Astrophytum

Small flowers this year, about half the size they usually are. The soil is too gritty, so it doesn't get enough water/nutrients/both. It's on my To Do list. Each one of the bigger white dots along the edges of the lobes is where a flower was in the past. They don't re-bloom in the same spot, though. Flowers only form from the center, on the newest growth. There are more buds hiding under the flower. #sunlover

So gorgeous

Nice! Interesting about the flower buds 🌞

So cool 😎

My Astrophytum pot had a casualty, which I finally replaced. A. capricorne in front, myriostigma quadricostatum back left, and a pair of ornatum (the new additions) back right.

Looks good! I like the white stones. I hope I find some this spring. I think I ordered seeds but I want a full size one now. 🌞

@sunlovin thanks! The stones are pumice. I normally use it as a soil amendment, but it makes a nice soil topper for a couple years until it discolors from the soil. Astrophytum are pretty unusual to come by except from specialty growers. The good news is that I hear they're easy to grow from seed! 😁

Oh good about the seeds. They always rot on me so if I have 25 of them I’m upping my chances. Lol. Pumice, nice. I have some. I was going to use it in my substrate. I won’t use it on top in Vegas because I want the stones to all match. But I like the look in pots.

@sunlovin I think you should be able to get a good number of viable babies out of 25 seeds! Pumice is definitely my drainage substrate of choice. Muuuuch better than perlite bc it doesn't break down into a mass of featherlight white sand. 🙄 I got about 70 lbs of fine pumice for free sometime last year, so I've been using it for absolutely EVERYTHING. I don't even know what I'll do when I run out bc I've become so reliant on it! 🤣

Wow! You lucked out. I’m going to check to see if I can find crushed granite I hear people use that too. 🌞

@sunlovin just grab a bucket and a shovel and take a drive in the desert! 😂 If you have a dry wash nearby then that would be perfect. A quick search says that the geology around Vegas is mostly limestone and dolomite, but there's some granite, too. Alternately you can get it at a landscape supply place. I have a few cacti that came in crushed granite & wash dirt. They're slower growers (fewer nutrients..?), but rot issues are nonexistent.

Haha that’s true! 😂 I think what I’m worried about is bringing something to my yard that I don’t want like bugs, weed seeds or bad things that might be lurking in the soil. Not that it couldn’t be in a bag of rocks either. I read Lowe’s in Vegas has a good selection. 🤔🌞

@sunlovin Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. There doesn't tend to be too much of that stuff hiding out in desert dirt. Do whatever you're comfortable with, tho! 😊

One time I found the most amazing plant I’ve never seen before. I dug it up and put it in the yard, and I’ve been pulling it’s seeds ever since. It took me 6 months of searching to figure out what it was. It’s because it was a native of Australia, called a Bluebush. A small succulent type plant. It seriously grows without roots or water. It grows Everywhere. Even in a tiny crack in the driveway. Never again will I do that. 😩

@sunlovin Ugh, that's like me with the stupid wild lantana that planted itself in my yard. "Cool, free plant," right? Omg, it's been an absolute BLIGHT, sprouting EVERYWHERE, and it's ABSOLUTELY UNKILLABLE. That's good to know about the bluebush, tho. It looks pretty in cultivation! Looks like something I'd buy if I found it at Lowe's among their Australian plants. I wonder if it would still be problematic potted. 🤔

@sunlovin if you want something similar looking that doesn't spread like crazy then try an Eremophila hygrophana (Australian blue bells). It's a fairly slow grower, blooms year round, super low water needs, and in 7 yrs I've never had it self-propagate. I've seen it at Lowe's, and a lot of local nurseries seem to carry it now.