Stapalia ID and my hoodia

Galapoheros · Jun 16, 2011

I was in a greenhouse and a woman there that was cleaning up plant junk on the ground and said, "Here, put these in your pocket." I wasn't that excited about it, it was 2 or 3 years ago. But just a couple of days ago I saw a pic in this section, it looks like I have Stapalia plants, cool, but I don't know the species, anybody know the species? Also here is my one and only Hoodia I grew from a seed, it hasn't bloomed yet.

Stapalia

Hoodia

Also here are a couple of my Cycas petrea grown from seeds, they are pretty cool looking and can get real tall. I don't think there are very many in the US.

zonbonzovi · Jun 16, 2011

All the Cycas plants up here stay very small...prob. the annual 8 months of rain

Bigboy · Jun 16, 2011

Looks to me like you have two species of stapelia. I'd guess leendertziae for the ones in the fore and background but no clue as to the one to the right of that photo. I'm not terrific at identifying these guys though, I've only recently become interested in the genus. They are incredibly vigorous growers from cuttings with full sun and well drained soils though.

Galapoheros · Jun 16, 2011

It's hard for me to tell and it looks like growing conditions can make the stems look like other species at a glance. Though I know for sure that they are all the same species because all those in the pic came from that scarred up cutting closest to the camera. I was guessing Stapelia hirsuta

I think I need to change the soil. I do have a smaller species in the same genus(I think), it has a small red bloom, somebody gave it too me with no name. I do remember being in that nursery a long time ago and seeing giant Stapelia blooms not knowing what they were, they were freaky, this is almost certainly that same plant.

Bigboy · Jun 16, 2011

Oh wow, those look worlds different from the S. gigantea that I've grown. Guess you'll have to get them to flower so we can find out. As for potting, mix sand, pebbles and just the smallest amount of clay and potting soil. The soil should be very gritty, almost to the point where you think you need more organic matter. I've kept them in potting soil with terrible results, no flowers in 3 years and a heavy grit soil like I mentioned above with intense growth and flowers from a cutting in less than 5 months. Fertilize lightly every once in the early spring and again in the fall before they go dormant. You should get some flowers before the summer is out if you get them into some good grainy soils.

Galapoheros · Jun 16, 2011

Hmm, OK, I'm going to put them in bigger pots also. I'm glad to have an idea what they are, lol I didn't have a clue until I saw a pic in a thread at the beginning of this section.

atropos · Jun 21, 2011

I think your Stapelia is S. hirsuta, the plant looks like 1 of the localities I have. Will have a look for you in the greenhouse. Will come back on it.

Your Hoodia could be H. gordonii, don't know, I don't keep any Hoodia ssp.

Galapoheros · Jun 21, 2011

I'm pretty certain the Hoodia is gordonii too, really hope to get seeds from it. It was the Stapelia I wasn't so sure about. I was leaning hirsuta also, I remember blooms looking kind of like this in that greenhouse. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...1&hl=en&biw=1003&bih=596&tbm=isch&um=1&itbs=1

atropos · Jun 22, 2011

It could also be S. grandiflora, I have a plant that looks quite the same. That flower looks like hirsuta, but has wider petals.

I'm opening a thread with my Stapeliads, with also hirsuta, grandiflora and leendertziae.

Think the best is to wait until it blooms

Also have quite a few plants without I.D.

---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 PM ----------

Here are some pictures to compare the plant. Don't look at the colour because this is chances with the amount of sunlight they get.

Stapelia grandiflora

Stapelia hirsuta

Stapelia leendertziae, still small, but I really don't think your plant is a S. leendertziae.

Galapoheros · Sep 7, 2011

Alright! I re-potted several weeks ago and it grew a lot, it's going to bloom. How hard is it to get seeds from this plant after a bloom, almost every time?

J Morningstar · Sep 9, 2011

Can you please tell me what I have? The plant is about 18 years old.

J Morningstar · Sep 9, 2011

Galapoheros said:
Alright! I re-potted several weeks ago and it grew a lot, it's going to bloom. How hard is it to get seeds from this plant after a bloom, almost every time?

I've had mine nearly 20 years and it has NEVER BLOOMED I am so very jealous I could die....well maybe just REALLY jealous.....

Galapoheros · Sep 9, 2011

I still don't know what mine is exactly haha, I don't know much about them. btw I left a PM for you a while back but I feel like you didn't see it(?), maybe you did, it's just a hunch I had. I think all you have to do to keep the plant going is to break off stems and pot them. Strange that big thing has never bloomed. Mine started after I re-potted it with a little bit diff soil. A little fertilizer or certain minerals might do it.

J Morningstar · Sep 10, 2011

Well there is tons of growth I can cut off at this point and to try starting a new plant from the cuttings in the way recommended I guess I will just have to see what happens, I really thought I was one of the only people who had a passion for this particular plant...I'm glad to see them appreciated.

Galapoheros · Oct 2, 2011

The bloom buds looked like they were going to fall off. They wilted and got a lot smaller. I thought I wasn't watering enough, but then thought I was watering too much. I quit watering and they came back. It is going to bloom, they are a lot bigger now, almost a sure thing. So has anybody dealt with getting seeds?, nobody has answered that question yet. It would be cool to get seeds. I want a freak greenhouse some day, these would be members.

pavel · Oct 2, 2011

You're pretty much going to have to wait for blooms to ID the Stap and Hood.

JM, if your Stap has been growing for 20yrs w/o blooming, I'd recommend starting a few large cuttings or making divisions and start experimenting with the growing conditions you provide once the new plants adjust/take root. For example increase the amount of light, try giving a dry winter rest or dry summer rest (yes some plants rest over the summer), play around with temperatures, etc.

JM, for your unknown, I'd almost be tempted to guess some sort of Epiphyllum or a relative. Try checking with these folks -- they're much more knowledgable than myself for cacti ID:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/cacti/

Galapoheros · Oct 2, 2011

It's why I'm kind of fired up, it was brought up earlier, I will finally know. But I've been wondering, is there a way to tell by the shape of the flower bud? Here's a pic in case. It doesn't matter much though, it's growing fast so I'll plan on posting pics soon unless they fall off for some reason.

I looked up the seeds of Stapelia, I didn't expect them to have the basic design of the milkweed seed,

pavel · Oct 2, 2011

Galapoheros said:
I looked up the seeds of Stapelia, I didn't expect them to have the basic design of the milkweed seed,

Same Family

Galapoheros · Oct 2, 2011

Cool, it crossed my mind but didn't bother to look it up. I notice now that the milkweed around here has a flower design like one of the smelly cacti I have also, it's about to bloom too but I never have been able to get that one to seed.

Galapoheros · Oct 10, 2011

Getting cloooserr. It rained too, should add some pep to it.

CLOSEEEERRRRRRR!

Stapalia ID and my hoodia

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