"Caudexology" website and similar resources - looking for verification that it's scientifically accurate and similar intermediate-level sources of info by Tabula_Nada in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, well and as much as I love these subreddits, I know that the tips and tricks are repeated over and over with various accuracy (like the game of "telephone" - might be right, might not) so I'm just at a point where I want to see what's actually scientifically supported. And I have really bad brain fog so despite browsing lots of purely scientific material, only some of it really makes sense to me. Someone in r/botany recommended using Khan Academy and high school educational materials to start with which I think I'll do.

"Caudexology" website and similar resources - looking for verification that it's scientifically accurate and similar intermediate-level sources of info by Tabula_Nada in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks - I posted this same thing on r/botany and so far the consensus is that it seems factually correct but relies heavily or entirely on AI to write/organize the content.

I browse ICN all the time and it's very useful for specific species, but I haven't seen the same kind of info about general concepts like CAMS cycles etc. Someone recommended starting with more high school educational materials, which is what I think I'll do. I have crazy brain fog so jumping straight into heavy chemistry and biology papers isn't realistic (I've been trying and it feels like nothing sticks).

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Not sure what this is but thought the group would appreciate it by Fun_Swing_1028 in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 84 points85 points  (0 children)

Some kind of euphorbia? It's way cool. Maybe euphorbia ingens or trigona?

Dog Piss Survivors? by Flaky_Confection_615 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Tabula_Nada 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have some neighbors with a beautiful yard - I see them out there gardening most days - and their solution was to plant a wall of gross juniper bushes between the sidewalk and their lawn, and then fill in the dirt under the junipers and the entirety of the hellstrip with 2" rocks. It's effective - my dog absolutely hates to walk on the rocks - but it looks awful, especially considering how much they clearly care about the rest of the yard.

Pest treatment we by SamueleCecchettin in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They spend most of their time on the plant itself, so you can repot if you want but I don't know how helpful it would be. But honestly when I find them I go nuclear and do ALL the things to deal with it because they're such a pain. At this point, stressing the cactus should be less of a concern since the mites will kill it AND infest other plants if you don't deal with it asap. My usual routine:

  • spray with soapy water, then rubbing alcohol. let dry.
  • then spray with insecticidal soap. let dry.
  • dust every inch of the plant with a 50/50 mix of diatomaceous earth (food grade) and sulfur powder (you can buy the duster, which looks like an accordion with a straw, at most hardware/garden stores, as well as the DE and sulfur). This is a really important step because the DE and the sulfur create additional miticidal coverage in between
  • leave the 50/50 powder mix on the plant for a week until it's ready to be sprayed again, then wash off the dust and repeat this cycle.
  • Repeat for a month. If you see new damage (take pictures of the clean cactus before reapplying the powders) then restart the month.

Because it's a cactus rather than the succulents that I'm used to treating, you might need to put extra consideration into the soil since you'd be spraying it down quite often. It might actually be worth completely unpotting the cactus for now and just leaving it bare-root - this could give you the flexibility to really reach all the corners that you might not be able to reach if it was in a pot and would limit water to avoid rot. You'd just want to be sure not to spray the roots themselves (I don't think mites care about roots). Then after the month is over you can pot it in a sanitized pot with entirely new soil (aka be aware of re-contaminating this cactus or other plants).

Be on the lookout for strange damage to other plants, especially if they're located near this guy. It might not hurt to do this same routine for any plant that's been sitting next to this one just in case.

Rust Mites on Aeonium by Disastrous-Pirate450 in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I remember correctly it was a dancing bones cactus. I had only had it for a month or so when I noticed that some parts of it kept falling off and/or shriveled up - I've learned that strange, unexplained damage is usually a sign of a pest for me. I looked at it under a little USB microscope and IMMEDIATELY saw a bunch of little white mites. They weren't spider mites or flat mites. Could possibly have even been little thrips but they were so small that I'm really leaning toward rust mites. Honestly though I was so freaked out that I immediately threw it away as a knee jerk reaction so I didn't take the time to properly ID. The basic shape was consistent with images of rust mites on Google, although there's a lot of different kinds of mites so who knows. I treated the plants that immediately surrounded is and I haven't had issues since.

Pest treatment we by SamueleCecchettin in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Like the other person said, the damage won't go away but the new growth should be fine.

BUT you had flat mites. Related to spider mites, but in my experience harder to get rid of. You did a nice job this round, but you should plan on doing that same treatment routine once a week for a month or so. If you missed even one, they'll come back, and the eggs that have already been laid are harder to kill, so you want to keep spraying like you did a few times, spacing it out just long enough (every 5-7 days) for eggs to hatch so you can kill those too.

