Pachypodium brevicaule questions

[Jim_Mercer]

in a notice on this specy I read that an important thing is to water them with rainwater as they grow in quartz
real or not ?

Semi-true; I think the requirement, having looked at a number of pages found by Google not from personal experience is ti ensure an acid environment ph 3.5 to 4.5 being mentioned frequently (perhaps they copied each other). Rainwater is more likely to be acid as tap water is often treated to be slightly alkaline to prevent pipe corrosion hence many people find is best to add a few drops of vinegar (or other acids) to thie tap water before using it on their plants.

[Tina]

Hi Riny
I think Diane has the right idea, growing them from seed or small seedlings, it does seem important to give Pachypodiums a regular small drink even when they are dormant.

here's my few, this is the very sad own root plant that I must have had for 3 or 4 years, it's not dead yet but seriously unhappy but when I unpotted it it does not have the long tap root that they are supposed to have so will eventually fail I guess.

This is a grafted plant with a really short lamerei stock, I have had it at least 3 years now & it's getting nicely wide & not tall.

and my final plant is one from the 2012 national, I was hoping to get my own seed but it has only flowered once, if I put it in a wide pan it would look better but I don't have space for it at the moment.

[phyllonemus]

Thanks Tina.

[Tina]

Hi Riny,
Here's them flowering, I would go for a grafted plant until you have more experience growing pachypodiums &/or pocket money.

The albiflora one hasn't flowered again yet & only flowered this time when I had it under lights

[Aiko]

Hi Riny,
Here's them flowering, I would go for a grafted plant until you have more experience growing pachypodiums &/or pocket money.

Or sow them yourself. You can order seeds of Pachypodium brevicaule at http://www.cactus-hobby.eu/2014/WINTER-11-2014.pdf for a low price. I got 10 out of 10 germination this year. Still have 7 seedlings left.

[Tina]

Aiko
Stop with the temptation will you ,I think I'm going to order some & I blame you

[Aiko]

The list was updated a few days ago. Hurry before it is all gone!
Don't forget to order the Pseudolithos too, while you are at it!

[Tony H]

Hello,
well, I have had two of these for over eight years now, with no real problems. I do keep them in a heated greenhouse, and I do not water them as often as most of my succulents. the largest one (about 7 inches across) had a very poor root system until I cut back on the watering. They both flower every year, and seem quite happy.

[Tony H]

Well, after re-reading all the comments regarding these plants, I have come to the conclusion that it is very risky to give advice on their cultivation. It is also the case with some of the other succulents that are considered very difficult.
I can see that my own experiences on treatment, differ considerably from most of your own experiences. I have been very lucky over the years in successfully maintaining quite a few of the supposedly more difficult succulents, but, I think that it just proves that you can only say what works for you. It is certainly no guarantee of success for other people.
We all have our own ecosystems in our greenhouses and we learn what works for us in those conditions.

[Clarke Brunt]

Hi all. I just decided to search for Pachypodium brevicaule on here, as I've got an ongoing saga with it, and this thread is quite recent.

In 2014, I set a seed-pod on my P. brevicaule - I grew it from seed in 1993, and grafted as a seedling onto a P. succulentum / bispinosum type (also grown from own seed). I see I've got a photo of the plant in 1997 here http://www.viridis.net/cactus/p_brev.html - the photo is showing its age, being about as good as digital photography was back then. Also a page showing the origins of the grafting stock http://www.viridis.net/cactus/p_sucXbisp.html.

Anyway, 2014 and only the one P. brevicaule plant. I attempted endless pollination with other plants of the P. succulentum / bispinosum (possible hybrid plants), and got a good seed-pod. I sowed as soon as they were ripe in mid-2014 and got good germination. I've come to believe this idea that maybe 'foreign' pollen can induce self-pollination (or is the plant self-fertile anyway?) - so far (original blob, plus a few first leaves) they look like P. brevicaule. These seedlings inspired me to do something about keeping them alive over winter - although the grafted plant puts up with my usual 5-7C minimum on its relatively hardy grafting stock, I doubt that small seedlings would. So I set up a double 4-foot 'shop-light' (from old office) with two fluorescent tubes, and a couple of propagators under it - added pots of first year cactus-seedlings (which would otherwise have been in the greenhouse with everything else) to fill up the space. So far so good - all seedlings still looking OK. I wish I could easily generate more 'grafting stock' plants, but I never seem to get any seed on the P. succulentum / bispinosum plants (is this a sign that they _are_ hybrid?). The original P. bispinosum plant still thrives, but the old P. succulentum has struggled for a few years now.

So 2015 awaits - will they stay alive? Will they be pure P. brevicaule? I intend making a start with some super-hot chillies while I've got thye propagator and lights going anyway...

I would encourage anyone wanting to try the various elusive species to try growing them from seed. I've tried most, and most have justified their 'difficult' reputation, but I guess this P. brevicaule is a success, like the 'weed' Aloe polyphylla. Also Conophytum burgeri - maybe a partial success, but now down to only 1 plant, which is the next generation from seed from my original seedlings. But Muiria hortenseae, Dactylopsis digitata, Didymaotus lapidiformis, and Welwitschia mirabilis all did OK for a while before disappearing. Still, was only the cost of a few seeds.