Pachypodium brevicaule questions

[phyllonemus]

I'm getting the "Pachypodium virus"and have already 2 bispinosum, 1 lamerei and 1 densiflorum.

I realy like to buy a brevicaule, but according to some information on the web, thrustfull or not, is this the most difficult Pachypodium to care for.

Is the brevicaule realy that difficult anD what are the major difficulties of this plant ?

[Tina]

Hi
and yes , it does seem to be the most difficult to keep growing, I have been trying grow my plant for about 3 years now but it's not happy and looks like it's fading away, if I was you I would buy one at the start of the season, don't spend a lot & try to source one locally so it's not been unpotted & mucked around for weeks or months on end.
I got mine from specks as an unrooted plant so probably why I have had problems.
The easier thing to do is buy a grafted one but they don't always look quite right & often seem spinier.

Maybe a better grower will post on here, I was advised NOT to keep them too hot but have never had the courage to keep them at 10c in my big greenhouse, mine lives in the 15C greenhouse with the other choice Pachypodiums & Euphorbia.

[David_K]

The current wisdom is to grow them cool and not over heat them. Having said that I have never been able to grow them successfully, despite long term success with most other Pachypodium species, at any temperature and have tried and lost many over the years.
Most growers, with a few exceptions, rate brevicaule as a real pig to grow and only keep them for two to three years before they die.

[Aiko]

Mine is not a cutting, but orginally seed sown. I have mine for about three years now. But I do keep mine warm throughout the year (around 15C). However I do give it a splash very regularly, also in the winter when the leaves have shed. Have not met any problems in the three years. I have not noticed much growth, but not so strange as it is not that fast growing. I must not have looked well enough. I almost had a flower this year (it aborded), so I must be doing something (almost) right.

[Stuart]

I've never done very well with it but I've seen them grown each year at C&Js wholesale nursery in California where they grow them quickly with no apparent problems. Their seed supply comes from their own seed grown stock plants well over 15cms across which most people would assume were habitat plants though I've seen their rapid growth from seed over the years. They often have smaller plants available but I don't buy they now as they don't like a check in growth and take way too long to re-establish after bare-rooting and being in transit for a few days. They grow them at a high temperature with regular watering and feeding. In the UK, I think its just the heat, and particularly the winter heat that they lack. The best plant I've seen over here belonged to the late Alan Leach who regularly exhibited it as Edenbridge show. He kept it at a min 15C in winter and it was kept permanently all year round in a saucer of water.

Stuart

[ralphrmartin]

Its not just heat. My office is often 30C even in winter due to computers in there, but I've lost one big one a couple of seedlings in there. My advice for this species is: just say no. This is one plant that does not like being away from its habitat. Too many have been lost already. I rarely say that about most plants, but in this case, I suspect very few people manage to grow it successfully.

[Diane]

Yes, I agree that P. brevicaule is a real challenge to grow, your best bet is to obtain a small seed-grown plant, not an import or older plant - they don't like root disturbance much. Not easy to do, as they are not often offered for sale.

I've had a few ("had" is the operative word!), but I do have this one, which was bought as a small seedling (about 2cm across) about 8-10 years ago, and it's still going! It's now in a 10 cm pot, so has grown quite a bit, and has produced several "arms". I keep it in a propagator in the winter, and give it an occasional splash of water to stop the roots drying up completely, which seems to be the best way to keep them going. It will shed its leaves in winter (which this one is about to do) and I have flowered it occasionally (but not this year).

Pachypodium brevicaule

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I have also grown these from seed - these two are P. brevicaule ssp. leucoxanthemum (supposed to be the white flowered form) and these are now 3 years old, in 6cm pots:

Pachypodium brevicaule ssp. leucoxanthemum

IMG_0101 (550x413).jpg (150.13 KiB) Viewed 5325 times

Again, these will spend winter in the propagator.

[ralphrmartin]

I've even lost grafted seedlings!

[Julie]

Diane, what a gorgeous plant. You must be very proud of it! And the babies too. I've never seen one for sale, and at least now I know they are hard to grow and to RESIST, for the sake of the plant. Just like C. burgeri... I would love a red jelly tot but there would be tears before long.

[RICHAUD]

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 ?