My Oddity isn't doing at all yet, but want to show how Legolas is changing.



And now this.

Please someone tell me I'm not loosing it!

Very cool cresting. Looks like a scared hedgehog.

It's curving as its growing, which may eventually cause a problem as the growth ends end up running into each other. We need to watch it and see if an intervention may be required. Hopefully it won't start to push itself away from the soil and cause issues. These forms are neat because they end up looking like two fused offsets growing horizontally, but the growth points are along the curved part.

My Mauna Kea is doing the same thing as yours but some of my other crested's run along the ground but curve like a snake. The goal is to try to get them to stabilize long enough to see if they will produce offsets. An interesting challende

Thanks Twit. Please let me know what and how and I will do it.

That is so interesting to see Faye. I split this off from the Oddity thread so we won't loose this amazing Crested Legolas. It now has it's own thread.
Don't forget to add it to the database (S. 'Legolas').

I don't like the looks of this. Help, should I try dividing to save a part of the plant or just let it do what it's doing.

OOPS! lol showing my "smart as a hog" again. I forgot the photo!
Legolas

Nooooo, don't divide it. It is a fasciated Legolas. What a treasure to watch.
Wonderful Faye.

Thanks Lynn, but what is it doing? I don't want it to die, all the single Legolas did.

I can send you more of them. We will have to wait and see what it will do from here. Not sure it will bloom at all?
Wouldn't that be awesome if it turned into a live forever semp?

Crested plants are SO fabulous. I hope I have one one day, but until then I love looking at yours!!

Hi, all. A week or two back on the "unusal" thread, some questions were raised about stability of the crested or unusual forms. I've been taking some pics of mine and getting ready to do some posts about them, probably in another week or so.

In any case, I call the form that the crested Legolas is showing as a "wheel". Loosely, I've been thinking about names for some of the other forms I have seen, trying to keep them descriptive. I have examples of "wheel", "saddle", "snake" and "unstructured" for the various forms of crested semps I've seen and hope to post some pics of examples of these in that thread.

The most important thing about all these unusual forms is that some of the physical shapes make it hard for the plant to maintain established roots. If the growth form is pushing the plant in such a ways as to make it harder to root or pull the roots out of the ground, then the only alternative is to do surgery on it so that it can root. Its necessary for them to root properly to thrive and maybe reach stability later on.

Faye, you want to gently tug on the plant to see if it is rooted. My "Mauna Kea Crested" is in the wheel form and is well rooted, so I'm hoping it will do well thru the winter. The "wheel" has now grown almost 360 degrees, so it will be interesting to see what it does when it completes the wheel. I think that it may transform into the "snake" form or perhaps even spiral.

Lynn, if these plants do not do offsets, then the only way to keep them alive or propagate them will be thru division.

Just some thoughts on the subject I've been kicking around.

BTW, my parent Deep Fire that produces my crested's just disintegrated last week, so the offspring will need to carry on. No sign of ever flowering on the departed rosette, but it just fell apart.

I'll try to pick this theme up with pics on the "unusual" thread later on.

-t

Thank you so much for all advice. And Lynn, please save me a Legolas. This is one you sent me Fall of 2011. See, you sent me a "jewel"

John, if the crested forms are pulling themselves out of the ground, is there any reason that gently and carefully pushing damp soil into the void would not work? I tell newbies all the time to make a mound of mud and push the plant into this elevated soil for better soil contact and drainage. Seems to me that this concept would work to keep these special forms viable without the root shock of completely replanting them. I'm interested in hearing others' thoughts on this.

I'm listening!

Kate, Yes, that is what I've been trying to do (and its a great suggestion). In my earlier post, I did not mention and should have, that it seems like some of these don't root as well as others. Sherri sent me a crested Borimir which has been highly unstable and does not appear to want to root. It grows in one direcction for awhile, them in another, but always very slowly. I eventually had to divide it so that I could keep enough of it in contact with the ground. Part of my problem is that I have a loose mix, which wants to wash away from the plant during rain or watering, but I am afraid of rot with these, so not using anything more dense or water retentive. Because they are not rooting and it's been hot here, I've been misting daily and also watering more deeply to get the whole pot damp. But this time of the year in this climate, the pots dry out fast. Borimir has yet to develop roots at all. Deep Fire likes to root OK. Mauna Kea limited but OK.

Still, everything is surviving but just bizarre enough and demanding enough to keep me nervous and paying close attention.

Just checked and Legolas is firmly rooted. What to do other than worry?

Worry will not help it. Just enjoy it and keep a photo record of the development.

twitcher said:Kate, Yes, that is what I've been trying to do (and its a great suggestion). In my earlier post, I did not mention and should have, that it seems like some of these don't root as well as others. Sherri sent me a crested Borimir which has been highly unstable and does not appear to want to root. It grows in one direcction for awhile, them in another, but always very slowly. I eventually had to divide it so that I could keep enough of it in contact with the ground. Part of my problem is that I have a loose mix, which wants to wash away from the plant during rain or watering, but I am afraid of rot with these, so not using anything more dense or water retentive. Because they are not rooting and it's been hot here, I've been misting daily and also watering more deeply to get the whole pot damp. But this time of the year in this climate, the pots dry out fast. Borimir has yet to develop roots at all. Deep Fire likes to root OK. Mauna Kea limited but OK.

Still, everything is surviving but just bizarre enough and demanding enough to keep me nervous and paying close attention.

So, if they are not rooting, they've had no soil/mix contact. Where's the problem with introducing something compatible, yet more cohesive - just to get them started to the point that their roots will reach into your 'regular' soil/mix?