Growing Desert Cactus

The natural habitats for Stapelia species is Africa and they are sometimes named 'The Starfish Cactus', 'Starfish Flower' or 'Carrion Plant'. They grow as soft stems that spread like clumps of grass without spines or thorns, and produce some of the most beautiful flowers of all succulents. The flowers usually have a hairy look perhaps to imitate the appearance of a small dead animal. They are known as carrion flowers because when the bloom opens it gives off a deep rotting smell imitating dead animal matter. The stapelia flowers usually attract flies as pollinators instead of nectar seeking insects like honey bees, so if you like their beautiful flowers be ready for some bad smells too. Usually the odor is only strong enough to notice if you are very close to the flower, but some species can fill a room with a death like smell. Fortunately the odors are only strong for about a day if they are going to be noticeable at all.

Unlike many other succulents Stapeliads need to be uprooted, sorted and repotted every few years. Flowers occur only on new stems and each stem will only live for a few years before it is likely to rot. Every few summers it's good to sort out the new growth and dispose of the older stems to keep these plants healthy and improve flowering potential. They may grow a little in the spring, but do most of their growing in the late fall and early winter when they are most likely to bloom too. It's best to sort out the stems while the plants are resting in the summer before they begin their fall growth cycle. If this is done in the winter after they've flowered be sure to take extra precautions to keep them dry, because damp cool conditions when the plants are resting is an invitation to fungal infections. In any season it's best to lay the stems out for several days before replanting them and then pot them only in dry soil and with hold any water until they begin to shrivel or start growing again. Any time when there is a dead or dying stem in the pot it is important to remove it immediately and completely before other healthy stems can become ill too. Stapelia growth cycles make new generations and the older stems have to be removed as they become ill and die so the new ones have a chance to grow and flower.

The flowers will give off odors when they completely open and if the plants need to be relocated when it blooms it's best to move the plant before the buds form, or after the flower begins to open. Moving the plants as they are developing buds may cause it to spontaneously abort its flowers all together. These varieties flower easily as house plants in colors that range from pink through dark purples and yellow through orange and tan. They will tolerate lots of rain in the summer months, and keeping them outdoors in filtered light will encourage them to flower after they are brought in for the fall. They will tolerate very hot weather outdoors as long as they have partial shade, but they need to be returned indoors if temperatures are going to go below the 40s. It's good to keep them out in cool fall weather for as long as possible, because seasonal temperature cooling will help prompt them to bloom.

The most challenging part of growing these plants is keeping them alive in the winter months, because they can be very susceptible to fungus rot. An easy and effective watering strategy is to drizzle them with very small amounts of water on a biweekly basis and never bottom water the pots in the winter. When winter ends and they begin to grow again, they will require much more water and soaking the pots from the bottom will no longer put the plants at risk for rot. In the spring they will grow well in partial shade and leaving them out in the rain may provide them with the water they need. In the summer months they will tolerate heavy rain, but will be just as happy if the season is dry. In the fall keep them outdoors until the night time temperatures drop below the 40s, and this will prompt them to bloom in early winter. As soon as they are through blooming it is time let the pots dry out and resume only an occasional lit watering schedule until spring returns. Caring for Stapeliads as four seasons house plants is easy as long as their needs are met with each passing season.

# posted by Adv. Blogger @ 4:37 AM