Re: Euphorbia tirucali 'Sticks on Fire'
- Subject: Re: Euphorbia tirucali 'Sticks on Fire'
- From: Catherine Ratner c*@earthlink.net
- Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 14:19:45 -0700
Thanks, John and Moira. It's in full sun, but I'm very close to the ocean
and don't get too many nights in the forties, at least in the last couple of
years. The San Diego nursery where I purchased it is probably much farther
inland. Cathy
> From: John MacGregor <jonivy@earthlink.net>
> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:59:38 -0700
> To: <catherineratner@earthlink.net>, medit-plants <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Subject: Re: Euphorbia tirucali 'Sticks on Fire'
>
> on 9/9/03 3:25 PM, Catherine Ratner at catherineratner@earthlink.net wrote:
>
>> Can anyone tell me what are the conditions that promote red coloration in
>> Euphorbia tirucalli "Sticks on Fire"? Mine is a small plant in a brown
>> bonsai pot, never fed, watered infrequently. It is healthy and growing
>> slowly, but has never been as red as when I bought it about two and a half
>> years ago. It was suggested that heat brings out the redness, but I think
>> that can't be true as it has just experienced over two months of unremitting
>> heat. My hunch is that it is full sun and some degree of cold, but I bought
>> it in San Diego, so how cold could it have been?!
>> Cathy Ratner, Sunset Zone 23 (Is that the problem?)
>
> Cathy,
>
> The plant in the Hall garden in Sunset Zone 21/22 is in a large concrete pot
> set on a very reflective concrete driveway in full sun all day long. In
> summer the color bleaches out to a pale green, with deeper green new growth
> and tiny coral-colored new leaves. As soon as the nights go down into the
> forties, most of the leaves drop off and the stems turn bright coral.
>
> John MacGregor
> South Pasadena, CA 91030
> USDA zone 9 Sunset zones 21/23
>