hostilis Posted March 7, 2014 My C. hypogea rotted this winter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted March 7, 2014 That sucks mate I could probly send ya one or two if ya like 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted March 8, 2014 My C. hypogea rotted this winter. how could that happen? I have 3-4 of them, in varying size pots....they flower so frequently I dont think i've ever bothered to take a pic, well maybe one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted March 8, 2014 they are very hardy plants but probably bad soil mix or maybe over watering copiapoa do not need barely any water coming from the Atacama desert where it almost never rains its said they take in most of their water through condensation on their skin so most likely over watering i personally dont give any of mine hardly any water and theyre another species i grow in a soil mix which contains almost no organic matter and they seem to thrive in it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) Well I had it sitting next to my mini seedling greenhouse and I think that the humidity was leaking out next to it and raising the humidity around it. one of the pups rotted. I took it off and it was too late. it spreaded to the mother plant. It wasn't rust or black rot either, it just kind of like turned into a smooshy mess that didn't look bad. I did water it a couple times too, maybe that was why. I noticed it growing a lot and i decided to water it every couple weeks. I guess now I know not to water them much. Edited March 8, 2014 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prier Posted April 10, 2014 Finally got around to taking some snaps today. Here's a lovely cope :D 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nemisty Posted April 10, 2014 That cope is super dope prier 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katu Posted April 18, 2014 G'day jox, regarding whether this species is self fertile. All I know is my one C.hypogea has flowered many times but am yet to see fruit. Last time(no pics of flowers unfortunately) I gave the flower a little tickle with paint brush and the next day the flower aborted, dropped off. I have tried to research this myself to no avail. My thoughts are that it isn't but I am in no way an expert on such matters. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted May 4, 2014 yesterday I finally planted this out little project I been workin on decided to fill it with C. hypogea pretty happy with it for a first try 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jox Posted May 4, 2014 That looks awesome myco , Can you explain your project a little? It looks like half a boulder with holes drilled out for the cacti, is there drainage for the cactus? I would love to set something up like that when things get settled . Cheers Jox Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted May 4, 2014 cheers jox i'd be happy to explain it is whats called hypertufa its made from a mix of peat perlite and portland cement and some concrete colour added theres some good videos on youtube to give you an idea of how it works they usually make pots out of it using old plastic pots and boxes and all sorts as moulds for this i just laid down a garbage bag on the bench in my hothouse and just started piling it up so i basically just made a pile and scooped out handfulls and shaped the holes for planting then you can just push a finger through the bottom of your planter holes to add drainage holes i made sure the drainage holes were nice and big and then covered them with some mesh for bonsai pots before i planted em out with the perlite in the mix you can kinda just pat on it gently and it gives it a nice rough kinda rocky natural look its actually quite enjoyable to do i've been experimenting with it lately and have made a few pots and flat slabs for bonsai plantings and things i'll put some more pics up later of the other stuff i've made so far the possibilities are endless really i'd like to try and make up some similar natural looking ones that are just single planters to I'm hoping to get my nursery business sorted out eventually and was looking at it as a possible product to sell as i would like to be able to provide everything from pots and tools to fertilizers and plants 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) took some pics of some of the other stuff I've made so far nothing special still practicing the holes in the pots could have been a little bigger with the pots i also took a wire brush to the outside of the pots after 24 hrs gives them a nice rough kinda aged look (also note the colours are not very well representative of the actual colours alot of the pics were very over exposed i was trying to be quick in between the rain) the yellow is more like the colour of the square pot you can see in the second pic and the brown is much like the pot in pic 4 a touch darker though it also depends on how much of the colour you add to the mix as to what different shades you get a couple of flat low bonsai planters and a nice big square pot probably use this one for bonsai to i used one of those foam boxes that shops get their fruit an veg in for the big square one i used some old plastic pots as a moulds for these 2 a not so great attempt at a single planter haha looks like a little volcano and this little triple planter was my girlfriends attempt Edited May 7, 2014 by myco 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookahhead Posted May 7, 2014 Awesome job myco, thanks a lot for sharing the idea and explanation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nut Posted May 7, 2014 I actually really like that little volcano planter,I think that effect would go great with cacti,in the first photos what is the reddish stuff your using as mulch looks a bit like scoria but I can't quite make it out? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philocacti Posted June 4, 2014 So I noticed that the rat living on my roof is taking big chunks of my Copiapa, more than any other cactus on my roof Don't they have any bitter alkaloids to deter rats and such creatures? This rat bit my lophophoras once but never tried it again, did the same to most of my trichos but never again. So does this mean it's not bitter like most other cacti? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted June 4, 2014 Philo, it's imperative you feed the rats food they would much prefer to eat over your cacti...... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philocacti Posted June 4, 2014 Hahaha I can't get to kill it or even trap it.....every time I decide to, I start thinking what if it has babies to feed and other thoughts of that sort Most of my other cacti deter it with either spines or bitter taste but not this Copiapa, I'll just put a cage over it so this rat can't access it ;) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philocacti Posted July 3, 2014 (edited) Zelly - I think I wrongly accused the rat of eating this specimen After I posted this pic I noticed a worm munching on the lower right pup. It seems like these worms prefer certain individuals over others. They munch on bridgesii and crosses that were made of bridgesii, Exocet for eileen and lumberjack. They seem to prefer this Copiapoa the most. All my peruvianus, cuszcoensis, pachanoi, lophophoras and ariocarpus were not touched, except for a small mark a long time ago on a grafted lophophora. Edited July 3, 2014 by Philocacti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted July 3, 2014 i had never had trouble with rats until i had a little native bush rat of some sort hanging around i dunno what it was but it was definitely a marsupial of some kind not a rat little bugger took a chunk out of one of my copiopoa hypogea ate a nice hole into the centre of a small asterias killing it took another chunk out of a large grafted superkabuto thankfully it wasnt to bad i think there was another 3 plants he got to little bastard knowing it wasnt actually a rat was the worst part i didnt want to kill it haha i managed to get a trap from one of the local DEC guys (department of environment and conservation) managed to catch him in it and went and released him in the bush he was cute lil guy haha 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted July 3, 2014 Cute little cactus eating bastard. Hehe. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philocacti Posted July 6, 2014 Munching on a flower Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
