More Drifting

Our pineapple plant is getting ready to push up a fruit!

Drifting...

Definitely drifting over towards another plant segment.... carnivorous plants!!!!

More Cactus Pictures and a Begonia

More pictures from yesterday afternoon -

When I really think about it, this Parodia microsperma is the only cactus I have that produces an orange flower (and it is the most prolific flowering cactus - almost non-stop).  Purple is the name of the game for the rest of these - most of the Mammillaria flower purple colored flowers

This is the first Gymnocalycium I purchased and it really turns purple in strong sunlight.

And because these aren't succulent I'll just tack it on to this post - Begonias grown from cuttings!

Mammillaria celsiana Update

This plant has roughly doubled its size since I bought it last summer.

I really like the shape, color and spine arrangement of this cactus.

Mammillaris senilis

I stumbled on the scientific name for this one -

Hydnophytum puffii

Picked up two plants that I have been looking for - Hydnophytum puffii

I'm going to try growing them in the new media mix I've put together (see recent post).

I've had these for a few days now - I'll post more pictures to show how it is adapting.

New Media Mix for the Epiphytes

I've had it in my head to try out a new mix for the epiphytic plants I have (ant plants, orchids, cactus).  As I have been fiddling with these plants for some time now (roughly 18 months), I have noticed other growers using really gritty mixes, and others (including myself) leaning more towards sphagnum moss.  I figured why not combine the best of both???...  So I soaked a bunch of reclaimed long fiber sphagnum moss, cut it up relatively fine and combined it with equal parts vermiculite, pumice, dry stall, and black gold succulent mix.  Here is the new mix in a pot with some seeds from a curly leafed Myrmecodia tuberosa and a Hydnophytum formicarum.

I also ended up repotting the two curly leafed Myrmecodia seedlings and a Drosera (carnivorous plant) into this mix also.  I'm guessing the new mix will not compact against the roots and the drainage will be really good.  Good qualities for ephiphytic plant media.  We'll see how it shapes up.

Portulaca villosa Flower

Recent activity -

New Year - Tavaresia barklyii Blooming

The big Tavaresia is starting the New Year off right!!!

A few new shoots emerging from the central section can be seen as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing this plant continue to grow and develop.

Should be Martin Luther King Jr Cactus, Not Christmas Cactus

My Christmas Cactus is in bloom - but it is now mid January and not Christmas.

Pot Swapping between Cactus and Euphorbia

Often times I look at a plant and feel that something isn't right.  The plant could use more room, or a plant would look better in a pot currently occupied by another.  Those were the cases for these two plants.

I felt the Euphorbia (I now think this is a trigona, not a canariensis - the parent plant had a much lighter green color and that was throwing me off - but the way this is growing out says trigona) was in need of an up potting to give it some root room for the upcoming growing season.

And here it is in the grow out pot.

I thought the new cactus (perhaps a Mammillaria longimamma) would look better in this pot -

Around the Garden - January 6, 2018 - Cactus Flowers

Today saw several cactus blooming -

And it seems that fuchsia is the color of the day - can't complain about that!!!

Around the Garden - January 6, 2018 - Euphorbia Growth

Up load to see the differences over the past few weeks.

Even though we are in the middle of winter (a relative term here in Hawaii), and most of my plants are resting - there is new growth on many of the Euphorbias.