"Fat Plants" : cacti,succulents, caudiciforms, whatever..

[krisderaeymaeker]

No Kris, here they flower in the autumn as well (March - April). Lovely little plants and flowers, they always seem to do better in the northern hemisphere than they do here in the south, or is that just because you are better growers?   

Thanks Cohan ,the same black trays ...

Rogan , I  have myself wrong expressed . Offcourse they flower in the autumn in your country ,but I want to say that it is spring at that time in our northern hemisphere.

Darren ,Rogan , Lithops are for me the most easy plants.They only get for times (maximum 5 times) water each year,never get any feed.
Repotting is getting place only once in 10/15 years. I keep them in my very light and sunny greenhouse (no shading).In our winter I try to keep the frost out of the greenhouse.Temperature around 0° C and sometimes light frost.During that time I keep them bonedry.They never get water before they get a new skin (first watering around june )In summertime the temperature in my greenhouse sometimes reach 50° C. With good ventilation this cause no problems.Most of my plants, I raised from seed wich I obtain from Professor Cole many years ago. He collected seeds in South Africa.
Here I have more problems with Conophytum wich I have to keep in small pots and even then it is not easy for me.       

[krisderaeymaeker]

Cohan,Darren and Rogan maybe you also like this plants? 

First two pictures , Lapidaria margarethae
Picture 3 & 4 ,Conophytum.

[cohan]

Cohan,Darren and Rogan maybe you also like this plants? 

First two pictures , Lapidaria margarethae
Picture 3 & 4 ,Conophytum.

of course we do lapidaria is sometimes available in mainstream garden centres, as are (badly overfed/overwatered) lithops...i have never seen a cono though....

[Darren]

I do indeed like the lapidaria Kris. It is a very well grown plant too - as Cohan says.

Thank you for describing your growing conditions too. I have a theory that I can grow the winter growing Mesembs (including argyroderma and other highly succulent genera) quite well because the winter atmosphere in my greenhouse is very damp (it leaks at the ridge too). Whilst none of the drips touch the plants the atmosphere is often quite wet all winter. Fine for the conos but I wonder if this prevents the lithops from absorbing their old leaves properly?  That said - I know other growers in NW England who have no problems. Otherwise my growing conditions are very similar to yours except I do apply a little shading in april/may to prevent the conos scorching and the bulbs from going dormant too soon.

I would really like to solve this problem as I keep looking at the Hammer book wistfully! I've also had some advice from growers on the BCSS forum and I now have some smalll seedlings to experiment with.

[Rogan]

Kris, your plants are fantastic - a real master!   

[krisderaeymaeker]

Thank you Cohan ,Darren and Rogan for your nice comments .

Thank you for describing your growing conditions too. I have a theory that I can grow the winter growing Mesembs (including argyroderma and other highly succulent genera) quite well because the winter atmosphere in my greenhouse is very damp (it leaks at the ridge too). Whilst none of the drips touch the plants the atmosphere is often quite wet all winter. Fine for the conos but I wonder if this prevents the lithops from absorbing their old leaves properly?

Darren , I suppose this might be a reason for some problems you have with cultivation of Lithops.
Reading your growingconditions let me understand much better what is my problem regarding  growing Cono's and relatives .
Altough I have better results in the past years with Cono's .I think due the fact I give more and later water.And your theory is a perfect confirmation Darren ! 

[Darren]

Hi Kris,

One of the reasons I grow so many conos is that they can have almost the same watering regime as my bulbs so it is easy to remember

They get a complete summer dormancy (april until late july/early August). Then a good watering in august to wake them up. After this I do not let them get completely dry again until the following april. At this time of year (september to november) they get watered every two weeks - more in a sunny autumn. I let them get a drier in december to february. March and early april I water them again before stopping completely in late April.  They are all housed in 6 or 7.5 cm plastic pots which do dry out quickly. Some species make useful indicator plants as they wrinkle a little when dry at the roots - then I know to water the whole lot. I do find that conos like a lot more water than most succulents. There are exceptions - the real xerophytes like the Opthalmophyllums and C maughanii, C ratum etc easily get bloated and 'stack' if they get too much water. My guess is you would find these the easier conos in your conditions?

[krisderaeymaeker]

Hi Kris,
One of the reasons I grow so many conos is that they can have almost the same watering regime as my bulbs so it is easy to remember
They get a complete summer dormancy (april until late july/early August). Then a good watering in august to wake them up. After this I do not let them get completely dry again until the following april. At this time of year (september to november) they get watered every two weeks - more in a sunny autumn. I let them get a drier in december to february. March and early april I water them again before stopping completely in late April.  They are all housed in 6 or 7.5 cm plastic pots which do dry out quickly. Some species make useful indicator plants as they wrinkle a little when dry at the roots - then I know to water the whole lot. I do find that conos like a lot more water than most succulents. There are exceptions - the real xerophytes like the Opthalmophyllums and C maughanii, C ratum etc easily get bloated and 'stack' if they get too much water. My guess is you would find these the easier conos in your conditions?

Many thanks Darren .This is very usefull .This is the main  reason to be on this forum I think I must water my Conos a bit more ,especially in wintertimes..
I used to have Opthalmophyllums but at the moment I have not any....
Here I have a greenhouse and not an alpine house...At the beginning I used it only for cacti ,succulents, mesembs ...Afterwards I became interested in alpines , Cyclamen , other bulbs , orchids ....And now I search a method to grow everything in the same greenhouse.But offcourse I am a little bit to demanding...     

[krisderaeymaeker]

A very flat cactus .This one grows very ,very ,very slow.When in flower you even can't find the body of the cactus.
Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus and kotschoubeyanus albiflorus.
I have bot raised this from seed in the late eighties...

[cohan]

A very flat cactus .This one grows very ,very ,very slow.When in flower you even can't find the body of the cactus.
Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus and kotschoubeyanus albiflorus.
I have bot raised this from seed in the late eighties...

i have not seen the albiflorus form, i like it even more than the usual one!

[Lesley Cox]

Kris do you have a picture of the cactus without the flower. It's hard to imagine what it could look like.

[Maggi Young]

I'd love to see a photo of a plant, too...... I believe they look a bit like rosulate violas......little pads of leaves, close to the ground.  

[krisderaeymaeker]

Offcourse ladies ,I show you some details of this Ariocarpus.
You must know that they grow with te top of the plant just below the surface on their natural habitat in Mexico.
When not in flower you are not able to find the plants.If grow well in cultivation they also go down into the pot.  

[Maggi Young]

What extraordinary little plants! Great rosettes and beautiful markings.
 
They must be very shy to hide away as they do!

Thanks for these pictures, Kris....most interesting for me and others  who haven't seen these in real life. 

[Lesley Cox]

My warm thanks too Kris. What odd little plants. It must take an extraordinarily sharp eye to spot them in the wild when they live in such a disguised way, especially the first species. Like spotting a four-leafed clover; nothing different really, just a slight break in the usual pattern.