I noticed yesterday that my Pachypodium geayi lost its last leaf... thought it might be a nice time to share a status report and ask you kind people how your Pachys are doing. Sound good? Pictures too?
First picture is P. geayi in its least alive-looking state today. You can see the last year's worth of growth up top, which I think is great given I has just ripped the plant out of the ground and put it in a 3-gallon container with very little roots.
P. densiflorum here went deciduous a couple of week s ago. I think it looks kind of cute without the leaves, actually.
P. rosulatum has has purple leaves more or less ever since it left the greenhouse. But they're only being lost one at a time and the plant remains pretty leafy still.
P. lamerei will probably keep these sad-looking leaves until March or April, when the new year usually starts.
New P. lamerei has a profusion of heads. This I like.
That densiform is a nice looking plant. How long did it take to reach that size? I have a small succulentum and didn't even know they lost their leaves. Mine is under lights inside today. It is also one attempt at SH. LOL I hesitate to post this and yes it is living in a used sour cream container.
C
That densiflorum has spent a year here. I was surprised that after I received it bare-root and potted it up, it just kept growing without the slightest pause. I guess it had all the energy it needed stored up. The first time I tried to order one of those, it got crushed in the box (point impact directly at the plant's stem) and nothing ever happened after that. So that was a minor tragedy. But I like the new densiflorum better anyway....
P. saundersii here went dormant about a month ago but looks like it's growing a new set of leaves already. Could be a false start, but I'm guessing it'll go somewhere.
Even though these plants are clearly going in and out of dormancy, I still give them about the regular amount of water, except when the temperatures go down (and by "low temps" I mean 8°C = 46°F at night), then it's a bit less often. So far they seem to appreciate the attention. 3-4" pots get weekly water, 5-6" pots get water every 2 weeks, larger pots get water every 3 weeks, and that's always water until it comes out freely from the bottom of the container.
This message was edited Feb 4, 2011 5:20 PM
That's a good looking plant for a years growth. It's difficult to find a mail order nursery that carries many species and most are pretty small specimens.
C
The awesome thing about that plant is that when it flowers, it branches trivaricately. I am so looking forward to my first flowers.
Is it mature enough to flower? I grow a few Euphorbia but know almost nothing about Pachypodium.
I don't really know. It could be a year or two more. But I think I see three branches on the plant right now, and that makes me think it might already have flowered...
Palmbob's information about Pachypoduim was pretty interesting. Now I want several! I like the densiflorum, bispinosum and brevacaule, though it sounds more difficult to grow.
C
My P. bispinosum is blooming now. I cut it back or it would have a lot more flowers.
The P. horombense is looking like it is just starting to loose some leaves.
P. succulentum has stayed the same all winter. I just love the caudex on this one with the hole in it. Really gives it some character.
My P. eburneum looks like it finally went to sleep.
P. Densiflorium is starting to loose some leaves.
Sorry, I must have forgot to put the picture in of the P. Densiflorium.
Where do you place these plants when temps warm outside and how much winter watering do you do. They are all nice. Your succulentum pic on another thread made me order the tiny one I have.
C
I put them all outside in the sun for the summer and just hose them down a lot. I do water with can sometimes with food. In the winter I just water when the reservoir is empty. It is not too often. Maybe every few weeks or so.
How much did you cut back your bispinosum? I really like the horombense, and that succulentum with the built-in birdhouse is great.
The horombense is cool but I cannot find a source for one right now. I am sort of paranoid about filling up the reserve since I had a few instances of rotting. I am sure the water would be fine in summer.
C
I cut the stems back to about an inch or so above the caudex. I like them compact. Newton I don't think it hurts at all not to water them. I have gone winters and done that, too. Definitely don't water the brevicaule if you get it. Mine did rot.
I went and snapped some group shots of my Pachypodiums. Some have name tags, others I know the name and few have become mystery plants.
Helen
A few more.
H.
A few more. I don't know the names of the ones in this shot that don't have name tags.
H.
Oh dear. Here they are.
Very nice plants. How long have you been growing those, did they start out as small specimens? I really like the plant on the left of the last picture.
Cheryl
The one on the left is a grafted Pachypodium brevicaule. It is doing well but I read on Bihrmanns site it can be propagated from cuttings and it occurred to me to try a piece of this one to get one on its own roots. Has anyone every done this?
The other two in this picture are P. saundersii. These bloom well for me.
H.
Here is a very tall one, P. rutenbergianum.
H
Thanks Cheryl,
I have had them all for about 3 years. I get plants and then figure out how to grow them. With all I have learned here on DG I hope to get more flowers and growth from all of them this year. Wish me luck.
H.
I think the brevicaule is so interesting, I have been eyeing a small one for a while. I did read they tended to rot more than others of the species but maybe someone who grows an ungrafted plant can answer about propagation. Buying plants and then trying to get them to grow is something I do too. You have a nice collection, I assume they go out for the summer.
C
Yes Cheryl, they all go out in the spring, summer and into the fall. Thats when they grow, bloom if they will and flourish. They are all in a holding pattern in the house.
H.
Lovely plants, Helen, and not the slightest bit overpotted.
LOL Baja. Especially after looking at the pictures I realized new pots are in order. I will probably wait until its time to move them out in mid-April. I will try a few in s/h.
Helen
I'm inspired by this thread to get some more Pachys. Besides P. lamerei, I have P. geayi that is resting too. It has lost all buy 3 leaves. The clothespin is about 3" tall.
Looks just like mine!
In Werner Rauh's Madagascar book (Vol. 1) he includes a picture of about 10,000 P. brevicaule plants (of good size, he estimates 30-50 years old) which were dug up in the wild for sale to collectors. It's impressively tragic... How far we've come with plants propagated in greenhouses.
Cheryl, I usually make it a practice to seek out easier plants to grow first. In terms of easy, fast growth the lamerei and saundersii are by far the most rewarding. I was warned the densiflorum would be "tender" but have had no trouble with it. My personal favorite for best style is P. namaquanum.
Oops, the picture.
I really like the low squat types LOL and I guess thats what interests me about the brevicaule. I will probably buy a few more small plants and see what happens. I don't think I can afford any larger specimens.
C
