Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

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MikeDom
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Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by MikeDom »

My Tylecodon paniculatus (10 years old) is about 2.5 feet above the pot and tends to become very top heavy when the leaves are full size (they grow about 5 inches long), which has caused the top part to bend. The stem is a fairly even thickness all the way up and it is reasonably flexible. This year it 'refused' to drop it's leaves and go dormant until very late in summer despite being baked and dry. It stays in full sun all year round.
IMG_4778.JPG
I believe it can grow to about 6 feet tall. Before it does, is there anything I can do to get the base to thicken? Other options I'm considering is to decapitate and root the cuttings, but I read that it can take up to a year for them to root properly. I can also put trunk straighteners on to make it more upright. It grows in very free draining coarse sandy soil and gets the occasional high potash feed. It isn't rootbound. Advice welcome.
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ralphrmartin
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by ralphrmartin »

Mine bent over too, but I got some broad string and tied it up, and eventually got it to go back upright. It's growing fine now. Unfortunately a T. grandiflorus is too far gone for that treatment. Its something that seems to happen to long stemmed Tylecodons, in my experience, at least under my conditions.

Its pretty easy to take Tylecodon cuttings, so if you want to lop it in half, just bung the top in a pot with some soil and it will eventually root up and grow. I do it immediately I take the cutting, without letting it dry off etc (although I do put some rooting powder on), and its rarely unsuccessful..
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MikeDom
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by MikeDom »

Thanks Ralph, that's reassuring. I've done that to the other one but this one is just a little bit too far gone. I shall go for medieval torture and suspend it from the greenhouse by it's top, under the weight of it's own pot, with one edge of the pot resting on the ground. Hopefully that will be successful. :evil:
Mike

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Terry S.

Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by Terry S. »

T. paniculatus usually grows with a nice chunky stem if raised from seed. It is very widespread in nature and some ecotypes do have thinner stems, but not as thin as the one in the photo.

I have never tried to root cuttings of T. paniculatus. As Ralph indicates, most species in the genus do root fairly easily but I have found an exception with T. wallichii which seems a devil to root.
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by MikeDom »

Thanks Terry, I too am slightly miffed by the tendency to grow thin and tall. All the pictures you find tend to show a thickening at the base, except this one which has some similarities:

http://stores.botanicwonders.com/tyleco ... in-summer/

I picked up my 2 plants from Bob Potter and at the time they were described as being single stemmed as opposed to bushy. If I decapitate it, will that encourage the formation of a caudex? Assuming of course this might have been a cutting in the first place and double cutting will get that caudex going in a similar way to treating Euphorbia cuttings.
Mike

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ralphrmartin
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by ralphrmartin »

Actually, my T. paniculatus is not too bad (quite fat at the base, and not bending over too much), but the very heavy flower heads on it do tend to pull it over. I was thinking of another Tylecodon which looked like yours, but given the grotty weather I'm not going out right now to remind myself which one it was. I actually tied both of them up.

But now I am wondering if your actually is T. paniculatus. I'll try to get out and take some photos tomorrow if the rain stops for a bit.

I must admit I have never tried rooting T. wallichii, although one stem on mine has gone s-shaped (at about 60cm / 2ft tall), and I was thinking of taking a cutting until I just read of Terry's experience - now I am having second thoughts.

On the other hand, I've even managed to grow new tubers from the very thin wiry stems of some of the tuberous rooted ones.
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by ralphrmartin »

This picture shows 2 of my plants - on the left is T. paniculatus, and on the right is T. fergusoniae - I wonder if your plant might be the latter rather than the former?

Both were bending a lot, but I tied them together with broad tape, and they have straightened themselves out.
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Ralph Martin
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Members visiting the Llyn Peninsula are welcome to visit my collection.

Swaps and sales at https://www.rrm.me.uk/Cacti/forsale.php

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MikeDom
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Re: Bending Tylecodon paniculatus

Post by MikeDom »

Thanks for posting the photos Ralph. My plants certainly have the narrower leaves of T. fergusoniae so seeing yours side by side I am tending to agree that this is the cross as opposed to T. paniculatus. I notice that yours is in a small pot also and that the root systems really aren't that big. Yours is a nicer shape with branches lower down and I don't want a very tall trunk with branches high up that keeps falling over, so it may end up being chopped at some point, depends on how the straightening works out. The leaves are swollen when full grown and do reach about 5 inches long, making it very top heavy.

Thanks again - great plants by the way.
Mike

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Active grower of caudiciform succulents and mesembs. I don't really grow cacti (very often).
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