CactiGuide.com

Hi ya OWgave.
looks like a 20yr plus year old plant. Very nice. Where did you acquire it from. Each plant as you have read is unique. Growth rate, vine growth etc. Nice growth for 3 weeks. Yours will be a nice bush. Personally I'd get rid all the rock dressing. Better air circulation. Don't be afraid to soak the soil. Don't just water the perimeter. Also us a diluted cactus fertilizer every other watering. If its above 20% humidity and hot weather . Let it just dry and water again. If you miss a watering I have found the plants show you with leaf droop. Counterintuitive since you would think the caudex would provide moisture for the leaves. I have come to feel the caudex will support initial vine growth when it comes out of dormancy and then requires a regular watering schedule. Only once has one of mine grown a lot of side vines right away. Usually they throw up one long vine and then branch out.
Enjoy the show.

Hello MTCG-

My wife's De was obtained from Botanical Wonders near San Diego, they have a good selection of De's there, in fact they a few up on Ebay at the moment.

Thank you for the watering and fertilizer tips. As far as the top dressing and decorative rocks, I will mention to my wife that we should remove for better air flow.

Currently, the secondary upright vine has surpassed the main upright vine and of course the side branches has grown into another zip code. Yes, i believe you are right that this De will be heavily bushy....whenever it throws out it's leaves

OWgave

It is hot today.
The dioscorea are shooting up new vines, which is nice.

Very nice thread Mike, I like to read it, your plants are incredible!
I grow more than 10 years only one elephantipes and it became big enough. It likes to sleep in winter and awoke this year very late.
Antti

WOW!!!! that is a beauty. How thick is the vine at the base? It looks like a miniature tree....

FINALLY, LEAVES!!!!
Sorry, image is a bit stretched due to resizing to be able post.

OWgave

Amazing thread but I have a question... do you guys leave the caudex completely exposed or slightly bury? I'm gonna leave my seedlings alone to expose themselves on their own time... 1 seedling already has out of 4.

I see most people exposing the caudex since an early age so was wondering if air/light exposure to it is needed at an early age.. this thread mentioned so people leave it covered early on not sure why. Just looking for some guidance for a year or two when I repot.

Hi Latebloomer.
Let them do their own thing. If you are repotting, they should be set into the soil to the original position. Don't bury them any deeper. They will start growing above ground when ready.

I gave the 4 active dioscorea haircuts.

Aug. 14 update.

My wife decided to introduce her De loooong side branches to the sides of its trellis a few weeks ago, creating an Eiffel tower look.

Enjoy,
OWgave

A few shots on the progress of the new vines. The mexicana and elephantipes continue to open new leaves and throw out more secondary vines. Its a tangled web at the top of the greenhouse.

Hello De Lovers-

My wife's De has bloomed and i think its a female. What do you folks think?

Thanks
OWgave

The Plants are not doing well with the 117 degree heat. 2 small plants dried up. The Vines on some are dying back. Even the vine on the largest elephantipes suddenly died of at the tip. This high heat and less than 10% humidity is just killing them.

So what is going on with all the Dioscorea. The 3 largest plants are alive . The Large Mexicana appears to be adding to the caudex. A few fissures have opened a little. I am hoping its not the opposite and the plant is dying and shrinking. All the other smaller ones are either semi-active or dormant. I'm hoping they are just reacting to the intense heat over the past 3 months and will become active again. The small mexicana lost all its roots but has not dried up yet. I continue to moisten all the dormant plants weekly.

Its been 6 months since I updated this blog. All the Hemicrypta dried up and died. Maybe to small for the 115°f heat wave we had at the end of October. Here are a few pictures that are current. The Caudex' on these have been growing. The Mexicana and 3 Elephantipes. The vines are just now dying off.