Welcome Craig Fry!

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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

I planted pots and pots of Ariocarpus seedlings, and labeled some, and forgot to label others....
Thinking that I would be able to ID each species when big enough, so why label...
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For a while, I began to think I made a big mistake.. they all look the same, there is no hope, until they are 4 or 5 years..

Fortunately, the plants do show characteristics after only a couple years to be able to separate the species by looks alone

Ariocarpus hintonii have tubercles that have a definitive sharp angle change in the middle of the tubercle, A. bravoanus has tubercles that have angled consistently for the entire tubercle.

A. bravoanus flowers earlier. A. hintonii takes a couple extra years to flower, and A. fissuatus takes even more years.

Here is a old A. hintonii
Arrowhead Tubercles
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Seedlings of A. hintonii
The left seedling is over 7 years old
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Here is a old A. bravoanus
Spade Tubercles
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10+ year old plants flowering
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Seedlings of A. bravoanus
the seedling on the left is less than 6 years old
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Here is an A. fissuatus seedling that is more than 6 years old, no sign of flowering
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But that's with my slow growing conditions, mostly during my years in Costa Mesa, now things are a little more speedy with the higher temps in Orange.
Last edited by C And D on Fri Nov 27, 2020 12:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

The Ariocarpus have been growing spectacularly for me this Summer/Fall

The production of fluff is fun to look at, this one has a slightly braided look
flowers come up from these areoles later
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A check on the Hot Box
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Who would of thought that after a couple years in the hot box (~20 years) that you would get something like these in your collection
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Less than 20 years
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A. kotscoubeyanus
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Ariocarpus trigonus .. vs. trigonus horacekii
Not so easy to differentiate
A. trigonus
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A. t. horacekii
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Side by side
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

The last species for me to have enough plants to produce seeds was Ariocarpus scaphirostris
Finally I was able to procure a couple more clones, so next year, we will have seeds
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Flowering bonanza of A. agavoides
One of the new A. scaphirostris clones, lower right
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A. agavoides flowers after only 2 or 3 years
Seedlings blowing the pot out with big tuberous roots
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Post by C And D »

Denise's A. retusus
kicking itself out of it's pot
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On Ariocarpus culture
They hate to be repotted from Oct to May.
I have many pots that are blowing out on the seams, but I will wait to unpot... after knowing what happens if I do it now

The basics are, they love heat, but filtered sun.
Leave mostly dry from mid November to May
Water more heavily after June, then from August to late September water even more heavily
Last edited by C And D on Fri Nov 27, 2020 12:38 am, edited 2 times in total.
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keith
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by keith »

Hi Craig, in your hot box are those Ariocarpus lloydii in with the fissuratus ? Your Ariocarpus scapharostrus thats pretty nice and rare I think ? For me retusus grows fastest from seed and also the least likely to flower.
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hegar
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by hegar »

Hello Craig,
thank you for posting those beautiful images of your Ariocarpus spp. collection. Some of those cacti are truly impressive due to their size and age.
It was also important for me to see what you suggest to be best when cultivating these unusual cacti.
I have tried to grow members of this genus for almost 10 years now and have experienced some success, but also quite a number of failures. Two times I have tried to get an A. kotschoubeyanus seedling to grow and failed both times.
On the other hand, I have been pretty successful, growing A. fissuratus and also A. retusus plants. Although none of the latter have ever flowered, at least they are still alive. :)
One thing you mentioned with the cultural tips was to not repot the plants from October through May. I had planned on uprooting my in-the-ground Ariocarpus cacti in January of next year, because they are planted in the vicinity of a dead chitalpa tree (hybrid of desert willow Chilopsis linearis and Catalpa sp.). Actually, a transplanting of them between June and September would be more convenient, because by then the major problem caused by the COVID-19 pathogen may subside a bit and I may be vaccinated. On the other hand, during those months we do have our highest temperatures.
My other cacti I always purchased during the first three months of the year, so they had a little time to become established, before the heat of summer sets in. Do you do the repotting during the warm season, because the plants are resting/ no grow state during these months?
Thank you very much for any advice you can give me. I wish I could grow these cacti jewels in a greenhouse, but my wife cannot be convinced, that getting one is a good idea. I know, that I would be doing so much better with that accommodation, because I would have more control over the environment inside a greenhouse than depending on fickle Mother Nature.

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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

1) That photo show many varieties of A. fissuatus llyodii major with varying fatness/texture of tubercles

2) The plants are susceptible to root rot if watered after being transplanted during their dormancy. Maybe if you keep totally dry until April, then it's OK.

Repotting is best to do right before or early in the growing season.
Last edited by C And D on Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by C And D »

Fall flowers
Uebelmannia buiningii
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Mammillaria hernandezii
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This grafted Maihueniopsis clavarioides grew this odd shaped crest
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As luck would have it, I was able to secure 2 clones of this fav.. Tephrocactus geometricus
and they flowered last summer, and I have a couple giant seed pods that are taking forever to ripen
I have a feeling they will ready in early spring
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Astrophytum collection used for hybrid seed production
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Post by C And D »

Neowerdermannia vorwerkii, one of the rarest cactus in cultivation?
The Genus Neowerdermannia is different from other cacti with it's areoles not at the apex of the tubercle, but in the axial.
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I kind of gave up on getting more plants or seeds after all searches came up empty.
Looking at my plant last spring, I found something unexpected, the plant had seeds !
It's self fertile !

I planted the seeds last summer and they came up fast and I still have a couple alive today.

This year I made sure to get as many seeds as possible by brushing the pollen all over the stigma, don't want to leave it up to chance.
Ripening fruit.
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Post by C And D »

Some more late winter bloomers

Turbinicarpus rioverdensis
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Turbinicarpus polaskii
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Turbinicarpus alonsoi, grafted one has turned into a crest
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Strombocactus disciformis
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Escobaria dasyacantha
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Post by C And D »

More Flowers

Rebutia senilis lilacinorosea
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Sulorebutia arenacea
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Cintia knizel
Flowered profusely this year
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Outdoor Neoporteria senilis
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Parodia buiningii
very ribby
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Mammillaria crucigera
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by Vingames1 »

Awesome plants as always! What temp do you try and keep your ariocarpus at in the summer?
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C And D
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Post by C And D »

I keep the Ariocarpus in what I call a Hot Box
It is completely open on the bottom, and closed on top
The important issue is to make sure it doesn't get too hot during heat waves
and it has 50% shade cloth to make sure the plants don't get sun burnt

It stays about 5 to 10 degrees above my Big Green House
It was at 112 yesterday, with an ambient of 92 (heat wave)

I don't need any heat, they go down to ambient in the night.

I have another Green house that we call the Haworthia house that has completely open sides, so it stays pretty close to ambient.
We grow all our winter growers in it.

Rebutia narvaecensis
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Post by C And D »

Copiapoa shelf
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Copiapoa marginata
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Copiapoa grandiflora
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Mammillaria lenta
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What's inside that tall cephalium ?
(Dead Discocactus horstii)
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It's not just a pile of wool, it's filled with tissue !
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