Pachypodium brevicaule cultivation tips?
land3499
13 years ago
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cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years agocactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Pachypodium lamerei from seed anyone?
Comments (8)WOW!!! That's one great looking plant you have there, did you buy it as a plant or is it seed grown? I hope I'm around to see mine look like that in 25 yrs time!! I have only seen a couple of these and both were tall and single stemmed. As for planting in pure sand, I assumed that was a non starter as with DR's as I always thought it was a bad choice as it compacts/is airless/holds water too long so would be cold. Anyway, the seeds have been soaked for the magic 24 hours and are now potted up in 50:50 of perlite and cactus mix so we will see what happens. Fingers tightly crossed and here's to the next 25years! thanks, Gill form the UK....See MoreSome pics of my Pachypodiums, etc.
Comments (25)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!...See MoreDid I over water my Pachypodium?
Comments (7)By mid-May my Pachys in pots are taken out of the greenhouse and are left among the annuals, outdoors, exposed to all the elements, they get fertilized weekly with dilute 24-8-16 liquid fertilizer and in the soil mix is Osmocote 15-9-12 with minors, along with dolomite for added magnesium and calcium. My P geayi, lamerei and saundersii respond with tremendous growth, constant new leaf growth, and fat trunks. The leaves only turn yellow in the fall, then they drop, the plants come indoors and stay leafless until the next spring. The only exceptions to these rules are P namaquanum, which typically is dormant during the summer, and P brevicaule, which likes water all year and has a short dormancy. I've had these plants for over 10 years from seedlings, so I have come to understand them quite well in my conditions. My potting mix is simple: 50-50 perlite and topsoil, they are best slightly underpotted. P namaquanum has taken frosts down to 28F, the others I have taken down to 30F during the winter with only P lamerei showing some damage to the stems, but the frosted tips end up branching out so it's not such a bad thing. At this time of year I water them daily unless it rains. I think we tend to be too cautious with watering. In nature, Pachys are opportunistic and this fact should be taken advantage of in culture by giving them plenty of water and food for healthy growth. Find an inexpensive Pachy seedling at Home Depot and experiment a little, see what happens when they are watered and fed well during warm weather, you may be pleasantly surprised. Many succulents like lots of water and food during warmth. Agaves also respond well to this, as do Adenium. Many succulents only need to endure a brief dry dormancy in nature, the rest of the time conditions are good for sustained plant growth....See MoreEuphorbias & Pachypodiums
Comments (22)OK.. first question: plant in orange pot is a Yucca elata planted a bit too shallowly (roots showing), but seems pretty happy that way Pachys have pretty wimpy root systems, and besides, they don't seem to give the least bit concern to having them injured, cut, torn etc., as long as they aren't enormous roots (and never seen one with enormous roots). They are super easy to move (root-wise). Spines and weight are bit more of a problem, but I have a great pair of cactus mitts that allow me to pretty much grab any cactus I want (with the one exception of a Pereskia) and pick it up... then weight and balance are the other problem, and they can break in half easily, so you need some support (like a bag of wadded up newspapers sitting on my shoulder). Then I have to stake them up for a few months until their wimpy root system takes over again and secures the plant. Don't think I've seen too many P namaquanums that didn't have wavy leaves.. .that is their main attraction I think. whenever one of my Pachys freeze, the top dies, rots a bit, and I either ignore it, or cut it off an angle (so water will not sit on the cut surface).. .it heals over and 3/4 of the time at least two heads will reappear... the other 1 time just one appears off to the side giving the plant an offset look. I think if it weren't for damage, most Pachypodiums would never branch. The Pachy in the rock does have a smidgeon of soil in there with it... but it basically lives on moisture from watering and some minute amounts of fertilize I rain down upon it now and then. Probably would be happier with more... yet it blooms every year. P brevicaules can grow up to about 6" tall, but I have never seen one taller My plants are nothing... there are hundreds, if not thousands of Pachys in so Cal MUCH larger in MUCH smaller containers than mine. As I said, they have wimpy roots and don't seem the worse for wear being crammed into dinky pots.. the big problem is keeping them from toppling as they are super top heavy at that point. There is a species of Euphorbia called decaryi, too, though it doesn't look anything like a Pachypodium. There is a Euphorbia pachypoides that does look just like a Pachypoidum, though it has no spines I have seen variegated Pachy lamereis, but I dont' have one. Rainfall does not appear to be a big problem, though this is a constant drought climate and our yearly rainfall is usually less than 20". Problem is most of it comes in just a half dozen or so rainfalls, so we get a lot at a time but then go 6-9 months without a drop. Here's the cactus mitts... hard to find, but not expensive once you do... amazing invention! This is my branching plant out front right after the big freeze Here after I did a bit of surgery Here the following spring Here a few years later in winter showing the unleafy branches I also had this wonderful crested plant (pretty commonly available out here) Here a year and half later, grown to enormous proportions... almost to the point of being so large it might collapse under its own weight... see the 'normal' branch on the right side of it? Here it is in later winter with leaves just starting to come back... this is when one can see the crest the best But freeze 4 months later took this plant down... sigh....See Morelzrddr
13 years agoland3499
13 years agoronsnakes
13 years agoland3499
13 years agocaudex1
13 years agoland3499
13 years agowinnjoe
12 years agoCorpsmanCooper
12 years agocactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years agoCorpsmanCooper
12 years ago
Pagan
10 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
10 years agoPagan
10 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
8 years agoPagan
8 years agoI did, Rina. I had kept it in the nursery pot in came in with for the first two years and repotted it last autumn into a deeper pot. The roots turned out to be more extensive than I thought. So in it went into pumice with about a couple of tablespoons of soil. Then I sifted out the biggest chunks of pumice and used that as topdressing up to about 3 centimeters of the stock. It looks like this now:
I still think I'll end up with a pot 12 feet tall in a few decades.
Pagan
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
8 years agokuroc
8 years agoI don't think you have to worry about having to put it in a 12 foot pot because the stock no longer has a growth point. Only the brevicaule grafted on has growth points.
I have five small seedlings. Two I bought off ebay and 3 very small ones I grew from seed. Two of the ones from seeds are coming out of dormancy. So far they have all been easy to take care off.
Pagan
8 years agokuroc
8 years ago
laticauda
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPagan
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agolaticauda
8 years ago
xerophyte NYC