My (non-flowering) Echinocerei

[Wilk]

Here's another transformation, Nivosus, which looked very sorry after losing it's roots but took very kindly to being put in a Morrisons plastic cereal type bowl with holes drilled in the bottom:





A choice species though by reputation not easy to flower.

[juster]

Another interesting set of photos and this plant certainly looks much happier. My attempts with Echinocerei have been rather unsuccessful, but you have inspired me to try again. Thanks for posting.

[MikeT]

I've been meaning to add to this thread for a while, now finally sorted some photos. My Echinocerei live in cold frames; the ends are left open, not glazed, all year round, so the plants get whatever winter temperatures are around, along with a bit of rain or snow for the plants at the edges of the frames. They have flowered better in the cold frames than they used to do in the greenhouse, which I take to be a benefit of lower winter temperatures. Many will flower in 2¾" pots. Most of the plants shown are grown from seed, with BCSS or Mesa Garden seed.

E. viridiflorus davisii flowers are rather small, but plenty of them,

russanthus also produces small flowers, not so many

these are all from the same batch of russanthus seed

Coccineus (roemeri) has larger flowers.

E. coccineus SB236 is described in the Mesa Garden catalogue as variable colour (or something similar). Mine all seem to be pink, apart from an older one bought as a plant.

E. x roetteri also has pink flowers

Apart from the viridiflorus, the previous ones are all in 2¾" pots, so don't need to be too large/old to flower.
Some of the larger plants in flower:

E.triglochidiatus

rigidissimus

rigidissimus

polyacanthus

a different polyacanthus

triglochidiatus

Finally, E. fendleri (that's what the label says; not typical flower colour)

So definitely worth persevering with your Echinocerei, and perhaps allowing more exposure to cold winter temperatures to encourage flowering.

[Wilk]

Mike

It seems that it is left to me to thank you for the inspiration gained from your fabulous pictures. I am interested to know just how much cold they have withstood. I recall it got VERY cold about 4 years ago. did they go into "special measures"?

I have finally finished my new cold greenhouse and the transfer of the first plants coincided with the first frost of any note this year. Here are some pics. I should be interested to know how much cold E. Pentalophus can withstand as it always looks to me to be a plant which might be a bit sensitive to cold??? The same question also could be asked about E. Gentryii.






In case anyone wonders the plant with furry leaves in picture 2 is a Buddleia (Crispa??).
The biggish plant towards the right in 3 is Soehrensia Bruchii, another I am hoping is hardy.

[Peter A]

I think I want a rigidissimus. What a beautiful flower! Very good pictures, all of them, as well. I'll echo Wilks's thanks...

[MikeT]

I am interested to know just how much cold they have withstood. I recall it got VERY cold about 4 years ago. did they go into "special measures"?

The 2009-10 winter was pretty cold at times, but I had only a handful of casualties in the unheated greenhouse and the cold frames - no worse than a mild winter. The following year was also very cold, didn't seem that much worse, but obviously conditions crossed the threshold of what many of the plants could endure. About ⅚ of the greenhouse plants died. They included many that I'd had for decades, they'd lived all their lives in an unheated greenhouse. In the 2 cold frames, losses were much lower, percentage wise. The cold frames contain mainly small opuntia types, Echinocerei, and smaller Agaves. The Echinocerei were mainly undamaged. One old 3 headed polyacanthus died, started to rot, and was consigned to the compost heap. Months later when digging out the heap, one of the offsets was found still alive. It was rescued, potted up, and is the 2nd of the 2 polyacanthus shown above. The plants had about -16C or so that year. the cold frames have no glass in the ends, to ensure good ventilation, so give minimal temperature protection. For many of the Echinocerei, winter cold seems positively helpful in terms of flowering the following summer. I have one coccineus which has ben planted out in a large bowl for several years, pre- 2009/10 winter, and is fine. It gets all the snow and winter rain. Doesn't grow much but does grow slowly; flowering seems to be much more summer weather dependant that for those in the cold frames.

[Wilk]

It was not the coldest winter on record up North but temperatures in my octagonal still got down to -5c. So what effect did it have?

Salm-Dyckianus

Buds for the first time, but it's only a small plant which might have flowered for the first time in any event??

Polyacanthus

A couple of buds but it flowered last year without frost.

Enneacanthus??

Another first time flowerer but again it seems to need to get quite big before flowering. This is a cutting.

Nivosus

Lots of growth but no flowers yet. It is said to be a shy flowerer though.

Koehresianus

The plant which prompted this thread. Nice new growth but no buds on any of my 4 plants (yet?)

Nichollii

Nice growth but no sign of buds.

Coccineus

Is this the proof ? Could that be the start of a bud?

Berlandieri

A small plant in a 3 inch pot. I was worried this might not have survived the cold but it has. The bigger mother plant stayed in the warm house and has no sign of buds. Is there just a hint of a bud on the left hand stem?

C. Strausii

Well at least one of them liked it. More buds by far than ever before.

[Wilk]

One I featured in bud has now flowered. I don't know what it is so suggestions are welcomed. Enneacanthus perhaps??

[Wilk]

Another year has gone by and the same frustrations prevail. My cold greenhouse got down to about -5c this winter, enough to cut back my Iochroma Australis to ground level but not enough to kill any cacti.

The usual Echinocerei have flowered:

Gentryi
Polyacanthus
Salm- Dyckianus
Chloranthus
Morricalli
Metornii
Rigidissimus

I have also had a new one to add to the list in Sanpedroensis:



However, the same old ones refuse to produce flowers year after year:

Koehresianus
Coccineus (last year's bud turned out to be an offset)
Triglochidiatus
Arizonicus
Acifer
Engelmannii
Berlandieri

Last but not least there's Pentalophus:


The plant is growing well. Compare it with photos earlier in the thread. Why won't it flower?

Are there any characteristics which the non-flowerers have which set them apart from those that do flower. They all get the same cultural regime.

[rodsmith]

Are there any characteristics which the non-flowerers have which set them apart from those that do flower. They all get the same cultural regime.

It is undoubtedly true that some species are more shy in flowering than others, but I have no doubt that individual plants within the same species have different flowering habits. I have two Gymno baldianum plants, both grown from the same batch of seed (my own). One is quite a bit larger than the other but the smaller of the two has budded for the past two years whereas the larger plant has yet to flower. Having said that, you seem to be having more than your fair share of "non-flowerers".