would appreciate an ID on this one

partner went to an auction and came home with a truckload of pots and plants.
this was the most interesting of the lot. it had outgrown its pot and was full of weeds. it was also in a pot with no drain hole. thankfully, whoever had it, knew not to over water. the "soil" was rock hard and dry. this is the before picture. since i took the picture, it's been re-potted, weeded and cleaned up. it had apparently just flowered so i doubt i'll be getting any flowers until next year.

it was a real fight to get it out of the pot; hopefully i did no permanent damage. time will tell.

this was id'ed on the id forum as being Parodia leninghausii.
any thoughts on this id?
after looking at PF pictures, it certainly seems to be the one.

Certainly looks like it to me, but I'm no expert. Nice old plant. If you had to break some roots during repotting, keep the soil dry for a week or two to be on the safe side. The plant seems like a real survivor to me.

Do we get to see the "after" picture? :)

lol, absolutely!
here it is in a wider pot without an indented rim...so much easier to slide out when the need arises. i didn't put a lot of soil in the pot. that's why it may look like it's sitting down inside. figured it didn't need a ton of soil right now. in a year or so, or when it starts producing a good root system again, i'll lift it and put more soil in.
i have it on the front porch under the overhang. it gets sun but no rain.
i would normally put this in a clay pot but it will be getting hauled around if we have a freeze this winter and this is so much more "back friendly".

Beautiful plant. I have one of the same. The spines are soft to the touch, right?
I am wondering how you got such a big plant out of the pot with the indented rim? Did you break the pot or cut the roots/soil? Its hard to get a good grip on a big cactus, even on with soft spines, and pull it out of the pot. Its hard to imagine how your accomplished this task. Thanks.
Helen

the spines are soft but that didn't stop it from leaving many of them in my knuckles (through 2 sets of gloves)! lol

i took a long serrated bread knife and cut straight down along the pot where there was still room (no pups) and then scooped out the soil on that side. then i laid the pot on its side and pushed at the base of the plant in the direction of the emptied side. i was then able to stand it up and cut down on the other side. then i took a beach towel and wrapped the plant and just kept wiggling and pulling until it came free. it took about a half hour but it finally came free with a pretty good chunk of root system still intact.

Thanks! What a great description. I could imagine the process exactly.

lol, i left out all the swear words.......

Leninghausii has been a superb cactus for me. It loves lots of water, grows quickly and does not show the slightest hint of rotting in my rainy Northern California winters. I love them!!!1

that is so good to hear!
my P. magnifica also loves water although i do not water in winter. we don't have much rain in winter and i do cover mine with a blanket if the temps drop below freezing but it has withstood 17 for short stretches.

here are two pictures today.
the first is P. magnifica in bloom.....it blooms all year here unless we have a really cold winter.
the second pic is the new one....with two little buds! yay!

I look forward to the blooms. Here is mine but I have never had blooms. It needs to get turned or else it leans, as you can see.
Helen

i love all your plants! such an interesting mix.
i wonder why yours has never bloomed. it seems like such a toughie.

i'll post here when i get flowers.

Great looking cacti! I agree, P. leninghausii handles the winter rain here like a champ, no problem. I grow mine dry in a clay pot in day-long sun (rooftop patio). It's super slow but does not complain about the extreme exposure. That P. magnifica is really true to the name... love the super branchy growth habit and eagerness to flower.

ya gotta love 'em!

it took all this time, a little over 3 months for those little buds to finally decide to plump up and bloom. it was 80 today and they opened this afternoon. we'll be 25 tuesday morning so this will get hauled into the garage or blanketed. i haven't decided which yet. at least i was able to enjoy the blooms before the freeze.

Really beautiful blooms!

Wonderful description of processes. Thanks very much. Useful!

you're very welcome.

edited to add that i opted to put it in the garage where i know it will be safe. the P. magnifica is in a pot i can no longer move so it has its usual blanket stuffing, then a fleece blanket and then a quilt. it has survived colder temps for longer periods in the past so i'm not worried about it. next year the new one will be left outside with blankets.

This message was edited Jan 6, 2014 6:07 PM

I have moved to a massive coastal sun locale in Santa Cruz, CA (probably like Baja Costero's)and if you water these plants, they actually grow quickly and send out lots of pups. In fact, a number of mine have toppled from "multiple births" on the South side of the plant. They will have to be repositioned to account for the prolific pupping. I don't believe it's possible to find an easier cactus, except maybe for opuntia ficus indica which isn't nearly as pretty.

mine get regular water in the summer. the new one not so much yet but only because it was newly re-potted in fall. this coming summer it will bust out with lots of new babies, i'm sure. i agree; it's an easy beginner cactus.

Beautiful flowers trackinsand.

thanks, helen. i sure hope yours blooms for you soon. maybe it needs a little food?

I haven't had much luck with this plant but my other Parodia species seem to fair better.