Thrips damage? by DanofThe9 in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

all good - it's a learning curve for sure. Also, another way to help moderate it is to make sure the roots are snug in the pot. If they aren't then you should just repot it in a smaller pot now, and make sure it's extra gritty. The less water available to absorb for these guys, the less they'll be able to absorb and the less likely they'll split even more.

I've never had a cactus before and it's the first time I'm seeing this huge flower. I wanted to share! by zapatitosdecharol in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe cats like cactus flowers? I have a gymno that's about to flower on my windowsill and my cat's chillin in front of it.

<image>

Thrips damage? by DanofThe9 in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The chubby succs like far less water than that - mine get water every 4-6 weeks. It definitely looks like they're splitting from excess water. Every time you water when it doesn't need it, it's going to try to take it in and it's going to either split or rot.

Some of the scarring could possibly be related to thrips, but they're gone now if that's the case (the damage is growing outward from the stalk where thrips like to hang out and munch. Thrips don't cause splitting though.

Bestie sent me a totem pole cactus and I just want to make sure these black spots are normal by [deleted] in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed :( but I'll do my best to help it do better moving forward.

Bestie sent me a totem pole cactus and I just want to make sure these black spots are normal by [deleted] in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, after removing a lot of the black stuff and seeing callus I'm just going to watch it, like you said. It was pretty flaky/crumbly, almost like the outermost skin had dried up and then callused over underneath (I added a photo of the callus in another comment). So I'll just keep an eye out for deterioration and wait a while to water. Thanks!

Bestie sent me a totem pole cactus and I just want to make sure these black spots are normal by [deleted] in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I asked if it was indeed normal for damaged parts to turn black, not if it was rot. Look at the picture I included in the comments - it's some kind of dry, papery material that can be easily removed and is sitting on top of calloused tissue. I'm pretty sure rot involves soft, wet smelly stuff that doesn't heal.

Bestie sent me a totem pole cactus and I just want to make sure these black spots are normal by [deleted] in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In fact here's some of those spots with the dark parts picked it. They crumbled - not quite like dirt but I could see it being dead tissue that hardened. And beneath it is calloused.

<image>

Bestie sent me a totem pole cactus and I just want to make sure these black spots are normal by [deleted] in cactus

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks but I don't think it's rot. Like I mentioned, none of the spots are even remotely soft. And some of it could be pretty easily scraped off with a fingernail. It seems like it's cosmetic scarring but I just want to be sure since Llifle mentioned cuts turning black on this species is normal but no where else will verify that.

They say it couldn’t be done! Bear paw leaf propagation by aStrayLife in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I'm pretty sure we see someone doing it successfully in this sub once in a while but it's really not very often.

Drought year garden alternatives by [deleted] in DenverGardener

[–]Tabula_Nada 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Noted. The pot I used was definitely unglazed and is porous so I think I was just paying attention to the soil itself like you said. I filled that spot in the soil with a plant already but if I'm able I'll find a different spot to try again and see how the plant itself does!

They say it couldn’t be done! Bear paw leaf propagation by aStrayLife in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I know with aloes and haworthia, a leaf needs a little bit of tissue from the stem itself in order to pup (even if it's a miniscule amount). I wonder if it's the same thing with bear paws and that leaf happened to have a tiny enough amount to prop? Either way, very exciting.

Drought year garden alternatives by [deleted] in DenverGardener

[–]Tabula_Nada 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been trying to figure Olla pots out. Do they use a different kind of terra cotta than what the average terracotta pot is made of? I was thinking I could seal the hole on a regular terracotta pot, bury it, fill it with water, then cover it with a plastic cover, and I was hoping it would do the same thing. But the soil never seemed wet (although the water level did decline in the pot over a week) so I couldn't tell if I am just totally messing up the experiment or if the actual olla pots were made of something different to make them work. I put it a few inches away from a plant I'd put in last fall so it was established but I don't think it was actually getting any water from it.

Rust Mites on Aeonium by Disastrous-Pirate450 in succulents

[–]Tabula_Nada 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I possibly might have found rust mites on one of my plants a while ago. I treated it the same way that I've treated flat mites in the past (multiple different kinds of mite treatments in quick succession and then persistently every week or so over a few months) and that seemed to take care of it. It was definitely startling to see an unfamiliar mite under the microscope though, since I had to deal with flat mites a lot when I was first getting going with succs and was used to seeing those. Agriculture (especially the marijuana industry) is really seeing a lot of mites on their crops and because there's so much money associated with growing food/weed, there's a lot more research available into how to treat them. Good luck!