Sunday, October 18, 2015

More spheroid flowers (5 pics)

Conophytum flowers truly give variety to my windowsill. I'm so used to yellow and white flowers it's totally strange to see other colors. 

C. ectypum ssp. sulcatum is enjoying the rare sunlight.


C. uviforme ssp. uviforme is flowering at night when I don't see it (I sleep at night you know). But I'm glad it likes the new environment well enough to grow so many buds.


This is, however, the best I could do taking a picture of C. angelicae ssp. tetragonum...


The L. dorotheae de Boer is flowering for the first time since I got it in Japan 2010. Only one of them unfortunately, that's why I pollinated with the regular C300. If it worked maybe there will be some dark chocolaty seedlings among the offspring.


And one of the Tanquana hilmarii flowered for me again this year. It has the silkiest and shiniest petals but only to be admired "live" :)



PS: I decided not to put plants names directly in the photos. I don't think it's pretty. However you can still see the names in the file names when you click on them. I'll do my best not to forget to mention the names in the blog posts themselves in the future, too.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Rika,

    Absolutely splendid flowers!
    By the way, I wrote to you via the messaging section of this site, enquiring about delosperma seeds.
    Also, it would be really helpful if you could share your watering regime for Frithia pulchra. I've germinated some Frithia seedlings as well as "rescued" a fully grown specimen at local flower market. Apart from what is available on this site and elsewhere online (which is precious little!), I have absolutely no further information no how to really care for these plants, so input for experienced growers like you would be very welcome.
    Your plants are really amazing and the fact that you manage all of this in German weather without any special equipment is inspiring. I find the delosperma particularly enchanting (had never heard of it until I saw it here!).
    Cheers
    KM

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting the blog and for your nice comment! :)

      I was not aware that this site had a messaging section except for the comments. I might have missed your message. I still have many many Delosperma harazianum seeds to give away. Please write me to my email (in Profile) and I'll send them to you if you like.

      Hm, my watering schedule is like with most of my plants - I water when I think they look thirsty. The indicators are soft leaves and wrinkles. With Frithias the leaves shorten and the tops of them get convex inwards. With seedlings basically this is my approach. I end up watering them regularly (in pumice! pumice dries very quickly! in other substrate the situation might be different). Grown up Frithias don't seem to need that much water. I rarely feel they change their appearance and orient myself by touching the leaves. If they are soft and gummy it's time for some water. If they're firm - no need. I use this method all year around. Sometimes they go for a couple of months without looking thirsty and so I don't water them. Can't really say if this is the correct approach but I've had flowers this year so it should not be that bad :)
      Frithias are summer growers so basically less water in winter but not a hard no-water regime as with lithops. Also, you'll probably find pictures and info online that in habitat only the tips of the leaves are visible above ground. In cultivation this leads to rotting so better not do that and keep the green part of the plant above the soil :)

      Just watch your plants closely and you will know how to deal with them in your environment. It's better than any books and advices!


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  2. Thanks a ton for that!
    Well, here's what I've done so far: went to the flower market and saw just one frithia pulchra on sale. It was in the middle of a whole bunch of cacti and had been poked by the their spines! It was also in some kind of peat-humus mixture which immediately brought to mind your site and what you did about the frithia you rescued. So I decided to try to rescue this poor plant and went ahead and bought it (not costly at all, just 2 euros). Came home and removed all the peat-humus mixture totally. Washed the plant's roots carefully in a mix of tap water treated with 1% ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder and 1% sodium benzoate (potent fungicide permitted for use as a food preservative in the EU), dusted the roots with cinnamon powder, also a fungicide against root rot - all this is info I've gleaned from other sites. Then planted the frithia in 100% pumice (grain size 3-6mm) and watered with the treated water. Haven't watered it since but it has been cool and rainy - the plant is on a shelf on my balcony - should I bring it inside? - temperatures are between 13-16°C in the day, dropping to about 7-10°C at night. Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny day according to the forecasts (notoriously unreliable in Italy, like most other services!) with the highest temp at 16*C and lowest at 6.8°C.
    While washing the plant, three leaves fell off - one very large one that looked a bloated giant and two smaller ones. I planted all three separately in pure pumice, the smaller leaves rotted, the larger one seems to still be green. I repotted just that one in a clean pot with new soil to get it away from any rot and fungus remaining from its deceased friends.
    The plants were purchased and repotted immediately on Oct. 3 (about a week before my first message to you, now re-sent). Nothing seems to have changed, the bloated leaf has taken on more normal proportions. I have not watered at all. All input and advice would be greatly appreciated - especially about temperature and care for the "leaf" cutting!
    Thanks in advance
    Cheers
    KM

