Great phatties! tfs - Jo

Oh yes, they do love it outside! They are lovely.

Your plants are doing great..I can't believe how thick the first Pachy's leaves are..Toni

hopefulauthor

it was a pleasant surprise, I inadvertently exposed that plant to subfreezing temperatures; there were 3 or 4 branches already but the weaker ones suffered damage to the growing points - but when spring arrived and new leaves began to sprout, multiple new growth points formed around the dead parts so now there is lots of crowded growth but it looks good so far.

So the lesson to be learned here is if you want to create branches on a Pachypodium lamereii, expose the plant to a light frost.

Really nice, xero! Beautiful plants

very nice collection of pachys Xerophyte,
I second the information behind the branching of the P lamereii, left mine out one year, branched to 3+ growing points. This last winter in my unheated GH, I thought I lost it, fortunately it resprouted leaves and each growth point has about 4-5 new growth points. I need to repot it this year.

thanks for sharing,
-Ethan
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ethan

that's a monster! how do you keep it from falling over? I assume yours has flowered?

x

Xero, you were lucky..I killed 2 MP's when placed in my back plant room that gets cold in winter..Or did before getting new windows..I think my mistake was watering on a cloudy day though; the next day they died..
The room MP's are kept in now stays pretty cool/cold in winter..it's semi-unheated..only room it gets is in the next room..Thanks for the tip..

Ethan, wow, what tall cactus you have..LOL..What size pot is it growing in? What's its age? Really nice..Toni

hey X,
thanks for the compliment, unfortunately it has not bloomed yet, maybe this year? Any tips? I do need to repot it, it is very top heavy and not something you want to break the fall of.

thanks again,
-Ethan

Ethan

As far as I know, pachys bloom late winter/ early spring. My P brevicaule which never really goes dormant for more than 3 or 4 weeks in the winter, put out many flower buds this February shortly after new leaves started to sprout, so I wonder if minimal dormancy and a warm head start to spring with good light is a prerequisite?

Maybe repotting will be the boost it needs - a plant that large I think should be flowering, are you fertilizing enough?

x

thanks Hopefulauthor, looks like we posted about the same time. It is in a 5-gal pot probably 10+years old, though its first 3 or so it was mistreated. I will be repotting it soon, hope that helps it bloom next year.

X - I keep it in an unheated greenhouse over winter, it definitely goes into deep dormancy. It has plenty of light and warmth in early spring, perhaps if I can raise the winter dormancy temp a little....maybe some blooms? That plus the repotting should help, I do fertilize, lightly but consistantly.

I'll take another picture of it when the new multibranched growth points are more obvious and I have taken the time to repot it.

-Ethan

Brevicaule with water all year? That's interesting. Many growers swear to hold off any water until the temp dips below 85F. Me? Mine always end up rotting. What's the whole skinny on your cultivation? Hopefully, it will help me too.

Yes, constant water is absolutely the key! P brevicaule seems to be not so well adapted to heat and drought, so I water them lightly but frequently - this roughly means daily during summer, every 2-3 days in spring and fall, and every 4-5 days during the slow days of winter; because they are watered often, they do not get the same cold treatment that my other succulents get otherwise they would rot.

They are not exposed to direct mid-day sun either. Mine are not grafted. I hate grafts - so unnatural.

I bring them inside under HID lamps once night temps go below the low 40's, I even water when they drop their leaves. I've had that plant for many years and it has even bloomed so I must be doing something right.

It sits in the same soil and gets fertilized as do my other Pachys.

I agree, roots should have consistent source of moisture during the growing season. Here's where my growing conditions differ. All my brevicaul are kept in full sun from March through November, at the end of November I put them in an unheated shelter where all water is withheld till April. My growing medium consists of pure pumice.

This is my largest, 15 inches wide x 6 inches tall
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That looks like a plant collected from the wild...either that or you've had this plant for a damn long time, based on my readings P brevicaule was introduced into horticulture in 1983 and there has been lots of habitat stripping.

Yes, it is field collected. Got it in a trade about 5yrs ago.

How about a few namaquanum that I did raise from seed
6yrs old
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1.5yrs old
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purchased this one
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Nice pictures. Was this a double post?

caudex1

i am far from perfect but one thing i don't engage in is the acquisition of wild collected specimens. make sure you take good care of that plant.

x

Hurrah! I recognise one of several 'mystery succulents' in my girlfriend's front yard (hate how often they're sold labelled just as "succulent" with no species and no specific cultivation info! Grr!)- we've been calling it "Cousin It" but it's actually a pachypodium geayi. Awesome!

Now I just have to warn her that cute, tufty little Cousin It has the potential to grow very tall indeed... which could be a bit of a worry, given the ferocity of those spikes!

These images are incredible!!!I'm not a big fan of Pachypodiums,but after seeing these I'm having 2nd thoughts!Thanks for sharing!

I'm taken with my pachypodium, it's unique enough to be enjoyable just to examine visually.

My cat has taken a liking to the leaves, unfortunately, and gnawed the tip off of one. Hopefully she didn't like it enough to try it again.

Would spraying it with a cayenne pepper based (or other natural ingredient) deterrant put the plant at risk?

I doubt that a pepper spray would harm the plant, but I've never tried it myself.

I don't know what kind of cactus you have planted with the asparagus fern in the same pot, but I would have never thought the two would grow together. My AF drinks so much water there is no way a cactus would survive with it. It is a very nice plant tho, nice job.

That's an Aloe ferox in the same pot with AF. I water very often. Next spring I will separate them and let the Aloe be on its own.

Very cool! I love the second one! So rewarding growing from seed :)