The reply from Arid Lands regarding the 8" vs. 1 gallon:

" 8" plants are larger and older than 1-gal plants. Hence the difference in price. Both will flower."

So it sounds like it must be the depth of the pot.

Tyler

SoCal - I found "Arid Lands" on a search for a "Aloe dichotoma", and I got the impression they were a wholesale company. I guess not. Huh?

Rob

Hi Rob. That's a very nice aloe. The one I have is just basic that I purchased for medicinal purposes for minor burns. I always like to keep some around.

Re: Arid Lands, I guess not...? Their site accepted my order of only 2 plants. Already shipped. Should be here Tuesday. I was so excited to find the plants I'd been looking for I didn't even bother to find out if they ship bareroot or potted! Guess I'll find out Tuesday.

Tyler

Mine said: "4 inch pot", but came bare rooted. I'd rather have it that way anyhow. Saves on shipping, and is easier to pot up. IMO

I think "Arid Lands" had them; but were out of stock, and that's how I found "Botanic Wonders". I saved "AL" in my favorites, so I'll have to go back and look around again.

(Aloe dichotoma)

One of the 400; Great Tree Aloes.

Rob

Oh my! THAT'S an Aloe? I didn't know there were any that got like that. Certainly didn't know there were any aloe trees. Yours truly is a baby.

Kind of reminds me of a Joshua Tree.

I'll have to check out Botanic Wonders.

Tyler

Here's some cool pics of Aloe dichotoma (Quiver Tree).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/die-leuchtturms/31556737866/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/die-leuchtturms/31339872372/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/die-leuchtturms/31467764616/in/photostream/

You couldreally relax with views like that.

Rob

Beautiful plants. They look very mystical with that starry backdrop.

I looked at the Botanic Wonders site. Come to find out they are located in Vista, California. That's less than 45 min away from me. I'm going to have to make a trip, it'll be nice to be able to select my own plants for a change and not settle for whatever they send me. OR pay for shipping. OR wait until they arrive.

There is a jaunt to Vista in my very near future! I want one of those Euphorbia Obesa plants. So cute!

Tyler

Man, that would be very cool to actually go there. When you go; take your camera.

My favorite nursery carries a lot of rare & unusual plants, and it amazes me how many different kinds of Euphorbia's there are.

Here's a cool E. obesa.

Rob

Hey, Rob. That is a very nice one. It reminds me of a totem pole. Is it yours? Any idea how tall it is? How tall do the get, anyway?

Yes, can't wait. Nearly left work early today to go. I had to force myself to keep my butt in the chair.

However, my plants from Arid Lands came today! Lighting is poor for taking photos, but hopefully you can get an idea.

You can see how big the Dioscorea Elephantipes is. The Adenium Multiflorum root to tip is 28 inches.

I'm so jazzed. This more than makes up for that other unfortunate incident.

Tyler

Look's like it's waking up!

That Euphorbia is just one I found on a Google search.

Your Adenium look's like one of my obesums.

I saw that one on another post. It's beautiful. I can't quite make out the tag, though. What's it called?

My A. Multiflorum has a couple of buds on it, but I don't hold out any hopes that they will open with all of the stress. I'm going to pot it up in a gritty mix tomorrow. Maybe my husband won't notice...

Regarding the D. Elephantipes, I've been reading up on them some more. From what I've been able to find, they like a bit more organic matter? Not purely gritty mix? I was going to mix 50% cactus mix and 50% gritty mix containing coconut husk chunks, pumice and Growstones in a terra cotta pot slightly larger than it was previously planted in.

I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks,

Tyler

I have an appt. right now, I'll get back to you on that later.

Rob

Thanks Rob.

Beautiful blooms.

Tyler

Hi Tyler,

When I make my Adenium soil; I use a small Red bucket to measure materials. You can use what ever you want, just make sure each part is equal.

