Cacti and Succulents

succulents @ 2008-09-10T16:22:00

2008-09-10T20:22:58Z

I moved to New Orleans a week ago. Since I got here, I have been keeping my cactus collection on the porch because we don't have room inside the house yet. They won't get rained on. I'm curious though, will the humidity harm them? I'd like to keep them outside if I can. They look so cute on the porch.

Succlulent ID

2008-09-10T01:39:40Z

I got myself a beautiful succulent for my bday. I was hoping that someone could help me figure out what it is and anything tricky about caring for it. Thanks in advance.

Buggy Aloe

2008-09-02T00:55:49Z

Hi! I have a couple smallish aloe vera plants that keep me company in my apartment and help me when I inevitably get hot oil or boiling water on my hands. My problem is this:

When I remove a leaf there is a little bit of gooey leaf left at the base of the plant. It calluses over within a couple days, but lately I've noticed little fruit flies buzzing near my aloe and inevitably the rest of the apartment. I don't want to put anything toxic on or around the plants but my googling yields no answers let alone alternatives.

What am I to do? I don't want to poison my oh-so helpful plants but I don't want them to be festering with and attracting pests either.

A couple (slightly out of date) pictures just 'cause:

A few questions.

2008-09-01T21:59:30Z

About a month an a half ago, my aunt visited and helped me set up a little dish garden.
The succulents have grown a bit since then, but not much.
I've been told these specific plants are pretty slow to grow; I wasn't concerned.
In the last week the leaves started to shrivel and drop.
I figured I wasn't watering enough, so I watered them some more.
I also have a question about my aloe vera and am wondering if anyone can identify a succulent my mom picked up.

I was almost positive this was a mother-of-pearl plant when I first got it because of it's powder color and its form. Now it has turned gross colors and lost almost all of it's leaves. The leaves fell first from the bottom and then moved up. Is it diseased or is this caused by innapropriate watering?

This small elephant bush collapsed onto my jade and lost quite a few leaves. A section of its roots starting growing above the soil, as well. Any ideas what that could be about?
The jade only lost one "pipe."
The variegated elephant bush in the bottom right (came from a small cutting, still hasn't grown much) has lost 4 or 5 leaves, and the remaining leaves have curled into to sort of represent a spoon.

I've had this aloe about the same amount of time and it has grown several inches.
About a week ago, that leaf (is that the correct term for it?) on the bottom collapsed.
As you can see, the section of it closest to the plant has turned black.
Insufficient water, or what?

Any idea what this plant is?
Mom got it for 50 cents because the bottom leaves were yellowing.

All of these plants sit by a southwest oriented window, if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance for any help!

succulents @ 2008-09-01T10:46:00

2008-09-01T18:01:45Z

Hi, first post here. I don't really knoew anything about cacti or any succulents for that matter except what I learned in bio =P
But I was hoping maybe someone here could help me identify the cactus in my back yard?

All else I could tell you is that the flowers only open at night, and some of my neighbors like it enough to break pieces off and steal them, except one woman who offered to actally pay for a piece of it.
If anyone has an idea what this is, I would much appreciate it, thanks in advance. =)

succulents @ 2008-08-31T01:14:00

2008-08-31T06:23:08Z

hello all, my first time posting here, and i wanted to share some pics i took while my night blooming cactus was still in full flower, early this morning...

i'm not sure of the exact species name...this is the first year it's flowered this profusely...i fed it a few weeks ago.
when it becomes daylight, all the blooms wilt and close...
it supposedly attracts bats to pollinate itself..

thanks for looking!

Quick Question...

2008-08-26T03:29:33Z

It's coming up to Spring here, I keep my succulents in small pots on the verandah... should I fertilise my succulents at all? What should I use? Would a few balls of Osmocote be just fine? Or is there really no need?

Suggestions...

2008-08-16T14:34:24Z

I would love to know what your favorite books on cacti and succulents are! Anything from just pictures to care to chocked full o' information. Maybe we could start a book review thread?

Also, what is your favorite way of leaf propagation for succulents? Anything you've found that worked really well for certain plants? I have done alot of research via the internet and found three different approaches and am currently trying all 3 but would like a little input...

Here's a summary of each with the only constant being that the end of the leaf has been left to callous and all were placed in bright, indirect light:

1. Take the detached leaf, either dip in rooting hormone or not, I've seen both techniques, and stick into soil. I have rooting hormone, Rootone, and have used on some, not all. Keep soil moist or let dry between watering? I've also seen both written.

