Plantmail: a Conophytum bonanza
Conophytum bilobum gracistylum
There's a man who holds monthly WhatsApp sales and he offers conophytums from time to time. I was late for the sale and surprised to see that everyone was going made for the stapeliads on offer and not interested in Conos. I put in an offer and to my surprise, I got them all. Some of them are species that I already have but they are very saleable at shows and they sell for quite a lot more than I paid so who needs more justification than that?
They arrived on Wednesday and although they had roots, you can never be sure that old roots will still be viable after replanting so the task is to gently strip the old leaf husks off using fingernails and pointed tweezers. This is not a job for the careless or impatient but 2 hours later it was done. Stripping the husks exposes meristem tissue close to the stem and allows a mesemb to make new roots and the technique applies to all mesembs.
All potted up: now the next paradox: don't water them for a few days,give the plants to settle in the soil and micro damage from handling to heal although Conophytums do appreciate a little misting and I did that. I'll only water next week. They will take a while to settle in but this is the start of their growing season, they adapted to their semi desert environment by resting during the hottest summer months and re-emerging to grow in autumn and winter.
Some of the plants I got last year as cuttings that have settled and are flowering now
Conophytum bilobum
Conophytum pellucidum
Conophytum friedrichae looks and behaves like lithops but for some reason it's classified as a cono. Must be something to do with the seed pods
Conophytum uviforme is one of the species that flower at night, this group has strongly scented flowers with very thin petals
Conos are fast becoming a favourite, they are much easier to keep than lithops, provided you follow their particular growth schedules and they love the heat in the greenhouse.
can manure also be applied into the soil for faster growth? or the plant grows better just in natural soil?
No, manure will kill these plants, they evolved to live in the desert where the soils are poor and they are meant to be slow. Fast growth makes the plant structure weak
ohh now i got you their growth are opposite of how some flowers are being reared and nurtured
I think I am going to do it. I don't have any plants in my home and I am going to start a succulent garden. What is a good starter plant?
First question is where in the world are you? What amount of light you get and what are your winters like
Oh I live way far up North ... with very hard winters. But my home has big south facing window. They would definitely be indoor succulents. That said there are few succulents that grow wild in a desert micro-climate nearby with similar winter temperatures.
Plants like Sempervivum and Orostachys are easy to keep and some cacti are also extremely cold tolerant too
Cheers:)
Wow! You’re very patient and good with delicate plants! They look much happier in new pots. I do hope they’ll grow fast and you could sell them at a good price
Thank you!
You know, that these varieties I have never been able to obtain them in the collection, it would be very good to exchange, pity to be far away and not to know how to send.
The Conophytum are beautiful, many species I have seen on the internet. They must be expensive ? @nikv.
Very nice your plants my friend. I loved this one 🤩.
Greetings from the island 🇨🇺 and happy day !!!
Conophytums are not very expensive here if you buy small cuttings but the price goes up a lot for large clumps. Small cuttings like these are 1-1.5 HBD but it takes about 4 years for them to fill the pot. They are quite slow from seed
Are you sure you're not living in an alternate dimension? These plants are so alien looking and beautiful.
They always seem flike some kind of sea life and it's interesting that ththey grow in areas that are ancient sea beds
They're enigmatic species, and it wouldn't surprise me if they have retained some ancient marine geometry in their form.
!LOLZ I don't think that is the task that I am up to. I am too impatient to do that, and also I tend to be very clumsy, and will likely destroy the species. However, I can say that the flowers are so beautiful.
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Now they look cool in their new pots 😍
I also did some tiny gardening stuff this morning, and yesterday evening making drank some mealybugs with alcohol 😂
Mealybugs need lots of alcohol!
Yes!
😆
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These are so cute and pudgy. With their flowers they remind me of some fancy dessert.
Now that you mention it...
I have been late as usual, but today I can see your beautiful cacti. The places where I can go to buy cacti I can't find any of these specimens.
They aren't common globally because they are slow and although easy, they are quite particular with their watering requirements
Yes, I realize that most of your species are not found around these parts as they are over there.
I congratulate you for those beautiful specimens and for presenting them here.
Those are adorable. I always find it interesting when you post about the your succulents. I have always loved how they look, but I've never really known anything very deep about them.
I don't know how I missed your post when it was new, but somehow I did!
Hope you are doing well and I appreciate your support. 😊 🌵
Thank you! It's easy to miss my posts, they are very infrequent due to the electricity problems we've been having although we seem more stable (for now)
I miss your posts... 🥺