Mike, where are you? I'm in St. Cloud.

I tried growing this plant when I lived in Phoenix. Didn't work very well there, probably because it was too hot in summer. I am guessing that it might be treated like a Stapelia here; it should be quite happy outside for the summer, since conditions here are not wildly different from coastal California at that time of year (i.e., warm but not hot and fairly dry). The challenges inside are probably 1) not overwatering and causing rot in the winter and 2) avoiding legginess at low light.

I'm guessing that keeping it dry is key at this time of year. If you could arrange some extra heat and light to get it to root that would probably help.

Any other opinions welcome, of course.

-Bill

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your take on it. I live in Minneapolis, and I think you're right about the over-watering and legginess issues. In the interests of full disclosure, I attempted this once before, maybe 10 years ago, before I had any facility with cacti and succulents whatsoever. It was over-watering and low-light that killed them then. The medium I used was sand, which seemed like the right choice because I had seen ice plants growing all over the beach dunes in California. I didn't realize at the time that sand will hold a lot of water, and that it basically turns to concrete once it's wet, holding moisture close to whatever plant material is potted in it, eventually causing rot. Anyway, now I have Carpobrotus edulis and Carpobrotus chilensis, each potted in clay pots, with a very light mix.

I may just wait a while and hope that they put out roots. If they haven't begun to do so within a few weeks, maybe I will lightly spray them on a sunny day. I was thinking that a light spray with some Superthrive in it might help with rooting. I may also take your advice and put the pots on a heat pad.

Bill, what do you grow up in St. Cloud?

Mike:

I've got a bunch of stuff here, at the moment 78 cacti and about 150 succulents. I grow them all sorts of improvised ways. I've got a light set-up in my office which is mostly for Crassulaceae which can't resist growing in the winter, little cacti on windowsills, and a shop light in my chilly basement for assorted other cacti and succulents. I'd be happy to correspond, since you're relatively local.

I suggest the hot pad because I took some cuttings from my Stapelias about Thanksgiving, and put some under my lights and others just in my living room. The ones under lights (with some associated heat) rooted very quickly, while the others did not. I then moved them to my light set-up, and they rooted. I don't have any Carpobrotus here, but when I had both them and Stapelias in Phoenix they seemed to respond to environmental conditions similarly.

-Bill