Mammillaria hernandezii in flower

[Steve Johnson]

After I acquired it in summer 2013, my hernandezii has been rather generous about flowering in November and December. Last year the most I saw in bloom at once were 3, but today the plant gave me a new personal record with 4. We'll start the festivities here going from last weekend to this morning:



And now we're off!











Daytime highs on the plant bench have been in the mid-90s over the last few days, so all I can say is -- thank you, Indian summer!

[iann]

I like this plant, but I lost my biggest to mites this year.

[george76904]

Very nice! I have one that is hopefully going to open its first bloom in the next week!

[Pushrestart]

Beautiful plant, clearly it is very very happy under your care !
I've been wanting to get this plant for ages, but hear its very very picky :/

[Steve Johnson]

Beautiful plant, clearly it is very very happy under your care !

Thanks to you and George for your nice responses!

I've been wanting to get this plant for ages, but hear its very very picky :/

I haven't found that to be true, although I'm sure the combination of pure pumice-decomposed granite mix and temperate winters have a lot to do with it. By the way, there's nothing magical about DG -- any form of crushed granite should be fine for mixing in with pumice. I believe chicken grit (which you can find on eBay if you don't have any local sources) will work perfectly well, but avoid oystershell grits since overdosing cacti with calcium will kill them. Or you could simply bypass the granite issue, and just go with pumice. May not be suitable for every plant you grow, but at least your taprooted cacti are likely to be happier if you go soil-less. (I can't emphasize this point enough -- use pumice, not Perlite or Vermiculite.)

I like this plant, but I lost my biggest to mites this year.

Yes, unfortunately the species is prone to mite attacks. While I don't have a problem with red spider mites, flat mites have been known to vex me occasionally, and for that reason I keep my hernandezii on the watch list. Only good thing about them is that they're slow, so if I pay attention during my regular weekend cactus checks, I'll spot the telltale signs and knock them down well before infestations become a serious issue.

[Pushrestart]

I've been wanting to get this plant for ages, but hear its very very picky :/

I haven't found that to be true, although I'm sure the combination of pure pumice-decomposed granite mix and temperate winters have a lot to do with it. By the way, there's nothing magical about DG -- any form of crushed granite should be fine for mixing in with pumice. I believe chicken grit (which you can find on eBay if you don't have any local sources) will work perfectly well, but avoid oystershell grits since overdosing cacti with calcium will kill them. Or you could simply bypass the granite issue, and just go with pumice. May not be suitable for every plant you grow, but at least your taprooted cacti are likely to be happier if you go soil-less. (I can't emphasize this point enough -- use pumice, not Perlite or Vermiculite.)

Steve, your DG & Pumice mix before and afters are what inspired me to try this mix for myself, will update in time . Maybe I will try this plant next year and see if I can get it down right. Also one more question for you- in some posts you mention you do a hydrogen peroxide soak for new plants. Would you do such a soak if you were growing indoors during winter or keep everything in the questionable media till Spring away from your main plants and do the soak/repot then? Found parodia magnifica and cereus validus f. monstrose in good condition on clearance, couldnt resist, thanks

[Steve Johnson]

Steve, your DG & Pumice mix before and afters are what inspired me to try this mix for myself, will update in time . Maybe I will try this plant next year and see if I can get it down right. Also one more question for you- in some posts you mention you do a hydrogen peroxide soak for new plants. Would you do such a soak if you were growing indoors during winter or keep everything in the questionable media till Spring away from your main plants and do the soak/repot then? Found parodia magnifica and cereus validus f. monstrose in good condition on clearance, couldnt resist, thanks

Whenever cacti come already potted in fall/winter, I just leave them alone until they're ready for repotting when the growing season starts. Not sure if you'd need to quarantine your new finds, but it wouldn't hurt if you can do that. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with either species -- unless they absolutely need occasional sips to keep their roots from dying off too much in winter, let them stay dry. I'm sure you're dealing with 2 pots of highly questionable media, so when the time is right in springtime, unpot the plants, get the roots as squeaky clean as possible, give them the peroxide treatment, then repot in your mix of choice.

[jp29]

.......... I've been wanting to get this plant for ages, but hear its very very picky :/

It grows very well here in Tucson's desert climate using Dan Bach's Cactus Nursery mix:

60% screened coarse and uniform (3/8"/9.53mm) horticultural pumice

20% high quality Canadian sphagnum peat moss

20% well composted shredded pine tree forest bark



James