Gasteria- A decent garden centre find

[Ernie]

Picked this up for £4 at a local garden centre. No root mealy bugs on this one. It was in a plastic pot rootbound. Now in a 5 inch clay pot. BTW no plant passport on the original pot so maybe obtained in the UK.

[Stuart]

It's usually seen as 'Platinum', grown in large numbers in Belgium and Holland. Although some Continental nurseries use pots pre-printed with a plant passport, it's more usual to see one sticker on each tray of plants so not having a printed plant passport on the pot doesn't make it UK grown. Garden centre sales don't need a plant passport but clues to the origin will be the make of pot and the growing medium. I'd expect it was from Holland in a Kuma pot in peat. It's a nice plant with good leaf patterns and grows quickly but although I like it, it doesn't sell well enough for me to give it nursery space. I don't think Gasterias have ever been 'trendy' in the succulent hobby, they tend to be overshadowed by Haworthias and stuck under the staging.

Stuart

[Ernie]

Thanks Stuart. I thought it could be Smokey but it will get named Platinum.. Someone must buy them for the Dutch to produce so many. I have noticed whenever you offer the cultivars there's always good bidding on them. I find them interesting plants. Perhaps the size of some of them puts folk off. Some of mine are getting quite big. Good or bad I now have around 60, I really like them.