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    1. Well, it was a good choice to repot the plant right away. That humus soil is not good for them in the long run. I never use any of the stuff you used (vitamin, fungicide, cinnamon etc.) but it should not do any harm, I reckon :)

      The only thing you did wrong was to water right after transplanting. The general rule is to transplant from dry soil into dry soil and then not water for at least a week. And even if you have to wash the plant in the process, the root system has to dry completely in the air for several hours before the plant is planted in completely dry pumice. Too late now, so it's just for your future reference ;)

      I can not say anything about the temperature. I grow all my plants inside and I doubt it can get colder than 18°C here even in winter... So keep it outside at your own risk.

      Unfortunately Frithias can not be propagated through leaves so the remaining potted leaf will rot too after a while. If the plant itself does not show any change there is no need to water it. It might start to rot, especially in the colder temperature. I would not do anything except bring it inside. If it is a flower market grown plant it is surely bloated and has enough resources to go for weeks if not months without water. As a rule - when in doubt, don't water. I'd be more afraid of rot than starvation for this plant. Just let it acclimate on its own :)

      I indeed didn't get your previous message but received it now and will reply soon :) Thank you!

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    2. Thanks for all the advice about watering. I knew I was totally clueless about it and therefore sought your advice. In any event, I hope the plant will survive. The extras – vitamin C, fungicide, cinnamon – are intended as a sought of “insurance” to protect the plant against the mistakes made by newbies. Experienced growers like you have no need for this extra buffer against rot. Obviously, the plant has no way of accessing these ingredients in the wild, but then again, it is not exposed to our varieties of fungi in their natural habitat either.
      Too bad for the leaf cutting. Following your recommendation, I have brought the plant inside and put it on a sunny window-sill although I am quite sure many years will pass before my window-sill resembles anything remotely like yours!
      Until then, I shall just have to be envious of your flowers, I guess....
      Cheers
      KM

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    3. PS: forgot to mention, I did let the roots dry out overnight after washing but before repotting - something I gleaned from reading this site. But I watered after repotting the next day.
      Cheers
      KM

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    4. The plant should be fine, I'm positive :) Just watch it closely and you will find out what it needs in the future. Pumice is very forgiving in terms of watering too, especially in small pots. I could use some of those insurances every once in a while! Rotting happens to everyone. Experienced or not we all lose plants from time to time. And in fact, I killed my first Frithia shortly after I bought it. I even thought my windowsill might not be suitable for them. But now I grow two adult F. pulchras and several F. humilis seedlings and all seems to go well. So whatever happens don't get discouraged!

      I noticed that there were pictures in your initial message but not in the re-sent email. I'm curious :) Do you mind sending them again?

      Have a nice day!

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    5. Hi Rika,

      Tried to send pics but failed. Need a more efficient camera which I ought to be getting over the weekend!
      Cheers
      KM

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    6. Hi Rika,

      Tried to send pics but failed. Need a more efficient camera which I ought to be getting over the weekend!
      Cheers
      KM

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  3. As you say, it is so good to see flowers with other colours like those conos ones ! And thank you for trying to get a pic of that angelicae opened. Not perfect but that's a nice try and i appreciate it ;)

    Jimmy

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    1. Haha not perfect by far but at least I'll have a memory of it on photo XD

      Conos bring some change to the windowsill, that's for sure :)

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  4. Great colour dorotheae. I seem to have acquired a lot of these. This year I have started to get more than one when I buy plants so that I can get seed.
    I find Tanquana very prone to splitting. If it hears my neighbour turn a tap on for example.

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    1. To get more than one is always a good idea :) Not only because there is a chance of getting seeds but also in case one plant dies... My plants don't flower as yours do. So even in pairs there is little chance there will be seeds.

      Really? My Tanquans don't split but they do retain water... one still has old leaves... hm

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