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Now Ye're Talkin' To A Cactus & Succulent Enthusiast!

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Comments

  • #52
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Rabo Karabekian wrote: »
    Hi pyxxel,

    This has probably been asked already (wanted to get my question in before the thread closes, but will go back through it later) but I have a crassula ovata (http://www.jardinexotiqueroscoff.com/site/uploads/pictures/plante/800x800/crassulaceae-crassula-ovata-2.jpg)for around 8 years or so and has never flowered. Is there anything that I can do to make this happen?

    Hey Rabo,

    Yes we have discussed that species a bit already, so I'll be brief here. I also have this plant (it's very common) and also a mutated form called "Gollum" which has oddly curled-in leaves and looks quite cool. My Gollum has never flowered, but I had a few flowers on my main plant last winter - it doesn't really flower for everyone, apparently! I found some advice here http://www.houseplantsexpert.com/jade-plant.html: "The general advice is at the end of summer bring the plant into a spot that will provide it with a few hours daylight, stop giving it fertiliser, reduce watering and provide full darkness at night -- then you may see them bloom, in the winter. The plant will see this as a resting period." I also guess that flowers only show on larger specimen, which is a general rule-of-thumb for many succulents.
    Rabo Karabekian wrote: »
    Also, can you advise on cuttings? It's getting a little too big, and would like to trim it back, but don't want to damage it. I have zero knowledge on how to cut back a plant like this, so any advice would be appreciated. Also, can the cuttings be used to grow 'new' plants?

    I've discussed this earlier in this thread too, so I'll be brief again! This plant does benefit from pruning, it will branch out a little more and can ultimately be trimmed into a compact, nice shape. Best use a sharp, clean blade.

    As with all succulents, it is important to allow the surface of the cut to heal off and form a callus. This goes for both the cut stems as well as the cuttings. If the cuttings are put into moist soil when the cut is still wet, it will surely rot - however, once a callus is formed (give it a week or so) the wound has healed and it can be put into well-draining soil (use a mix of compost, sand & grit). Eventually new roots will form and you get a new plant. This is the way plant nurseries create new stock en masse!

    One thing I haven't mentioned before - when the cuttings are drying off, it's better to stand them upright, for instance in an empty pot with some newspaper in it. When they are lying down they often bend upwards to "righten" themselves and get more difficult to plant.

    Good luck! ;)


  • #53
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Ankhyu wrote: »
    Hi Pyxxel, would you be able to tell me what kind of plant this is?

    It was in my parent's house for years in a tiny pot and kind of neglected, until I brought it out to my place and re-potted it. It has even come a long way since this photo was taken, but are there any specific requirements that I should be adhering to?

    Great thread by the way, very interesting. I've been considering getting a cactus again so I'll be referring back here :)

    Hah that's another Crassula ovata! It's been discussed in this thread quite a bit already, so check the previous posts for advice. As it is one of the most common succulents in cultivation you'll find tons of advice by googling for it too.

    If you consider getting one (or a few) more succulents or cacti, the general advice is this:
    1. Use well-draining soil (mix potting compost with sand & grit) - more info earlier in this thread!
    2. Keep them in the brightest spot you have - South-facing window sill is good, conservatory or greenhouse is even better!
    3. Water well during the summer months - I start watering them a bit in April, and more from May onwards. I soak them a bit, then let the soil dry out over 2 or 3 weeks, depending on temperature.
    4. Phase out watering during September/October, depending on temperatures and sunshine levels
    5. More leafy plants (like your Crassula) can be watered a little, maybe once every 3-4 weeks, in winter. More succulent plants (like cylindrical or globular cacti) should normally be kept totally dry to give them a rest period, which is important to get them to flower in spring and grow better in summer.
    6. If possible, allow temperatures to drop to 8-10 degrees at night in winter (lower for many cactus species) - it stops the plants from trying to grow when light levels are low.

    Some species are much easier to get to flower, even as younger plants - if you can find names, look for Notocactus, Parodia, Gymnocalycium (cactus species) and Echeveria, Aloe, Crassula, Aeonium (other succulent species). There are many Euphorbia species that are easy to grow but their flowers are unspectacular. I personally love the cactus species Lobivia, Echinocereus, Astrophytum and Echinopsis, for their spectacular and abundant flowers - take a look at this Lobivia wrightiana which has very long, bristly central spines and loads of pink flowers (picture of this morning!): https://scontent-fra.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11182320_1389986861327539_3224085956755332983_n.jpg?oh=1336b7c4325b3515f2888eadf32ca911&oe=55DDD4AC


  • #54
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    scudzilla wrote: »
    Hi Pyxxel

    This is my lad, can you tell me if it will do something at some point?
    Also, what is your favourite type of cheese?[/URL]

    Hey Scudzilla,

    This is an Austrocylindropuntia subulata - yeah it's a mouthful! Austro means southern, cylindro means cylindrical (obviously) and Opuntias are those cacti with flat pads - so this is a non-flat, i.e. cylindrical Opuntia from the southern hemisphere! There is also a genus Cylindropuntia and typically they are from north of the equator, but many botanists don't make that distinction and call them all Cylindropuntia, or even just Opuntia - it's subject of scientific discussion :P

    Your plant is a monstrose form, meaning there is some genetic deviation from the "standard" form - a mutant, if you will! The difference in this case is the abundant sprouting around the main stem. So the correct Latin name would be Austrocylindropuntia subulata forma monstruosa - try to fit that onto a label! Check out this page http://cactiguide.com/most_common/, it is number 6 on the list.

