This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: What's growing on?

Gerry O'Neill wrote:
> 
> Jim;
> Glad to hear you and your plants survived the bad weather, if a little
> battle-scarred. I've been enjoying your posts and reports on plants in
> bloom..I envy your ability to bring your cactus to bloom, something I could
> never do, in my brief foray into the world of the spiny.
> 
> What prompted this note was your mention of the Echeveria..Am not a big fan
> of succulents, although I have a few..But a couple of months ago I saw a
> picture of Echeveria 'Superelegans' and fell in love. Do you, or does
> anyone on the list, know of a source?
> 
> A lot of high wind here at the house last night, along with some
> desperately-need rain. No damage to my houseplants that are in summer camp
> in the back yard, though a couple of the larger ones had to be set back
> upright. My Dipladenia bloomed sopradically all winter inside, and now is
> in full bloom. I usually cut it back hard in spring, along with renewing
> the soil and digging in Osmacote 14-14-14. But this year got behind in
> everything, so just fertilized, pruned lightly. And its going nuts with bloom.
> 
> Gerry
> 
> 
Thanks, Gerry!

Actually, it's not that hard to get cactus to bloom if the ones you have
are old enough to do so (and that varies with the species).  All you
have to do is to remember that winters need to be cool, dry, and
bright.  If they don't go dormant, they won't flower next season.  And
with cactus in a house, you have to force them to go dormant.  So if you
have a bright unheated room, use it!  And don't water them at all
between about October and February, unless their skin seems to start
getting loose and wrinkled. In March, start to gradually water them more
(VERY gradually) and move them back into warmth.  This isn't much
different than the method of getting most houseplants to bloom (except
for daylength dependent ones like poinsettia or kalanchoe).  

As for the echeveria, I don't really know.  I got mine locally at
Lowe's, the home improvement center.  They got a shipment of succulents
in in Feb. and I got the echeveria then.

Speaking of Dipladenia, btw, they're the same thing as Mandevilla,
right?  Beautiful flowers, if I ever manage to get mine to bud without
having it take over.

Boy, do I need good wire hoops!  Mandevilla, Hoya, and Passiflora on the
way.  Vines, vines, vines! :)


-- 
Botanical Name of the Week: Knifophia, one of the more nearly perfect
fittings of name to form.

Jim Gray 
jjg@c-cor.com
Altoona, PA: Zone 6A
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index