After that I transplant them into a mix of - 3 1/4 parts Lava Rock

1 3/4 parts Fir Bark

3/4 parts Pine Bark

1/2 part Turface

1/4 part coarse Perlite

2+ parts FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil

I've found that my Bonsai trees do great in the "Gritty Mix", but my Adeniums, not so much. Also, when I make the Gritty Mix, I don't use any Turface smaller than 2mm. 3mm is ideal, but that leaves a lot of leftovers.

(Lava Rock)

(Mix)

Rob

BTW, that Adenium is called "Fuchsia Flame (A).

Rob

Thank you Maria Elena for such a great nursery list!

Tyler!!! I've been looking for D. Elephantipes everywhere! Couldn't find it. Got desperate and ordered 5 seeds , but it sure can be a project for "lunatics", hahaha! I'm going to order one right now! OMG I'm so happy!

Can someone explain me pls what is the difference between fur bark and a pine bark? Is one better than the other?

Tyler, I can't find D. Elephantites there, under what category was it?

Pine Bark is flat like scales. Fir Bark is chunkier, and retains more water. Pine Bark and Perlite; are like playing cards and pebbles. If you put a few pebbles in between 2 playing cards, there would be space for air and water movement. That's how Pine Bark, Perlite (and any other granular material) work together.

Both contain "Lignin", which provides structural integrity. That's why they're both good for longevity in soils.

(Fir on the Left)

Hi Elena,

Here's the direct link to

Dioscorea Elephantipes

http://aridlandswholesale.com/oscommerce/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Dioscorea+Elephantipes&search_in_description=1&x=15&y=10

All the best to you.

You'll end up watering adeniums every day in gritty mix, Bob. That is, strictly speaking, equal parts bark, pumice and granite grit. For my potted trees (saplings, really), I use the 5:1:1 version (5 parts bark). For my adeniums, I use something closer to 7:1:1. Although after we bought this house two years ago, I got lazy and the adenium yearlings I had to repot went into 50-50 potting soil and pumice in the smallest pots I could get away with. I found that this 50-50 mix can be a spring killer if I'm not paying attention when I move them out of winter shelter. I lost 7 tworlings last spring that were in this mix. It stays wet too long and the margin of error is very small. If I had to do it again, I would have waited until early July before moving those ones outside.

Elena: I'm keen to see how it goes with your dioscorea seeds.

And I'm too lazy to scroll up and check but whoever is going to a botanical garden with succulents--you better take pictures!

Pagan

Rob, wow! Your growing medium (can't really call it "soil") is beautiful. Thank you for the detailed information. You think that would work for my Dioscorea Elephantipes, as well, assuming I could find all of the ingredients? I want us to have a long & happy life together. Little guy is already 3 years old. I don't want him to come to an end on my account.

Elena, Arid Lands has the Dioscorea Elephantipe under the geophyte category. Botanic wonders has some good information and care instructions. If you go to their information page and then click on their "Features" link. That's where I saw the info about the growing medium being 50/50 pumice and organic matter. Here is the link.

http://www.botanicwonders.com/Features-Dioscorea-elephantipies.html

I also purchased 5 seeds from an Amazon seller "if I remember correctly. Also 2 A Multiflorum seeds from the same seller. Zero percent germination on all of them. I hope you have better luck than I did.

Tyler

Don't plant deeper than 2mm. Young Adeniums can take quite a bit of moisture, so using a "Seed Starting " soil is ok.

I contacted the owner of Botanic Wonders (Al Klein) a few times about my Aloe d., and he was very nice, and helpful.

I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about "elephantipes".

Rob

Yeah. I had started Adenium seeds before with good results. I'm inclined to think the poor germination was due to seed quality or freshness.

Oh well. Live & learn. I have my plants now so all good.

Thanks for the info on your gritty mix. I'm still learning and appreciate all the help I can get!

Tyler

Thank you all for your help! I ordered two "elephants"!!!! Can't wait for them to arrive! I payed for heat pack, hopefully they will survive shipping. Tyler, can we see close up picture of yours?

Elena - Did you order from Arid Lands? They made you pay for a heat pack?

Rob

Congratulations, Elena. I'll take a picture this afternoon. I don't have a proper camera. Just my phone and tablet. I'll do the best I can.

