CactiGuide.com

Hi.

Saying hello from Santo Domingo --- SD --- (tropical part) of the Dominican Republic.

I used to live in the mountains, in Constanza, that has a very pleasant sub-tropical climate. SD is hot and sticky.

I am fairly well know as a carnivorous plant (CPs) specialist, especially Pinguicula. But CPs are hard to get here so I have to largely ignore trying to obtain them. I'm slowly beginning to find cacti and succulents. I find the latter more interesting but will obtain both. Just found one (not very ) local supplier who I'll visit next week.

I'm actually British and while living in the UK, had quite a few caudiciforms and other succulents.

Hoping to find relatively unusual stuff here but don't expect to find anything unusual by US, UK or European standards.

Paul

Welcome, Paul!

Welcome!

welcome

paulindr wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:19 pm
Hoping to find relatively unusual stuff here but don't expect to find anything unusual by US, UK or European standards.

If you don't mind the swearing, Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't visited DR and did a series of videos. Some native cacti and a lot of peculiar and lovely natives. He missed the best flowering time by the look of it but still interesting. https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimePaysButB ... =dominican

If you have the space, you have a native Frangipani, Plumeria obtusa. http://www.rareplants.es/shop/product.asp?P_ID=13513

Welcome! I saw a talk about the flora and fauna of DR (with a focus on cacti) a few months back and it made me really want to visit some day.

You might try local Facebook pages if you have not already. I also live in a small tropical country with tight import restrictions and my best source of new exotic materials is other plant hobbyists. We have just had our first flowering on a hoya that my wife encountered in a small nursery. Judging by the aerial roots it should be easy to propagate.
The tropical lowlands can be tough--priority one this time of year is to protect plants from excess rain. Last year I lost a 10-year-old native melocactus. We have added polycarbonate extensions to our roof overhangs that gives us a 30 inch rain free growing area. White is better we but usually have to settle for transparent.

Many of the native epiphytes I am growing at 800 meters do not flower or fruit and have been moved to a higher elevation where they do much better. Many of the native epies are not well known in the gardening literature so I have to experiment with growing techniques. This becomes a species-by species experiment to see which ones have flexible growing requirements.