I already posted my blossom. I came across this older post quite by accident and so decided to put my picture here too.

good for you! your plants all look amazing and healthy.
mine are all good too. we had a very mild winter, for a change, and now a normal, hot but rainy, summer.

Beautiful plants and flowers tracksinsand. Thats a great looking Adenium.

thank you!
i've had it a long time.

Beautiful cacti, helenchild, and Debi, that is one of the nicest desert rose plants I've seen, so full. The cactus are just gorgeous, we have been much drier this summer than the usual, guess that is why my succulents looks so good this summer. I don't have many cacti because of the dog, but sure do like the P. magnifica.

This message was edited Sep 10, 2015 7:03 AM

i have recently acquired this plant, but the large one in the pot has a huge "crack" in it, near the base. I have propped it up with short support sticks to prevent it toppling over. Is there anything I can/should do about the crack?
TIA.

If it keeps wanting to topple over you may have to take it off. It could very well root by itself (let the break/cut dry out for a few days and then put in a pot with fast draining soil and leave it alone - ie. do not water or protect it from excessive rain, until it feels rooted) and then you have another plant.
On the other hand if it firms up and the support keeps it up right and it keeps growing it may just be fine.

The crack looks old. Fresh cracks will heal but I'm thinking your cactus is beyond that point. If you decide to let it break off, follow mcvansoest's instructions. I have re-rooted a lot of broken cactus and the key is have patience and leave them alone.

Daisy

I use kitchen scissor style tongs when handling cactus. I find them at the Goodwill store sometimes but you can buy new ones.
I too have rerooted broken cactus. Seems my success rate if about 50-50 so its worth a shot. As Daisy says leave the plant alone, keep it bone dry for quite awhile, weeks for sure and longer if its a bigger plant. I had a shelf break and crash down - lots of broken plants :-( so I have several now I am trying to reroot. I'll try and get some pictures soon.

Oh, and don't bury the broken end in the potting soil. Just snug it down so the entire broken end is in contact with the soil and stake it to keep it still in the pot. I use bamboo stakes all the way around and then tie it with green garden tape.

Thanks, everyone. I'll take your advice and leaveit alone unless it topples over or otherwise indicates it is dying. If it topples, I will attempt to re-root as per directions,

I thought I'd show you my plant that fell off its shelf (actually the shelf fell and all the plants fell) and broke. I found it quickly and was able to prop up the broken part as you can see by the stick next to the tall piece. The break wasn't complete, say maybe 1/2-3/4 of the stem, and positioned itself properly without a problem. Its been about a month and seems to have sealed itself back up. You can see the scar.
I also had a few other breaks. The pictures show the stumps - one was actually broken last spring I think and is now putting out buds. The other stump looks sad. I have some hope the tops will reroot. I am using expanded clay balls as a medium. The holes in the side of the container only allow about an inch of water in the bottom. Its a good method.

I have a thousand questions: Why did you use expanded clay balls? Aren't they usually used in hydroponics? Is that your usual cactus medium or is this an experiment? Interesting idea - I've read where people are breaking them up and mixing them with regular potting soil to improve drainage. Let us know how it works.

The sad stump in #1: There doesn't appear to be a lot left to survive. Healthy roots won't help without a little top. Try treating it with a fungicide as it appears to be succumbing to rot. The rot will go right down the center and into the rooting system. If you can find a powdered version, that would be best as you certainly don't want to add moisture at this point.

A fresh break will heal itself in time. Jojo's break is old and scared over; that break will not heal.

Daisy

seeing any cacti/succulents in plastic containers makes me cringe, personally. they really need to be in clay pots.

Ever tried growing Aeoniums in clay pots? Doesn't work so well. I'm a big fan of all kinds of pots (clay pots for certain things, plastic for others) and personally only cringe at black nursery cans, but I'll use those too, when the other options run out. :)

It kind of off topic but I'll to do a little follow up on the questions.
I keep most of my cactus and succulents in expanded clay pellets. It works well. The picture shows the holes I put about an inch up from the bottom to create a reservoir but not let water to fill the container.
Since switching I have lost very few plant to rot, especially in the winter. I use to have trouble especially keeping Adeniums through the winter but not now. The pellets allow for lots of air circulation and room for root growth. Water moves up from the bottom through capillary action.
I even get volunteers.
I learned the technique from a former DG member about years ago. If I remember her name was SallyO. She called it s/h (semi-hydroponics)

I'm not sure about Aeoniums, I've never tried to grow them, but have seen a very nice specimen of A. arboreum in the botanical garden in S. FL, it was in a clay pot. Honestly I wonder why I don't see more around here, you'd think they could do well if kept out of the rain.

I guess it all depends on your climate, but with our humidity here in Florida all succulents do better in clay pots or in non irrigated ground soil, some I never have watered, like my aloes.

Just sharing some of my collection over the years....