    Will it do anything? Well it should keep growing and getting bigger if you follow the general advice I gave above. Opuntias and the like often flower only when they are a bit taller and bigger, but it's pretty hard to find a proper photo of a forma montruosa flower - I've even seen images featuring stuck-on artificial flowers! The normal C. subulata flower is red, this is about the best image I could find:
    T%C3%ADas_-_Masdache_-_LZ-58_-_Austrocylindropuntia_subulata_01_ies.jpg

    So I would not expect it to flower for you, but it can grow into a nice plant in the shape of a small shrub or miniature tree. The side shoots can be easily broken off, left to dry a little and put into soil to reroot - that's what the commercial growers do!

    Oh and the cheese.... I do like Coulommiers, a French cheese with a taste between Brie and Camembert. Hard to get here though!


  • #55
    Claroc
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭Claroc


    I see a selection of sedums coming into Aldi this week for a very reasonable price would you recomend them? Are they the same 'family' as the succulents?
    Thanks for this thread great info on it as I am only starting to learn about these plants and am experimenting with them your knowledge has helped a lot!


  • #56
    Scarinae
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 11,362 ✭✭✭✭Scarinae


    pyxxel wrote: »
    Practically all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti ;)

    Does it annoy you when people mistakenly call non-cactus succulents cacti?

    Have you ever eaten any succulents/cacti, e.g. prickly pear?


  • #57
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Claroc wrote: »
    I see a selection of sedums coming into Aldi this week for a very reasonable price would you recomend them? Are they the same 'family' as the succulents?

    Hmmm I could go very "taxonomic" on you and lecture about the ordering of plants, but a) I'm not knowledgeable enough about that and b) it's far too boring! Let me just say that "succulents" are not a plant family, but include species from many different plant families. Many plant families and genuses include succulent and non-succulent species (e.g. Euphorbia which include some herbs and shrubs as well as highly succulent plants).

    What makes a succulent is the capability to store water in fleshy plant parts, either in the stem or the leaves. The plants Aldi will get in seem to be labelled as "rockery plants" and as such are meant for the outdoors. They are hardy in our climate and tolerate frost, but usually need well-draining soil.

    As you can imagine, storing large quantities of water inside their cells can pose a problem for plants when temperatures drop below freezing. Many of the European and North American succulents (e.g. Sempervivum, some Sedum and Echeveria) have developed some form of natural anti-freeze, which makes them suitable as garden plants in our climate. Mind you many cacti are exposed to sharp frosts too, especially the species growing in high altitudes in Mexico, the Rockies and in the Andes in South America, and some can successfully be grown outdoors here too, provided they have some shelter from our winter rains and said well-draining soil.

    Looking at the Aldi offer, the plants are a good deal indeed, you could even plant them together into a container with sandy, gritty soil and leave them in the garden or on a sunny balcony all year round.
    Claroc wrote: »
    Thanks for this thread great info on it as I am only starting to learn about these plants and am experimenting with them your knowledge has helped a lot!

    Thanks for the nice words! Yes these are fascinating plants and with a bit of care can grow to respectable sizes and often produce stunning flowers!


  • #58
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Scarinae wrote: »
    Does it annoy you when people mistakenly call non-cactus succulents cacti?

    Only if the person should know better! It's a common misnomer and I enjoy explaining the difference - if necessary for the millionth time! But garden centre staff should probably have some basic knowledge about what they sell. But I've seen cactus and succulent displays in such places in shocking disarray, mislabelled plants everywhere, pots toppled over and everything bone-dry. If you want to see how it's supposed to be done, check out Johnstown Garden Centre off the Naas road - bought many fine plants there!
    Scarinae wrote: »
    Have you ever eaten any succulents/cacti, e.g. prickly pear?

    I did try a prickly pear a long time ago, supermarket stock! It wasn'T particularly nice. I do sometimes try the taste of cactus fruit of my plants (some of them can be pretty juicy) and they mostly taste sour, but I try not to ingest anything, just in case. Many cacti also have sugar glands near where the spines sit, and they secrete a sweet nectar, probably to attract ants for pollination.

