Very nice! I have two tiny babes...hope they grow up all purty like yours.

Stanofh, your Fockea edlulis is beautiful! Your flowers are great whether they are showing or not. I have one and I didn't even think about them blooming. But after seeing yours, I went outside to take a current shot of mine and I think I found a bud on mine.

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9.9.2007

Could arrow be pointing at a flower buds or is it just a leaf buds?

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Possiable flower bud?




9.9.2007
Mine is just over two and half years old. If you had not posted I may have never even seen these buds.

Stanofh,
I met to ask you how long it took you to get your caudex that big? Did you bring it up so much each year or so? If so how much did you expose each year? I know a lot of questions.

Hi Passion,I have never raised it,when I first bought mine it looked pretty much as today-just much smaller in proportions. It was one of my first caudiciforms. As a result i think i was overly concerned at how tender it might be.Its not!..I would think one in the ground could be a z8b.It seems to me anyways most of this countrys zone 8's have much warmer summers than the zone 9b+ of the S.F. bay area. A good plant to experiment with using in ground in summer,then potting up for the winter in colder climates..I rarely recommend that for any plant-this one is different.

Hey Passion.... Looks like another bud at about 2:00 on the top photo :-)

Checkout these 3 photos of the same plant over 5yrs(quarter for reference). I grow it outdoors year round in a 15gap and completely buried.

2002
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2005
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2007
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forgive my ignorance... What's a 15gap?

It looks like those screaming plants from the Harry Potter Movies! HAHAHAHA

It's grown HUGE! I usually tell people to keep their bonsais in the ground for the same reason... If they want them to get thicker trunks.

Ooops...15gal pot

Tried a bonsai last year, but ended up putting back into a large pot.

This one is in a 17pot.
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Hi -

Geez - 30 degrees for Fockea Edulis!...freezing temps for Operculicarya in another thread!...pretty soon I will be overwintering my succulents with my white pine bonsai!

Kidding aside, this forum has helped me relax a bit regarding the temps I let my Pachycauls get exposed to. Makes the season transition a bit less stressful for me so, thanks!

Caudex,
Great photos, can't wait till I can show mine.
The one you put in a bonsai pot and then put it back into the deeper pot. It does not hurt it bring it up and then repoting it? Do you keep it cut back so it don't vine? My f.edulis is very viney but my f.edulis crispa is does not vine or it is just slower.

WARNING! I am the exception, not the rule!! A friend who has a nursery says I'm crazy for leaving these plants exposed. Proceed at your own risk.

I've killed many to get where I am.

My back yard has 3 distinct micro-climates that I use to my advantage, there's about a 5-7deg difference from one end to the other, not to mention near the house.

Fockea can actually take lower than 30deg, did 19 last winter. Lost most of the vines but caudex was intact. They can even tolerate cold wet soil to the mid 20s! If the taproot reaches the bottom of the pot it will rot , heal itself and continue growing. Keeps me from doing much root pruning.

I bonsai and bury frequently, doesn't seem to bother them. Biggest reason I do it is to increase the size, by doing this you can add an inch to the diameter of the plant or more in one year.

Most the time I let the vines grow wild, only pruning at repotting or moving for some reason. You see them now, they look to be at least 8ft long. crispa tends to be more compact in every way, and grow a bit slower.

That is some great results from some dedicated work Caudex.I wish my "hot spot" wasn't over asphalt and concrete and strictly container territory. We have just lightest frosts here,some years none. Would be nice to see some jumbo plants.