Succulent Collection

[KyushuCalanthe]

I have a few succulents and cacti in my collection. Here is a sampler.

Lithops sp., bought nameless but likely a variety of L. karasmontana. Currently in flower.

Another uncertain plant, this one an epiphytic cactus. It looks like an Epiphyllum and the only name on the tag was 'Aroma Gold'. I can't find an Epiphyllum hybrid with that name - anyone care to guess? Also in flower now.

I picked up this little beauty this summer, a miniature Agave, A. potatorum 'Kichijokan'. The rosette is only 15 cm across!

The infamous hallucinogenic peyote cactus, Lophophora williamsii. Easy to grow but so slow!

Finally, a rare native Sedium relative, Orostachys japonicus. It flowers in November, but not this year.

 

[JeanLux]

a very cool selection and good pics!!!
(I just like these blooming stones) Jean

 

[fbrem]

those are awesome, esp. the Orostachys

 

[Candace]

The shapes of these are so alien and cool looking.

 

[biothanasis]

Fantastic!!!! Is the last one growing on rock???

 

[NYEric]

Nice, thanx for sharing.

 

[Hera]

Very nice, very unusual.

 

[SlipperFan]

I dunno, Tom. But you certainly have an interesting and unusual plant collection!

 

[Leo Schordje]

That is the problem with peyote, it takes 20 years or more to grow big enough for a party for two. It is almost extinct in the wild due to harvesting by the 'Get High' generation. They never realize that the little plants they take are 10 and 20 or more years old. They don't regenerate in a season.

 

[Kavanaru]

wow.. I love that Agave and the Orostachys!!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Fantastic!!!! Is the last one growing on rock???

Actually it is growing in a hollowed out piece of pumice. I think I'm too harsh on it and so it won't flower. I rarely water it, never repot it, and don't fertilize it either. Next year I'll put a piece in another pot and treat it nicer - maybe it'll flower.

 

[biothanasis]

hehe...good luck...

 

[Jim Toomey]

Though I just have common ones from the big box store,
I used MSU on mine and they grew exceptionally well, and larger than they ever had!
They flower rather well too.
Jim

 

[streetmorrisart]

These are all very cool, Tom. I will admit though that I haven't mastered lithops, though every other succulent I've tried has liked me. My "specialties" are haworthias and gasterias. You certainly are in the right country to pick up incredible ones...some of the offerings on eBay from Japan are just out of this world. I look occasionally just for the fun of it (they go for hundreds of dollars usually). You might enjoy looking through this website: http://www.gasteria.com/plants.html

 

[Lanmark]

Very nice Tom! I'm partial to the Lithops, but the others are pretty awesome too. Do you grow these outdoors, inside under lights or does it vary depending on the weather?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Jim, what succulents/cacti are you growing exactly?

Robin, thanks for the link. The miniature forms of Agave are very popular here as well. The only problem with collecting anything in Japan are the prices. I'm always on the lookout for a good deal, so I never spend more than $20 per plant. You can spend hundreds, if not thousands, on just one - such is the nature of the collecting culture here.

Lanmark, I grow the Lithops outside until we get threat of frost, usually sometime in late November. Also, since they hate any moisture during winter, I keep them inside in a sunny window in a mini greenhouse. Come April they are back out in the sun. Most others can be grown outside year round since the temperature never falls below 25 F and usually not below 32 F.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I guess you don't have a squirrel problem....I cannot grow any defenseless succulents or spineless cacti outdoors here in Queens...the squirrels devour them. Usually just enough bites for permanent disfigurement, but I risked putting out an Ariocarpus retusus this summer...it was eaten down to the root.

 

[paphioboy]

Nice succulents.. Ooo, I just realized that my regular Sunday market plant seller sometimes has the 'druggie' succulent too.hehe

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

I guess you don't have a squirrel problem....I cannot grow any defenseless succulents or spineless cacti outdoors here in Queens...the squirrels devour them. Usually just enough bites for permanent disfigurement, but I risked putting out an Ariocarpus retusus this summer...it was eaten down to the root.

I had the same situation in Florida Eric. I watched squirrels dig up just about every small plant, including recently germinated seedlings of rare cycads and Araucarias. They gnawed at orchid pseudobulbs and munched bromelids to the rhizome. They even dug up my bog garden. Here in urban Japan there are few large bodied animals - squirrels do exist, but are rare inhabitants of the mountains. All we get is an occasional monkey wandering around and weasels slinking at dusk. The animal I most despise is the cat - they s**t in my garden, rip up all the moss, spray all over, and fight at 3 AM. Bloody fur-balls!

 

[Clark]

There is nothing like renovating the entire yard, with new everything, and doing some barehanded gardening in the spring. I never wear gloves. That being said:
We live next to one of those streets that is soooooo convenient for folks to drop of their unwanted pets. Summer of '07 my two neighbors trapped over 20 cats. There are still about 4 left, and they **** everywhere. To top it off, at least three of the neighbors feed them. Animal control officer-scumbag. Health dept.- need I say more? On the flip side, we also live next to a major highway, it is obvious nobody brakes for cats. Some places have dead deer, we have dead... :clap:
Nothing like planting Cannas in the spring, and realizing your holding a Baby Ruth bar.