2. Take leaf and put on top of the soil with the bottom barely touching the soil. I have actually seen rooting take place after this method not on my own plants but in the wild, so I have alot of leaves trying to do this.

3. Leave it alone completely and the leaf will sprout a new plant let by itself, sans soil.

I know that most leaves are abundant on succulents but I would like to have the least amount of casualties as possible. Do these processes work better for some species and not others? The only thing I'm finding easy to figure out is planting cactus pups I have safely removed from a cluster I recently acquired. They already have roots! And that's probably why I'm not confused!

And one more question...Is anyone on a forum about cacti and succulents that you really like?

TIA for letting me pick your brains! It's inspiring to a newb like me!

And a pic just for prosperity. This was left behind when my parents bought their house in NC by a lady who recently passed away. It's been confirmed that the original plants are about 50 years old.

My Cacti

2008-08-11T15:25:59Z

Hello; I've made my introduction previously, though didn't have pictures at the time. So in this post my cacti make their debut:

This is the last picture of my Thanksgiving cactus. Despite what I thought was adequate water and sunlight, it withered and died...

My previously mentioned Senecio vitalis, aka Blue Chalk Fingers, which is still doing relatively well:

Two Saturdays ago I went to a local farmers market and picked up three cacti for five dollars. What a deal!
I'm afraid I don't have the scientific names for these plants, and haven't grabbed the time to look them up. The seller only referred to them as "Bunny Ears," "Ghost Cactus," and the third I don't recall...

Bunny ears:

Ghost cactus:

Nameless "flowery" cactus:

And here is a group photo of my four cacti at their spot at my easterly windowsill.

If judging from the pictures you can make any recommendations regarding the care of my cacti, your advise is gladly accepted. Thanks!

Succulents Table

2008-07-30T17:20:42Z

Not very beautiful pictures seeing as how I never do anything for them. ... and yeah, that is a pine tree growing out of one of the pots. I didn't have the heart to rip it out when it was growing and its been growing since. hehe.

"The Cycle of Life"

2008-07-27T02:30:48Z

she sprouted

she bloomed

she leaned

she grew pups

she collapsed

the host decayed

I harvest the pups

Propagating question

2008-07-26T18:57:57Z

I saved some of the seeds from this little plant, at least I think they are seeds. Any chance they will grow? Either way I was going to dig this guy up and bring him inside for the winter but it would be nice to have some more for next year.

The seed thingies.

Thanks.

it lived

2008-07-25T15:32:26Z

Had a big ol' storm the other night and one of my plants went airborne. It lived!

This is after repotting, I wasn't going to take pix of the sadly displaced plant while it was potless on the floor. It killed the ceramic cow that it fell on, however.

Poor cow. Anyway, this is a good reason to keep extra potting soil about.

Watering...

2008-07-25T05:33:27Z

I was watering my succulents today and got this cool effect with my camera so I thought I'd share :)

Succulent ID

2008-07-21T18:29:54Z

After telling myself that I am done buying plants for awhile, I purchased these unlabeled little guys over the weekend.

Anyone know what they are? Is the one on the right a Sedum?

Thank you!

Shopping trip/rescue mission

2008-07-17T03:00:32Z

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to succulents and to this community. Today I went to Lowe's and spent a good amount of time going through their succulents and cacti, and decided to bring five of them home where they would not be over-watered to death. The one that worries me the most is a little Gollum jade. I know that jades prefer a pot that is too small to a pot that is too big, and that re-potting should be done in spring. However, this little guy looks all bound up in this impossibly small pot and I think I should re-pot sooner rather than later. There are two leaves on the very bottom (visible in the pictures beneath the cut) that appear completely dead. I would like to remove them, but the fit is so tight that my only recourse would be to blindly yank them, and I don't want to do that.

Should I re-pot right away? Or just attempt to remove the dead leaves?

In addition to the jade, I think the bottom two might need to be re-potted, particularly the pachyveria on the left.

Thoughts?

I have blooms!!

