Archive for Cacti of the week
Xmas cactus
February 15, 2011 No CommentsThe beginning of flowering in my greenhouse is much retarded, maybe because of the tremendous outside cold we’ve experienced (Two nights in a row of -15 F (-26 C)) My heaters kept the greenhouse at its usual nighttime temperature of 40, but the daytime temperature, caused by natural heating, has been low. We barely got ...
mesemb seedlings
January 28, 2011 No CommentsI’m growing about 90 varieties of cold-hardy mesembs. All of them, cold-hardy or not, need very cool temperatures for germination, less than 70 F (21 C). They germinate in two to four days at these low temperatures. They all look alike at this stage (a month old). The little touches of orange you see in ...
Hamatocactus setispinus
January 28, 2011 No CommentsI’m so hard-up for pictures that I’m taking shots of fruit. This is a nice x-mas type shot, with the red and green. This plant is 35 years old. The fruits can last almost to May.
Glottophyllum herrei
January 28, 2011 No CommentsThis is one of those mesembryanthemums (“mid-day flowers”) that Steve Brack of Mesa Garden in his germination instructions identifies as an opportunistic grower/bloomer in fall/winter/spring if kept watered. This year I have so few things flowering that I paid attention, watering and fertilizing constantly, and I’ve been rewarded by a continuous crop of flowers on ...