Piante grasse cactus spine

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Plastic, terracotta, square or round? Here’s how to choose pots for cacti and succulents

Plastic or terracotta pots? Round, square, shallow or deep? And then again: is it better to have one plant per pot or several plants in one box or in a large bowl? At first glance, the subject may seem trivial, but the choice of the right vase for growing cacti and succulent plants has an undeniable impact on the consequence of the cultivation. The choice of the right pot, it can be said, is indeed closely related to the type of cultivation we adopt for our plants (indoors, on a balcony, in a greenhouse, in the open air, etc.) and to the various elements that characterize it, such as watering, type of substrate, exposure, temperature, and much more.

Net of purely aesthetic and therefore personal choices, let’s see how to choose the right containers for succulents’ cultivation, evaluating the pros and cons of the various shapes and materials with which the pots available on the market are made. (…)

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Titanopsis calcarea, a winter flowering succulent with particular cultivation rules

From mid-December to the beginning of January is the flowering time for a rather widespread and highly appreciated succulent plant from an aesthetic point of view: Titanopsis calcarea. The appearance of the leaves, their arrangement, the color and the punctiform reliefs (similar to warts) on the fleshy surface of the leaves themselves make this plant  a small living rock, on a par with the Lithops. And it is no coincidence that the name Titanopsis derives from the union of the Greek terms “titanos” (understood as “gypsum”, “lime”) and “opsis“, i.e. “appearance”. In short, a plant with the appearance of a calcareous rock or a “clump of earth” (the effective definition is by Giuseppe Lodi), we could define it. The Titanopsis genus belongs to the Aizoaceae family (formerly Mesembriantemaceae) and is native to Southern Africa, in particular Namibia and the Cape Province. The cultivation of these plants, and specifically of Titanopsis calcarea, requires some special precautions compared to those we reserve for cacti.

Let’s go into detail and get to know this plant and its needs better in the following article (….).

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Blooming cactus, a roundup of images and how to make artistic photographs

Looking for photographs for some upcoming articles, I came across some old shots of my cacti in bloom. With a good digital camera and the right perspective, able to bring out the natural shadow in the background, cacti in full bloom are truly unbeatable “models” for artistic photos. You only need to find an illuminated area, place the plant so that the background is almost completely in the shade, so as to be black or otherwise shaded, and that’s it. There are also those who place a cloth or a black card behind the plants, but if you can simply get the natural shade it is even better because it can give the photo those dark shades that a completely black background is not able to provide.

Let’s see everything in detail in this article and especially in these photographs. (…)

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The Asclepiadaceae family: African succulents with beautiful but… smelly flowers

Although more than twenty years have passed, I still remember my first encounter with an Asclepiadaceae. A few years ago, I approached the world of succulents, and I went to visit a nursery just outside my city. I had been browsing among the succulents for quite a while when the owner of the nursery, an elderly but very chirpy lady, noticed me and my interests in plants, approached me and said: “Do you want to see a succulent plant with beautiful flowers?” I said yes, of course, I wanted to see it, so she took me down a narrow corridor cluttered with plants and pointed to a large succulent in a hanging pot. It had thick fleshy, straight green stems with reddish edges, and from one of these stems hung a big star-shaped flower with elongated, thin tips and shaded yellow petals crossed by tiny dark streaks. “Come closer, sniff how good it smells”, the lady said to me, passing from a restrained smile to an open, fat laugh, as soon as I obeyed and immediately withdrew, disgusted by the smell of rotting flesh that from that flower had entered right into my nose.

Keep on reading the article if you want to know how this story goes (…)

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Crassula ovata, “Jade Tree” or “Money Plant”: here’s how to grow this beautiful succulent

Commonly known as the “jade tree” due to the bright green color of its fleshy leaves, or the “money plant” due to the roundish/elongated shape of the leaves, Crassula ovata is a very common succulent plant in cultivation. It can also often be observed in apartments, where it grows well thanks to its great adaptability and where it can add an unexpected touch of green thanks to its sapling habit, with thick and robust brown branches. Crassula ovata is certainly a common plant, not at all sophisticated, and simple in its forms; however, it has its own charm and the ease of cultivation makes it a succulent practically within everyone’s reach.

In the following article we see in detail where it comes from, what are the cultivation needs of this succulent, what are its weaknesses and how it can be successfully reproduced even by those who are beginners in the cultivation of succulent plants. (…)

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