Sunday, March 11, 2018

Anacampseros tray (14 pics)

I can not believe it's been 2 years since I had my big sowing of Anacampseros. Around the same time I got the majority of the adult plants, even though I've been growing several Anacampseros and Avonias for years before that. But 2 years ago there was this spark of interest that resulted in a whole tray of plants. 



The seedlings grow very slowly but what a delight it was to watch them! From the generic blobs they have developed into all those different shapes. It's not very easy to take pictures of them because of all the white fluff. If I don't change the settings on my camera to darker shades all I get is white shapes with no definition. Once I do, the photos turn out too dark. But at least the hairs are sharp and visible this way. 

They seem to have made it through the dark winter fine even though An. vanthielii have been struggling. I have not watered them since months and they still stretch for sunlight. I hope they will look better in Summer. Another thing I have not figured out yet is why the "white column" types of Anacampseros tend to lose bottom leaves. That's why I'm glad that my younger "column" seedlings grow so slowly and are still at the "white ball" stage in their development. Hopefully by the time they grow up I'll have a better understanding of what they need. At the moment they are just adorable.

As usual click on the pictures to see full size and the full names, locality data and catalog numbers will be within the file name. 

An. baeseckei are just tiny fluff balls.



Another An. baeseckei, which are tiny fluff balls with curls.



These are fluff balls with even more curls (Anacampseros sp. (albidiflora)). These three species will probably have troubles retaining the bottom leaves later on.


These An. namaquensis look like they are covered in snow. So cute! They look a bit different from what I have in mind when I think of An. namaquensis but they are still small.


These An. namaquensis are more like it. I really like it when these plants grow rather flat instead of going up. These seedlings are like a soft carpet. 


The below An. filamentosa ssp. filamentosa seedlings are just as wonderfully flat and in no hurry to grow vertically. So snug against the pumice stones.


An. filamentosa ssp tomentosa have larger features but the long wavy hairs that wrap around the whole plants are wonderful.


An. arachnoides have perfected the cobweb look. I'm quite proud of these as they have this  distinguishing scruffy look. They'll do even better with more sunlight.


This pot of another An. arachnoides species is even scruffier. Nice.
There might be some cat hair mixed in. Mila walks on my plants a lot.


Not much hairs but a pretty color: Anacampseros rufescens 'Sunrise'.


I can only recommend you to grow these. I've had so much fun with them.

6 comments:

  1. So glad I found your blog! I'm trying to get good at windowsillgrowing where I am, in Sweden, and it's going quite well now (like 6 years later...)! But I've had a hard time finding tips and information on care special for these conditions. Thanks for sharing everything :) ///Saga

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    1. Thank you for visiting and reading Saga! :)
      It is quite difficult to figure out these plants and to find the best care in less-than-ideal environment. I'm still learning every day. Everything is trial and error precisely because there is no info neither online nor in books on windowsill cultivation. And the magazins are full of boring SA trip reports instead of useful tips. It's quite frustrating to go to "cultivation" section in books and to read as only advise "best in a greenhouse". They don't know our struggles :D

      Good luck with your plants and thanks again!

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  2. I like the snowball ones. They are super fluffy.

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    1. I like them too :)

      Hopefully they will keep that look when they are bigger...

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  3. They look great but what happens when you need to pot them on?

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    1. There still seems to be some time until then but I thought of giving some of them away.

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