My "elephant" baby is inside in a south facing window. It gets slightly filtered sunlight due to vertical blinds. My understanding is that this is the season that they leaf out and take off, becoming dormant when it gets hot. After inquiring from forum members, both here and the C&S forum, I planted it in a 3 inch terra cotta pot in pumice/cactus soil at about 80/20. I was also advised to cover the caudex with a top dressing of gravel since its so young, so I've done that as well. I think I posted a link above to the "Botanic Wonders" site for more info on Dioscorea Elephantipes care. It still has its leaves and while I can't for sure say it's gotten any more, the leaves it does have seems to have plumped out. Of course, it comes with its own "reserves" so it's current condition is probably not attributable to anything I'm doing right, but rather feeding on its stored energy.

Rob, I did purchase mine from Arid Lands. I also purchased the heat pack. It was not a requirement, but an option. It was only $2 and worth it to me since I'd been searching for both the D. Elephantipes and A. Multiflorum for quite awhile. Even though it was only coming from the next state over, I wanted to avoid any issues if I could, especially after "that other thing."

Tyler

BW has become one of my favorite online nurseries.

I was wondering about the heat pack, because Botanic Wonders didn't charge me, and he threw in two.

I'm switching up my lighting. I'm adding a couple of these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KM1EXXW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

with my fluorescents, & at the same time; removing some fluorescents. In attempts to lower my bill.

Rob

My "elephant" baby. Roughly 3 years old.

Tyler

Oh oh thank you for the pictures Tyler! My babies are shipped, I'll get my mix ready tomorrow :)! I didn't know that they're about 3 y.o at this size! Congratulations on your new awesome purchases, they are very interesting and unique! Waiting to see more pictures from you:)

Another question: where can I find small fraction gravel??? For some reasons I can't find anything locally. I checked two feed stores and BB stores but they don't carry anything suitable.

Rob, yes they are offering a heat packs for shipping plants at this time of the year, temps drops to 27F here (SoCa!) at nights, so it gives me piece of mind:)

Anyone else got some cool plants lately?

What kind of Elephantipes are they?

You can usually find small bags of "Gravel" (not Granite), at a local nursery.

(Dormant)

(Medusa)

Rob

Elena, I'll post more pictures when it does something interesting. Still waiting to receive the other 2 purchases. In the mean time, here is my recent post to the C & S forum. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4417925/wally-world-haul?n=2

Rob, it's a Dioscorea Elephantipes, is all I know. Does that answer the question? And WOW! Medusa leafed out really fast!

Tyler

Yep, I just couldn't read the tag in your pic. I wanted to see what they look like when they get bigger.

Rob

Hey Rob, check out this link for more info on Dioscorea Elephantipes.

http://www.botanicwonders.com/Features-Dioscorea-elephantipies.html

...and what the heck is that? Some kind of a water plant, right? Pretty cool looking. Any idea how big across the leaf is? I've seen pictures of some that are so big and sturdy that people were standing on them.

Tyler

Very cool. I just googled them; and found one of the same pics you got.

That pic above is a water lily at the Denver Botanical Gardens, and yes they can get very big. That one is about 3' across, and the one next to it is 4'+. The one's your talking about have a cup like lip around the edge; and are very sturdy. What I find interesting about those plants are; they all are covered with wicked spikes on the bottoms. Whoops, actually I'm wrong. Here's one with a sign.

Hi Elena,

Did your Dioscorea Elephantipes plants arrive safely?

Tyler

Hi Tyler! No, they didn't look too good when I got them.

Seller said they will replace dying plant but asked me to try to revive it first, so this how it looked two weeks ago

Yesterday it looked even worse, so I think there's no hope for it. I will take another picture of it when I get home and send it to seller, hopefully I will get refund or another plant.

How's the other one doing?

Rob

Well, Elena, keep trying. Nothing to lose by trying, right?

Mine hasn't grown any more leaves. I'm hoping it's still just making the adjustment. I was told that these plants are always and forever on "Africa time". Grow like mad in our winter and die back when it's warming up and everything else is waking up. Mine has the 2 big main leaves it was shipped with that seem to be yellowing and 1 little one that started after it arrived. As I mentioned before, not sure if it was due to anything right that I did or just living on reserves.

