I went to a C&S show today and came home with a Cyphostemma juttae and a Fockea edulis. I have mostly haworthias and ascleps so these are outside my range of experience. They are both young and small plants and very cute. I am especially in love with the tree grape.
A few questions off the top of my head:
What kind of soil/growing medium do these plants like?
I never fertilize my plants should I fertilize these?
Once the weather cools I will bring them indoors and under lights, should I expect them to loose leaves?
How much water in general should they get over winter?
Just how slow (or fast) do these plants grow?
Growing tips? - Tree Grape and Fockea
I grow C. juttae in about 30-40% pumice and water it regularly when in leaf (approximately weekly this time of year). It loses its leaves in the winter, like the Pachypodiums. At that point I water less often (approximately every 2-3 weeks, to saturation) and keep it in a spot that's protected from winter rain. It's not a fast growing plant. I'm told it likes root run, so don't underpot it unless you're going for a bonsai effect. But be careful with the watering (and/or use a rockier mix) if you seriously overpot.
Thanks for the info :) I un-potted the tree grape because I thought it was in too small of a pot and wanted to have a look at it's roots and found it had very little roots to speak of. Is this normal?
I agree with Baja on C. juttae, I understand they like a bit of fertilization in growing season and do better in garden (for the reasons mentioned above). Does not mean cannot be potted, will possibly just grow slower. As for F. edulis, I have found them pretty tough, growing slower in winter, like fertilization, my small ones 6 in one pot doubled in size, the bigger one is growing slower. By tough I mean they are outside in the rain right now in a pot in our winter, which is not that cold, doing well. (Last part not advisable for z5). They are also in fairly well draining soil. I do not get pumice, so I have them in 50 potting: 50 3mm riversand, which seems just fine.
I have both my C. juttae and the F. edulis planted in my garden for the summer. The F. edulis is growing in leaps and bounds. I have to keep cutting back the foliage so it doesn't overtake everything. I keep them in semi hydroponics thru the winter and they do very well with that.
I can't speak for what's normal with C. juttae, but the roots on my plant were also pretty wimpy when I last repotted it. Now is the time (when the plant is in leaf) to repot, though. Don't wait until it goes dormant.
Mine grows very fast also I have it inside in my plant room that gets plenty of light and afternoon sun
I have found the C. jutte a pretty slow grower. I have it in the ground in my garden. It is just starting to leaf out.
My F. edulis grow so well in the garden for the summer. It is all leaf so you can't even see the caudex right now. I have had to cut it back a number of times already.
