Ariocarpus to brighten the day

[Tina]

A bit of a pants photo but I still have 5 or 6 ariocarpus with open or emerging flowers, a bit worrying at this time of year as I have had rot develope from old flower remains.
Any one else got this problem * what do you do, I have been trying to pull off the flower remains once they are spent but it's messy & I wonder if I will do more damage.

[rodsmith]

Nice one Tina. I don't have any Ariocarpus but I had this problem one year with Gymnocalycium baldianum. It had flowered prolifically all summer and had a late bloom. When flowering had finished I realised too late that rot had set in and I lost the plant. You probably don't need to know this as I don't have any suggestions of how to prevent it from happening. I suppose forcibly removing the spent bloom is the best option if you can do it without damaging the plant. Is a damaged plant better than a dead plant?

[anders]

Yes, I definitely have this problem. I now cut off the spent flower with a scalpel and dust the wound with sulfur if the weather is cold and damp.

[brianc]

Hello Tina
What i do with late flowering plants if ido not want to risk losing them is to bring them
into the house for the winter, that way you at least keep the plants dry till spring.
It does not seem to affect the following years growing.
Brianc.

[RAYWOODBRIDGE]

Hi Tina
Yes I had this problem a couple of years ago, ( I think the dried flower and wool just absorb too much water ) so I now do what Brian says if I see any come into flower, bit of a pain, but at least you keep the plant, and they are slow growing and hard to get to a good size.

[FaeLLe]

Any tips on what is ideal potting mix for an Ariocarpus retusus rostratus ?
Do you grow them in pure mineral mix?

[RAYWOODBRIDGE]

Over the years the mix for Ariocarpus I use has got more that way, now it is
1 part loam
1 part peat
3 parts sharp sand
2 parts 3-5mm grit
1 part perlite
which if my maths is right is a 75 percent mineral mix, it was may be 50 percent mineral a few years back. but fashion and mixes change.
I must say A. retusus and its forms do seem to be the ones to die off if you give them a drop too much water.

[FaeLLe]

Over the years the mix for Ariocarpus I use has got more that way, now it is
1 part loam
1 part peat
3 parts sharp sand
2 parts 3-5mm grit
1 part perlite
which if my maths is right is a 75 percent mineral mix, it was may be 50 percent mineral a few years back. but fashion and mixes change.
I must say A. retusus and its forms do seem to be the ones to die off if you give them a drop too much water.

Thanks for that I decided to go completely mineral mix, went 1:1 with pumice and akadama, hope it does well I have got a 9 cm specimen that just finished flowering light pink.

Do I keep it dry all winter or water a bit? Appreciate your insights.

[RAYWOODBRIDGE]

I would keep them dry till March, unless you keep them very warm overwinter.

[FaeLLe]

I would keep them dry till March, unless you keep them very warm overwinter.

The room should be around 15C and max 20ish C, maybe 10C all winter, I have turned off central heating in that bedroom so it should help.

They will be under my usual grow lights.