2008-07-15T16:40:08Z

I muse at the fact that guys at work show me pictures of their bikes, cars, choppers they are building for nephews, etc. and say I don't have anything to show off. Well I do just not to them I guess, they wouldn't appreciate the plants. Out of the pictures in this album, 3 of them are partial or total resurrections. I am going to write comments on the pictures so that this post isn't too long. :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/rosechemist/071508Plants

They have no names

2008-07-14T05:06:43Z

Hi all,

I recently went on a little shopping spree at Ikea and picked up a nice assortment of succulents and cacti. There's a problem though... the only identification they had on all the plants was a sticker that said:

'Cactus succulent mix. Bright, not direct sunlight. Water sparingly, allow soil to dry out in between. Attention! Prickly!'

Ha prickly! Anyway, I'm pretty good with succulents and cacti so I got a few. My problem is I don't know what they are or any specific ways to care for them, I know basics. I'm hoping that yins would be able to help me out with identification and maybe some propagation techniques.

Now mind you, I only have a cell phone for pictures and they'll have to do.

This lil guy had a really interesting shape, all twisty. It has chunky spines, only 3 or 4 per cluster.

I know I have seen succulents like this before, mostly in outdoor gardens. Could it be a Pachyphytum or is this Hens and Chicks?

This cacti is a rounded shape with fine needles and small fuchsia flowers and buds.

The next 2 pictures are of what I think may be a Sanseveria. It has that purple/rose hue and plump, meaty leaves.

I'm sure this is some kind of Sedum. It has light green, rosette leaves and a deep red stem. It's huge, with a base stem of at least an inch thick. What's funny is the sticker on this one (also from Ikea) says it's mini veriegated jade. I hate how they mis-lable their plants, a few months ago I purchased what they called a 'Japanese Zelcova'. It was in bonsai form and turned out to be a Chinese Elm. If I would have cared for it as if it were a Zelkova, it would have been long since dead.

So, any ideas? I appreciate the help!

Most Unusual

2008-07-11T00:09:57Z

This is a plant I got a while back from Tropiflora. Myrmecodia tuberosa. A few weeks ago little white flowers or fruit or some kind of growth came out on the upper part of the tuber. Then today, this orange protrusion appeared. It was almost translucent. Anyone familiar with this or know what’s going on?

Behind the cut are more pictures.

propagation from seed

2008-07-02T15:27:43Z

Hey folks! I'm new here but it looks like quite a few of you are in the gardening comm too. *waves*

My Stapelia threw two seed pods and one pod is ready. How deep do I plant the seeds? How long till they germinate? Success rate? I have never had a succulent produce seed and I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

Do you want some seeds? I have way more than I want.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

HOYAS IN BLOOM

2008-07-01T01:26:55Z

Greetings from Little Horse Mirror (A Secret Garden)

Some of my Hoyas are just starting to bloom now.
To see, click below.

The most interesting one I have is called Hoya kerrii. I got it many years ago from the Sarasota Succulent Society here in Florida. The leaves are the most unusual part, as they look like they are attached backwards to the stem. They are attached at the bottom point of the heart-shaped leaf instead of at the top like most leaves you normally see.

The little flower is so delicate and intricate looking.
Here are some that haven't opened yet.

And here they are partially open.

And completely open.

And here is a more common one. The flowers of the Hoya always look so wax-like and artificial. They have a light sweet scent like coconut.

Help!

2008-06-28T22:01:46Z

Does anyone have or know anything about these two plants. They are both very beautiful, especially in their bright reddish colorings underneath the leaves and on the leaf edges.

Yesterday I went to Tropiflora and got these two plants. They both had name tags, so I figured I'd find out all sorts of things about them on the internet when I got home. Well, I hardly found anything. Tropiflora sells all things succulent, including, bromiliads, orchids, tillandsias, etc. and many bizarre and rare plants, so I'm figuring these fall somewhere in that category.

Selaginella erythropus "Ruby Red" (All they told me about this was not to water with tap water, only rain water. And it was best to water from the bottom.)

Amorphoplallus atrovindis (They told me this one goes dormant and completely dies back in the winter time.)

flower

2008-06-28T10:06:47Z

here is the flower of the haworthia obtusa var. pilifer. they are beautiful and curly and last for ages!

what is this s***?

2008-06-27T01:39:00Z

there is this white fuzzy stuff growing on my succulents. does anyone know
a) what it is?
b) how to get rid of it?

rainbow crystals

2008-06-26T01:17:54Z

my variegated succulent vine has somehow grown up and woven itself into my crystal chandelier and is now growing crazily fast