I put my one in the garden, it is said they grow faster in the garden!? Anyway, again fast draining soil and keep dry when leaves change colour and fall off until new leaves appear. Mine did not grow much this past season, but the weather was so funny, it only got leaves about a month ago, much later than it should have had it.

Beachplants...

Thanks for outlining your growing conditions.

I will have to grow my Cypho. in a container. I have such a short growing season...maybe, three months outside...that most of the time this plant will probably be indoors, in a sunny window. Container-growing is vastly different than in-ground growing.

Grateful for your advice. It was nice of you to help.

Frank

I have one also in my garden here in Fl. I find it has a short growing season. With our short winters you think it would grow sooner than it does. I do not water it, it only gets water when it rains. I think if it got more water it would have a longer growing season. But it is what it is, I'm to lazy to water it.

juttae is painfully slow in containers. With your short growing season I would plant in the garden while active to gain some size then dig up for dormancy. These plants a very tough and chopping roots annually will not hurt it.

This plant gained all it's size from being planted in the ground from '95 to 2008 when it was placed in a container. From '08 to 2011 minimal size gains have been achieved while potted. You will get better growth in larger containers but is still slow

2008
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2011
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Yep - caudex - that is what I refer too!! Lets see another 6 years in the garden! I can do that! Thanks for the pics and I am smiling while typing!! Real beauty.

caudex1:
Great looking plant....I guess? Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Do the two lumps on the upper mid-caudex remind you of something? : )

I guess there's no substitute for letting the plant grow in a large bed. If the growing mix is quick-draining, do you think a very large storage tub....say 18 gallons...would be a substitute for a garden bed? I can give this plant as much room as possible, but I must be able to bring it indoors for the cooler months. If I have to, I'll plant it in a big tub, and put the tub on a dolly, and roll it into my house. I'm not risking double hernias for no plant! : )

tom termine:
Can you tell me what the approximate temperatures are in the sun-room while the plant is dormant? Thanks for the cultural suggestions.

I'm glad I asked for advice. I learned what I needed.

Frank

Frank -

My winter temps in the sunroom run from 60s to low 70s by day...down to 50 at night. I think the most important factor is the dry dormancy, however. As soon as I see those leaves start to shrivel, I begin to withhold water.

Tom

Tom....

And with that important bit of cultural information, I just about have the complete story for growing this plant. I think I can now meet the cultural requirements without too much difficulty.

Can't wait to get started. All I need is the plant, which will be here soon. Fockea edulis seeds too.

I also have seeds coming from Mesa Garden...but I need instant gratification, that's why I also bought a plant. Hedge my bets!

Thanks again for the help.

Frank

A deep container would work better than a wide one. A wide container stays wet longer closer to the root mass, where a deep one will drain quickly away from the roots.

Growing any plant in a pot, on a hot patio, is risking overheating of the root zone. Be prepared to water this plant almost daily in the summertime.

If you have an 18-gallon tub, try a pot-in-pot planting. Put the Cyphostemma in a 3 or 5 gal plastic pot, and drill 1/2 holes all along the sides. Bury this into the tub. Roots will escape out the holes and into the tub, leading to better and healthier growth.

Come fall time, use a spade along the sides to prune the roots, pull out the pot, and let your plant go to sleep. In the spring - wash, rinse, repeat.

I give my Cyphos a head start around April. I put them somewhere warm, indoors, leafless. When you see leaves sprouting, they can be moved outdoors. Mine are typically outside May until Thanksgiving. You can water them plenty while in full leafy growth. As the weather cools in Sep/ Oct, I stop supplemental watering - they just get rain. Frosts are tolerated easily.

If you don't have a cool place to keep them during the leafless dormancy, you may get growth out of season, which usually means not nearly enough sun to keep growth looking good.

X

Hi Keith, I just wanted to say that your plant is so awesome and I never get tired of seeing pix of it, your plants are other worldly.

All the additional information is very helpful.

