Sansman - I got Some New Sans.(es)

Hi there,

Just got back from vacation in San Diego & brought home 4-5 new Sans. from new friends who belong to San Diego C&S Society. A Sans. Stuckeyi, a Sans. Moonshine & 2 others whose names I have to check. Thought of you when I saw a GIGANTIC Sans. Cylindrica (abt 36 inches in circumference) in bloom. What a sight to see! Wish I could have taken some pix. Really something!!

I'm sad to report that the Sans. T. Lillian True (you gave me) aren't doing very well. Seem to be shrivleing & drying up. Not sure why. I let them dry for over a week, potted them, skipped a week to water & then only misted the soil. The stalk (stem-like) pieces seem to be particularly bad. Have you ever heard of this happening before? I myself have never seen this. Have you ever had trouble from the tape getting stuck to the leaves? I had trouble removing some of the tape & had to trim those portions off. Any thoughts?

I also received a new Sans. from a friend in San Diego, Sans. sp Rauh 888 Kenya UCBG 60-614-l I do know what the letters mean, I just don't know if it has been recognized (named) since 1960 and would appreciate any help. Norma

Hey Norma! Ever find out anything about it? Email me privately about the sans list.

Pirate: Not sure what you did wrong (if anything). It is common for leaf sections to wrinkle and dry, but they could still put out roots and form plantlets. Don't know your soil mix either, but my Barad mix (Jerry Barad's recipe) is super for leaf cuttings. Unpotted my kirkii superclone leaf and found roots, but it took 3 months.

Good luck!

My guess for the letters "UCBG" would be University of California Botanical Gardens.

You are correct about the USCB, but I still wonder if they ever stuck a name on the plant in all this time. I will need to get to the Sans. list and see what they have to say about the plant. I have a new server, which I can't figure out how to use yet, new scanner which I can't use and a camera to take pictures and scan to all of you, if only I can learn how to use all of this stuff.
I plan to go to Lee Eby's nursery here in Calif. on Thursday, (it will be a days drive) to search out some hybrids that I don't have.
I do have the Huntington Gardens index card list, and so far have found no new information regarding the above plant mentioned. I do want to thank you for your input, it was appreciated and considerate of you to respond. Norma

PS. I have a new email address at this time.

Norma,

Is that Cactus King Nursery in Encinitas??? Do you recommend them for mail order?

I have never delt with the Cactus King Nursery, so I certainly can't give an opinion. Pirate Girl, your San. may be getting brown tips to dry air in your apartment. Try putting a dish of water with marbles to hold the plant out of the water under this plant, this should give it the humidity it needs. This information was given to me from my friend on the San. forum. Thanks Al

Crasulady

Your 'Lillian True' probably lost its roots from rot, which could be progressing into the stem and leaf bases. You don't want to lose the stems because I doubt if the leaves will come true. It's been a while since you posted your problem--how is the plant doing now? If it is still in decline, I would unpot and inspect. It may need to be repotted into a better rooting medium. I guess pumice is not available for you--I often use it straight for rooting succulents, epicactus, sanseverias, orchids, broms etc. Maybe you could root sansevierias in perlite, which cannot hold much water so would need watering every few days depending on heat and humidity.

PS: Hi, Norma ;)

JonD,

Hi again, thx, but yes, it's been a while, unfortunately, I tossed 'em, unpotted, dry & crispy critters, nothing by way of roots; haven't lost a rooting Sans. in quite some time.

Re: yr. comment on Pumice, don't' see it around NYC parts much, will look again. I tend to use a lot of Perlite in my mixes, especially for rooting. May try & get a friend to mail me some pumice from San Diego; is that too strange?? Additionally, I grow lots of Hoyas, saw yr. other response that you use Pumice for them too. I hope to try that 'cause my Hoyas propping in mix are 50/50, currently my water rooting ones are better. Also experimenting w/ rooting them in sphag. Have you ever done that? Thanks so much!!

Regular long fiber sphagnum moss, which we can't get out here, is a great medium for rooting many air loving plants. I would think it would work well with hoyas. It certainly works with broms, and also with many gesneriads. New Zealand moss is the best material, and most costly. Here, we get green moss (also called tree moss), which is mainly used for lining wire baskets, but it works too, though it's supposed to be too acidic. I try to avoid it, and it's expensive. Cooler growing plants that are suffering from too much heat and humidity also benefit from being either potted in sphagnum or potted in a small soil ball with a ring of sphagnum around and below.