    And before anyone asks, I have never tried the alkaloid peyote cactus! I have a specimen, but that's just for looking at :P


  • #59
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,487 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Speaking of Aldi, they often have a decent selection of both cactuses and succulents in Lidl from time to time. It's where I've got most of mine, apart from the various reincarnations of my original Crassula Ovata (bought in Germany over 30 years ago!), to be honest :)


  • #60
    Rabo Karabekian
    Closed Accounts Posts: 275 ✭✭Rabo Karabekian


    pyxxel wrote: »
    Hey Rabo,

    Yes we have discussed that species a bit already, so I'll be brief here. I also have this plant (it's very common) and also a mutated form called "Gollum" which has oddly curled-in leaves and looks quite cool. My Gollum has never flowered, but I had a few flowers on my main plant last winter - it doesn't really flower for everyone, apparently! I found some advice here

    Good luck! ;)

    That's brilliant advice, thank you. I can see already I have been doing a lot of the things you're not supposed to do (wrong soil type and I think I have probably been slightly underwatering it). Hopefully now I might see some flowers this year.

    This thread has been really interesting. I have it bookmarked and if I ever move into a south-facing place again, I will stock up on some of the more interesting variants you've mentioned.


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  • #61
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Alun wrote: »
    Speaking of Aldi, they often have a decent selection of both cactuses and succulents in Lidl from time to time. It's where I've got most of mine, apart from the various reincarnations of my original Crassula Ovata (bought in Germany over 30 years ago!), to be honest :)

    Yes I've also bought some good plants in Lidl about 3 years ago. They came in respectable sizes, were very healthy and also great value: The Ferocactus wislizenii has gained in size quite a bit and the Euphorbia tirucallii has shot up like mad - a tree in the making... these two won first prizes in their classes at last year's Cactus & Succulent Show in Dublin :cool: The Pachycereus pringleyi has tripled in length. I recently found out they can grow to almost 20m high but I guess that'll take another century or so!

    Here's a picture of them, impressive as they are:
    11170358_1390515651274660_9196816100656227517_n.jpg?oh=74dffaba24a11590e4a6b700ae2ad0ac&oe=559D05F1
    (Thanks to Alun for the tip, all I needed to do for embedding is replace the url tags with img tags!)

    Some of my oldest plants I brought with me from Germany when I moved here in 1991, and we often buy the odd plant on trips to mainland Europe - some of those have done extremely well!


  • #62
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,487 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    To embed pictures you need to upload them to a photo hosting site somewhere. I use tinypic.com, which is handy as it will resize your image for you and will also give you a ready made link enclosed in IMG tags to insert straight into a post.

    Here are some of mine ...

    2eank2c.jpg

    1zlsqv4.jpg

    mb62xi.jpg

    mvrgyd.jpg

    2w7kfmo.jpg

    2yxncrm.jpg

    I lived in Germany too from 1980 to 1987, in Darmstadt, but moved to the Netherlands for 13 years before coming here. Some of the plants including the Crassula Ovata and the flowering cactus have made it through all those moves with me too :)


  • #63
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Rabo Karabekian wrote: »
    That's brilliant advice, thank you. I can see already I have been doing a lot of the things you're not supposed to do (wrong soil type and I think I have probably been slightly underwatering it). Hopefully now I might see some flowers this year.

    Good to hear! Don't expect flowers in summer though, this plant flowers in winter, usually between Xmas and March. I've found some great tips on this species here http://www.bcss-liverpool.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Growing_Crassula_ovata.htm which comes by a member of the Liverpool branch of the BCSS (British Cactus & Succulent Society), so it probably offers good advice for us in Ireland due to similar climate conditions.
    Rabo Karabekian wrote: »
    This thread has been really interesting. I have it bookmarked and if I ever move into a south-facing place again, I will stock up on some of the more interesting variants you've mentioned.

    If you can't provide a south-facing window sill, some genuses and species tolerate more shady conditions, for instance many Gasteria species. My Gasteria (not sure what species it is exactly) is constantly in a shady position: north-facing window which only gets occasional morning and evening sun in summer. It's one of my oldest plants, I've had it for maybe 30-35 years, and it seems to be doing fine.

    BTW I've created a Facebook page for anyone interested to share info or ask questions in the future - if the boards admins are OK with it I will put the link up here :)


  • #64
    Dav
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,840 ✭✭✭Dav


    I'm going to wrap it up there, thank you so much to Pyxxel for his time and expertise.


  • #65
    pyxxel
    Registered Users Posts: 117 ✭✭pyxxel


    Dav wrote: »
    I'm going to wrap it up there, thank you so much to Pyxxel for his time and expertise.
    No problem at all, was my pleasure!

    For those of you who want to continue the conversation, need more advice or have some tips themselves, I've created a Facebook page here:

    https://www.facebook.com/IrelandCactus

    Feel free to like it, and you can post as well, but for the moment I have set it to approve posts.

    For anyone not on Facebook feel free to message me here. If anyone wants some free starter plants I'm happy to give away some of my "babies" - either from my home in Dublin 15, or at one of the meetings of the DDCSS (cactus club) in the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. The next meeting will be on 11. June - the main gate will be open and security staff will know where we are! More info at http://www.irelandcactus.com/ :)

    Thanks for all the questions, and happy growing!

    207x9gm.jpg

    - pyxxel


This discussion has been closed.
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