X in NYC ....
Thanks for that great suggestion. As I read your comments, it occurred to me that the double potting would be a great solution to the weight of the 18 gallon container. Should the same growing medium be used in both pots, or should something like only coarse pea-gravel be used in the larger container for super-quick drainage? I also plan on shading the container with a sun deflector to cut down on heat build up in the root zone. Watering the plants on my deck will not be any problems.

Also, I get full sun streaming through two sliding glass doors that lead to my back deck. The kitchen temps. never fall below 60 degrees, even at night. If I leave this plant on the back deck until Thanksgiving, and then bring it into the house, will I be forcing this plant to keep growing, and is a dormant period necessary? I could keep the plant dry, but I may not be able to give it the low temps. that a dormant period requires. I've read that light isn't important if the plant is dormant and leafless. How and where do you keep your plants while dormant, and, at what temps? Thanks for the suggestion about jumping the growing season by starting them up in April...I can do that also. So far, it's just the cooler, dormancy temps. that might be my main problem. I'm wondering if a high powered LED light might be an option in the dark months if the plant will not stay dormant.

Keith....That chunky plant must weigh a ton. I would imagine that under the right conditions, that these plants must live hundreds of years.

I want to let you all know that you have helped more than you can know. Thanks, again for the growing tips, methods, comments.

Frank

Frank

- You can be more flexible with the substrate in the big pot because it can easily be changed, yearly if need be. You can even play around with organic stuff that can feed the roots. Mixing perlite with cheap top soil can work. You can also throw in some annuals to help suck up excess moisture.

- Shading the container won't help much, as it is mostly the high ambient air temperatures that heat up the pots, not so much the sun. Roots in the ground stay pretty cool a few inches deep. A large pot certainly helps.

- I would let the plant go leafless outdoors, which will happen as nightly light frosts occur. Then bring it indoors, and with a little luck the plant won't be in a hurry to resume growth even if it is warm. Definitely keep it dry. Light is irrelevant. I keep mine in the garage where it stays cool, mainly in the 40's, so I don't worry about premature growth.

- I don't know if a dormant period is required for Cyphostemma. But it will be very challenging to find enough light in the winter-time, even with LED. It is much easier to keep a plant dormant, if possible, in my opinion.

x

X....

Live and learn....which is why I read these postings on these various forums and then, ask questions. I thought that I was pretty savvy, when it came to growing plants, but every time I ask questions, I realize just how little I know and how much I need to learn. Over the many years of growing plants, I killed some of the best plants money could buy. I just kill them slower now, instead of quickly. : ) so I guess I'm improving.

Thanks again for the precise explanations, then, the better suggestions for my faulty growing strategy.

Would it help if I sunk the large tub into the ground in order to keep the root-zone cooler. I'll have to, of course, also drill huge drainage holes into the tub, so in effect, both the potted Cypho. and the tub will be drained into the surrounding soil. In the Fall I could then lift the potted Cypho out of the tub, and bring in the dormant/quiescent plant, which I will keep cool, dark, and dry. I have a place in the laundry room that's very cool, even chilly. The cool nights will probably mean sometime in mid-October, give or take a few weeks. I guess, after reading your suggestions, that I should try to keep the plant dormant as long as possible so as not to induce leggy, weak growth.

I'm very grateful for your explanations and reading about your methods for growing this plant. All I could do is give it a try, and see what happens.

Frank

Frank,more about Cyphostemma juttae.
Here is a link that might be useful:Cyphostemma juttae

Frank, if you have access to the ground, then don't bother with a tub, just stick the primary pot with holes right in. That's what I do with as many of my large plants as possible. Root pruning in the fall is harmless.

October is still early, unless you're up in northern Bronx. I am in southern Nassau County, where normally nightly frosts are more regular by December. Except this year, which is like a ridiculous zone 9 warm winter. Halloween is when I typically bring more cold sensitive plants indoors, like Adenium or Pachypodium. Thanksgiving is about the right time for cold tolerant plants.

x

X....
I guess I could sink the potted Cypho. directly into the ground, but I was reluctant to do this only because the surrounding soil is not very fast-draining, and I was concerned that excess water in the pot would not drain away quickly, especially if it rains for a few days. Wouldn't this defeat the value of a gritty, quick-draining potting medium around the Cypho's. roots? I should've mentioned this point earlier. I figured: Cypho. in pot, pot in gravel-filled tub with drainage holes, tub in ground for cooler temps at root zone.

