Piante grasse cactus spine

Tag: knowledge

Succulent plants, a small guide for those approaching this world: the simplest species to grow

The world of succulent plants is extremely vast. It follows that the cultivation needs of individual succulents can vary considerably from family to family and from genus to genus. With a concrete example, a cactus (plant belonging to the Cactaceae family) has extremely different cultivation needs compared to an Adenium obesum (succulent plant belonging to the Apocynaceae family). Likewise, large differences in cultivation can occur within the same family or between different genera of a single family. Here too is an example: an Ariocarpus (genus belonging to the Cactaceae) requires a cultivation regime, understood as substrate, watering, etc. very different from an Echinopsis (genus always belonging to the Cactaceae).

Without dwelling too much on the broad field of plant classification (here, if you want, you will find an article dedicated to this topic) and taking it for granted that the term “succulent plants” refers both to cacti and to many other succulent botanical families whose specimens have a different appearance from any other cactus, we are addressing a very “heartfelt” topic among novice growers. Even the grower who boasts a good knowledge of a given family, however, may find the following article useful, which recommends succulent plants (belonging to various botanical families) that are less demanding, more robust and simple to grow and therefore more suitable for those who are only now approaching the world of succulents. (…)

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How to cultivate Melocactus, cacti that with age put on… the hat (“cephalium”)!

In the great botanical family of the Cactaceae the Melocactus represent a small “case apart”. In fact, these are cacti with a traditional globular shape tending towards a shorter cylinder as they age, but they have a peculiarity: over the years they “put on their hats”. In other words, the apex of these plants stops growing and a sort of “headdress” takes shape in its place, made up of a compact fluff mixed with thick and very thin thorns, usually red but sometimes white. This is the cephalium and this is where the flowers and fruits will come from. In a very bizarre way, over time it is only the cephalium that grows in height, so much so that the stems remain the same size, while the “hat” stretches towards the sky, giving these plants a truly unique appearance. The “however” of this story lies in the ease with which these cacti lose their roots and, even if they have not been affected by rot or parasites, they start to die. In other words, a  Melocactus  in full health often begins to slowly deteriorate and die, perhaps even taking two years, just because the root system has gone haywire and the plant has not been able to produce a new one.

Those who have been cultivating cacti for some time know it well:  Melocactus  are as fascinating as they are “capricious” and you have to come to terms with it. In this article we deepen the knowledge with this genus, in particular from the point of view of the needs, so as to grow robust specimens and limit losses as much as possible. (…)

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Here is the story of an Echinocactus grusonii born to lose but alive to win!

Would you throw away that specimen of Echinocactus grusonii you see in the photo above? Obviously the answer is no. Indeed, with such perfect thorns it would be a crime to let such a plant die. Nevertheless, a few years ago, when that plant was still a few months old seedling, I was about to throw it away! No, I hadn’t suddenly gone crazy, simply this plant, around 2015, was just one of the many grusonii seedlings obtained with a particularly lucky sowing (that is, characterized by high germination). What you see in the picture was the only seedling born from that sowing to have reached the stage of the first repotting in pitiful conditions, to the point that, convinced that it would not even pass the first repotting, I intended to throw it together with the sowing soil. Today, almost ten years later, that malformed, underdeveloped and sickly-looking seedling has become exactly as you see it in the photo I took a few days ago.

Here, in the following article, is the story of this plant, a plant that has been able to teach me an important lesson: never judge a book by its cover. In life as well as when dealing with Nature. (…)

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What are epiphytic cacti and how to cultivate these plants native to rainforests?

Cacti are plants that have made drought resistance their strong point. These are “xerophytic” or “xerophilous” plants, i.e. plants capable of accumulating water reserves for surviving in arid and semi-desert environments. If this is the rule, there is no lack of exception, which is represented by the epiphytic cactaceae. We are still in the Cactaceae family, but these are very particular genera, starting from their habit, which thrive in rainforests and which in sub-desert areas would not be able to survive. Epiphytic cacti are widespread on the market and in cultivation, just think of the Epiphyllum genus, but they have particular and very different needs compared to most cacti, starting from the substrates, passing to the water regime and to the exposure. And this is why it is important to know which genera of cacti belong to the “epiphytic branch”: because in cultivation we will have to ensure very different conditions for these plants compared to those we can – and must – guarantee for genera such as Ferocactus, Echinocactus, Ariocarpus, etc.

In this article, therefore, we see what the epiphytic genera are, what their needs are and how they should be cultivated (…).

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New cactus species discovered: “Copiapoa invisibilis”! Exceptional photos of a plant… that no longer exists

For the avoidance of doubt: the title is ironic and here we are talking about rot, unfortunately. No new Copiapoa has been discovered, neither the one you see in this photo and in the other incredible images within this article. Simply, this is what remains of one of my Copiapoa cinerea that rotted this winter without me even realizing it. What we see now is nothing but the armor of thorns that the plant has left me. The quills are so compact and close together that they perfectly maintain the shape of the plant (complete with a dry flower at the apex). The stem simply no longer exists. It has rotted and “evaporated”, disappeared.

Here is what happened and, above all, here are the exceptional photos of this plant, whose fate, moreover, from time to time also touches the specimens in habitat, as I happened to see in some online photos and once, directly, with a young specimen of Ferocactus during a trip to Mexico. (…)

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