Joyce's Diary

Aug 2002

The Astrophytum are in full flower at the moment. I have always been fascinated by Astrophytum because of their interesting geometric shapes. The flowers are really a bonus - and what a bonus. Twelve of my plants were in full flower today and they really lit up their space. They also have the advantage that they produce a succession of flowers over quite a few weeks at a time of the year when many of the other plants have finished flowering. I find Astrophytum quite easy to grow so long as I start watering them in the Spring a week or two later than the rest of my plants, and finish watering a little earlier. I am always a little less generous when watering them since I managed to split some special plants a few years ago. Astrophytum asterias are particularly susceptible to splitting if they have too much water before they are ready to come into full growth.

I have at long last managed to get my Adenium obesum to flower. It is about two years old from seed and though it has produced flower buds many times these have dried up before they opened. I think I have either been growing it too dry or too hot or both. I have moved it to a cooler spot and make sure it never dries out, and it is now in flower. Let's hope it does not die now from overwatering!

My seedlings continue to make steady progress. I managed to find time to ensure that they didn't dry out. Most of the Lithops have now shed their first skins and are showing their true colours. Many were becoming overcrowded in the small seed pots so I have started to prick them out into seed trays. One seed tray takes between seventy and eighty seedlings and I have filled seven trays so far! I will leave them in these seed trays for a year or more before I transplant them into individual pots. This gives me a chance to see how they are going to develop. Growing from seed means that you can keep the plants that you find most interesting in any batch. I am becomingly increasingly fascinated by Lithops and can see a time when they occupy more than half my greenhouse space. Fortunately the individual plants don't grow enormous and they don't demand very high winter temperatures. Some of my plants survived very well last winter in an unheated greenhouse. I sometimes think they tolerate cold better than they do heat. Despite ventilation and fans a few of my more mature plants have suffered scorch on some recent hot days.