It sounds like a lot of heavy work, and again, the primary pot holding the plant may get limited drainage into the surrounding soils in heavy rains. Also, "the ground" is in an area that gets only morning sun, and not the full, mid-day to evening sun that my back deck gets. Catch-22! So, in-ground with shade, or, in a tub, in full sun, heat, etc?
Those are my two choices. What would you do in this case? In reality, the back-deck is broiling hot, and always in full sun, and my containerized plants can get stressed if I am not careful to keep them hydrated. My containerized figs love it. But the front of the house only gets morning sun, is cooler, and is shaded for the rest of the day.

I'm happy to read your suggestions. It helps me visualize what needs to be done.

Thanks again,
Frank

Frank,
How large of a plant are you doing this with?

Frank - FWIW, the things that most affect growth rates in containers vs in the landscape are our tendency to regularly reduce the foliage mass of many plants to keep them tidy and attractive, root congestion, heat stress, and inhibited root function due to poor soil choice. Root congestion begins to affect growth rate about the time where roots and soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact, so pot up or repot before you get there. Double potting strategies, partially burying the pot, shading the pot, and potting in a container that is gas permeable all help with temperature-related stress. Using a soil that holds nearly all of it's moisture inside particles large enough to eliminate most inter-particulate water retention will eliminate almost all the stress associated with heavier soils made with significant volumes of fine material.

Al

caudex1....
From what I can tell from the photo of the plant that I have just ordered, I think the caudex will be about the size of a large navel-orange...so, not a very large plant at all. It was grown from seed, about 5 years ago.

My plan was to let this plant and its roots grow without restrictions, thus, the large pot of quick-draining mix, and fertilizers - (diluted)- at every watering. I really hesitate to grow this in the ground, and growing it in a large pot, or even a small tub would be far more convenient for watering, etc....and then I can grow it in full-sun, on the back deck.

I've read your postings and have also admired all the photos of your huge plant, and noted that all the major growth took place because of good, in-ground culture, without the potting restrictions. I would also like to get fast growth, and would like the plant to get as large as possible, as fast as possible. Healthy growth, of course, not juicy-leggy-over-fertilized, weak, growth.

I will not trim the new growth...I'm not aiming for a "bonsai". So I guess,the more leaves that grow, the more food is produced, the larger the caudex, and root system.

Al,
Thanks for the further explanations. As long as I use the quick-draining mix, I should be OK, and, it would help with temperature stress if I double-pot using a larger tub to keep the primary pot cooler. Also, it's important not to let the plant become root-bound.

I hope I have approached some understanding of what has been suggested. I hate to admit this, but I can be very dense at times, much to my embarrassment. It takes a while for the new information to sink in. Mea culpa.

Thanks for the help.

Frank

U P D A T E .........

Cypho-js. both doing very well. Smaller of the two plants has huge, stiff, plastic-textured leaves, and the other is sprouting smaller leaves, BUT...I think I see what looks like the top of a "miniature broccoli" growing, tucked in the middle of the new leaves where they are emerging from the leaf buds. I see two. Could this be a developing bunch of flower buds?

I'll keep you posted.

Frank

Frank -

Very likely flower buds, yes. Flowers are very un-showy, however...

pics?

T

What a beautiful plant, I hope I'm lucky enough to find one of these.

I just acquired a Cyphostemma and, in repotting it, I noticed that there are tiny clear what looks like droplets on the stems and under the leaves. They are not sticky or wet. Has anyone seen anything like this and could they be eggs? The plant appears to be very healthy, although the root ball was quite wet. Not sure if I should spray or wait and see.

A photo would help...but it's likely that what you are seeing is not an insect. Juttae leaves display these little dropleta of resin on the underside of the leaves...