Mammillaria luethyi

[juster]

It looks lovely Mark, well done! This really is a stunning species, I've got a small grafted one which came through its first winter OK, so fingers crossed.

[iann]

I've grown from seed, but the germination rate was terrible. I don't find M. luethyi especially hard, but it does have a large tuberous root and it is prone to rotting if you take a wrong step. There's very little left to try and salvage if this happens.

[Mark07]

It looks lovely Mark, well done! This really is a stunning species, I've got a small grafted one which came through its first winter OK, so fingers crossed.

Thanks juster, did you have to water a little over the winter? As Dianne has said I’ve heard the grafted ones may need a little bit to keep them from shrivelling up and drying out completely.

[Mark07]

I've grown from seed, but the germination rate was terrible. I don't find M. luethyi especially hard, but it does have a large tuberous root and it is prone to rotting if you take a wrong step. There's very little left to try and salvage if this happens.

Hi Iainn, It’s definitely one I’ll continue to keep a close eye on. Over its first winter just gone I stopped watering in late September and didn’t give any until the beginning of March. It did shrivel back quite a bit but that was to be expected as they do in their natural habitat. Seems to have worked so far. I think it’s helped that it was already a good age when I bought it, arrived healthy and in good shape and of course it’s on it’s own roots. I bought a few plants from Cactusloft which is based in Spain and all their plants were very good quality. I think the M. Luethyi they offer are all seed grown rather than clones as each one has a slightly different flower shade from each other looking at the images although I could be wrong.

[iann]

I don't know about grafts, but on its own roots there cannot possibly be any need for winter water. The root is many times the size of everything above ground, so it will be as shrivelled or expanded as it wants to be, which is quite shrivelled in winter.

[juster]

[quote=juster post_id=290720 time=<a href="tel:1587485003">1587485003</a> user_id=6895]
It looks lovely Mark, well done! This really is a stunning species, I've got a small grafted one which came through its first winter OK, so fingers crossed.

Thanks juster, did you have to water a little over the winter? As Dianne has said I’ve heard the grafted ones may need a little bit to keep them from shrivelling up and drying out completely.
[/quote]

Yes Mark, I was advised to give it a little water over winter, so gave it an occasional splash. This is actually my only grafted plant, but I can see that care has to be different than for a plant on its own roots. When I bought it I had an idea of trying to remove it from the graft, but don't think I'm brave enough!

[KarlR]

For me they are much simpler on their own roots than grafted. Every graft I've had has died, while those on their own roots grow without trouble.

[Mark07]

Thanks for the tips all. I'll keep a close eye on my newly acquired grafted one. It seems to have plumped up a bit after a good watering as both the graft stock and scion were quite shrivelled when I received it.

[Mark07]

Second flush of flowers with some more buds to follow.

[juster]

Mark that's really beautiful, well done! I look at mine quite often, not a sign of a bud