It gets somewhat filtered light in an East facing window in the morning then I move it to a South facing window in the afternoon through evenings. I have it planted in cactus mix and pumice at about roughly 25-20/75-80 in a terra cotta pot. After the initial good drink I gave it when potting it up, I've watered it a couple of times, being sure to let it dry completely between waterings to prevent rot. I took a peek at the caudex last week and it seemed to have shriveled quite a bit, but it was probably only as big as the tip of my pinky when I got it.

Not sure if by letting it dry out so much I killed the feeder roots or what. Since its reserves are so depleted (shriveled caudex) there is not much more for it to survive on. I'm hoping it turns the corner and starts to get more leaves and fatten back up.

From everything I've read they are supposed to be very easy to grow, so we're still hoping and hanging in there. I've had it for about a month now.

Let me know what happens.

Tyler

You might think about investing in a grow light, and or a heating mat. That will dry the plant out faster and virtually erase the possibility of root rot, and extra light never hurts. If these plants are sensitive, it might not like being moved around so much

I know if you even look at my Fukien Tea wrong, it'll drop all it's leaves.

If you'd like some economical suggestions on lights; let me know.

Rob

Thank you, Rob. Never thought about the moving back & forth thing. I think there is actually sufficient light in the South facing window throughout the day, especially beginning at 11:00 or so that I will just keep it in that spot.

My understanding with the Dioscorea Elephantipes is that while the foliage likes light, the caudex does not like heat & should be kept shaded. I think bottom heat might send it into dormancy. Much like the watering, it is a balance I'm trying to find.

I'd love to see pictures of your Fukien Tea, if you'd care to post them.

Tyler

SoCal -

Here's my large Fukien tea.

Now I said it was finicky, so here it is after being wired & repotted.

Here's a link to the first comeback.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2865173/fukien-tea-making-a-come-back?n=17

Rob

Thanks Maria Elena. Today seeds from CSSA arrived.

5@ Arabicums Yemen, 5 Thai Soco's, 10@ Somalenses and 20@ Swazicums.

Gosh, this thread had become about EVERYTHING but the topic!

Stuart,

You're very welcome. Always happy to share anything interesting I come across.

Did you purchase your seeds from the Seed Depot (2nd link)? Please keep us posted on germination. I am really interested to see how they rate on freshness. I certainly hope you get some great plants from these.

Oh, and please post an update on that wonderful seed you purchased from that cute little girl. Also, did you put up a "How to..." thread on creating elephant roots (X cut)? I can't find the thread but would love to bump it up for others to see. I have some "cooking" now. Aaaand... Did you see my first centipede roots? I only placed a loose button at the bottom but did lance the base rim and dust with rooting hormone. Sooo, the plants created them on their own.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4120042/question-seedling-roots?n=37

Maria Elena

Maria Elena. They are from the second link:

http://cssa.myshopify.com/collections/seed-depot

Yes i will post an update from the seeds from the cute little girl.

I didn`t have any X-cut cutting yet.

Yeah i saw your centipede roots and i commented , you are doing very good and how is your airlayering DR?

Good news from Cactus & Succulent Society of Ameica seeds, germination on the third day. All species are starting to move!!

Who are the people behind this society and from where do they got the seeds and why donated? Finally it's trustworthy.

Good germination rate!!

HBD!!! One week old.

Stuart,

Great ... Thank you for posting your results.

From their website:

The Cactus And Succulent Society Of America (CSSA), Founded In 1929, Is A Worldwide Community Of Avid Gardeners, Hobby And Commercial Horticulturists, Nurserymen, And Professional Scientists Who All Share An Appreciation For Cacti And Other Types Of Succulent Plants.

The objectives of the Society are reflected in our Mission Statement.

http://cssainc.org/

Thanks Maria Elena.

Germination results:

Arabicum Yemen; 5 of 5

Thai Socotranum; 4 of 5

Somalense; 7 of 10

Swazicum; 11 of 20