Cactus lovers/growers?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

ps I have a cactus garden too- but only because my mom thinks I love them. I also have a delightful aloe plant growing in a starbuck's mug.

Too funny! Take some pictures and post them here!

[Aggie_Ama]

Here are some photos of my agave. Had to use the camera phone, as my batteries in the digital camera are somehow MIA.



And one from a few feet back. The pot it is in is really cool but I don't know if you can tell it has a Palm Tree on it. I have a thing for Palm Trees.




I would like to get more cacti/succulents for the backyard, but I would have to fence them in. One of our dogs in blind and I am pretty sure she would injure herself.

[whippetgirl]

I have a collection of cacti/succulents. I have an echinopsis that has bloomed a few times(it is quick, with blooms that only last a day) pretty cool. I have several aloe plants that have bloomed as well with mango colored flowers. I have various other cacti that I am not sure of their names, but they thrive with very little care. I have a stapelia (?) that I got when my daughter was born,16 1/2 years ago. It was about 3 feet tall. I put it in the bathroom and now it is about 6 feet tall. Like you, I enjoy their sculptural qualities.

[carpaltunnel]

I have a Euphorbia Obesa that was 7 years old when I pursuaded a greenhouse owner to sell it to me 17 years ago. He raised it from seed and was quite fond of it and its siblings.
Here's a link to an article and picture. I don't have a picture of mine.
http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantefg/euphorbobesa.htm

At the same time I bought one of those little cactus gardens with several tiny plants in one pot. There were probably 8 little cacti in a 8" pot.

Over the years I have had to move several of them to larger pots. One of them is nearly five feet tall now. (My husband wanted to throw it away until he saw the price of a smaller one for sale in a greenhouse.) Another is huge and round, and I just bought an antique dishpan to repot it in. A few of the others have stayed tiny and are still in the original pot. I don't know the names of any of them, and don't have any pictures. (I really should get a digital camera.)

I have good windows that reach to the floor, so they're happy all winter in the house. In the spring I move them outside.

I also have a Christmas Cactus that is at least 100 years old. It was given to us by my husband's uncle, who had it more than 40 years. He received it in trust from an "old lady" who had it many years and had received it from someone before that. Some families can trace their old christmas cacti back for generations but ours has changed families when the owners couldn't find a relative to take it. I do have pictures of it, but not digital. It blooms with hundreds of flowers every winter, and again in the late winter/early spring.

Well, enough about my flowers. Get me going and you'll be sorry!

[Aggie_Ama]

Lisa- I love that plant!! Does it have a name other than it's description?

My Agave had a pup which I am carefully growing into a birthday present for my Mother-in-law. It had taken off when I moved it to the hot August sun, but after over 2" of rain the past two days I had to move it to the shaded patio.

On another note, my poor flower bed is draining poorly. The Zinnias closest to the agave flooded out and look horrible. Anyone know a resource for building it up? Our shrubs are also turning yellow. You would think a husband who works at a nursery would know what we need to do, but he doesn't.

[coyote]

Our shrubs are also turning yellow.

If the shrubs are evergreens, or the soil is poor, they may need nitrogen. I like the pellets that you can just scatter on the ground around the plants. For the flowerbed, is it possible dig a little trench to let the water drain off? It may not be a permenant solution but you may want to wait till the soil dries out....dry soil is not as heavy to work with as moist soil.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa- I love that plant!! Does it have a name other than it's description?

It's Latin name is Fenestraria. It's a pretty commonly sold succulent.

[Fredwina]

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey Fredwina- watch out it's addictive!
You live in the perfect place for cactus and succulents. Me, I have to scrounge up every bit of sun for them I can on my windowsills....and still leave room for the cats!
Looks like a nice prickley pear there. Is that a real flower bud on that spiral-y one?

[fidlfreek]

Hey! So this little succulent that I've had for 2 years has started blooming for the first time! She's tiny (about 2 inches across) but I'm worried about the little brown dots. Any ideas?

[Aggie_Ama]

Fidl- That is a cool little plant but I don't know what might be making it brown.

Astrophytum is blooming! I will snap a photo tonight, looks like they are going to be yellow blooms.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Fidlfreak,
To me that looks like some sort of scale....they are little sucking bugs that build a hard shell over themselves. Florida red scale is an example. Here in the northeast I got some white scale on one of my cactus, and I read up a bit and got rid of it by rubbing a Q-tip soaked in alcohol on each scale several times over a couple of weeks. Mine were only a few dozen scales though, so it was easy.
You seem to have a lot, and you might want to cut off the most badly affected leaves, and perhaps swish the whole plant in a mild dish-soapy bath, followed by the alcohol treatment? Make sure your plant is in an airy place that is not stuffy.
Just a few thoughts but I don't know for sure.

[fidlfreek]

Ok so I have to do something drastic or my beautiful little gem will die! Ahhh!! I'm a bad mother. She is on a windowsill w/ other succulents. Plenty of air, I mean as much as anywhere else in the apartment. Will get right on it. Thanks Bleecker!

[Aggie_Ama]

My astro blooms came and closed (I promise photo next time) do you cut them off? Let them fall off? This plant is supposed to bloom multiple times a year but I am clueless on how to care for it.

I think I need to water them today as well but was waiting to see if the driving rain came through so they didn't get over watered. These aren't supposed to be stressful!