tarev said:You have a nice collection there Dee!

Thank you.

Here are some inspiring images so you know what lies in the future.... scroll down for the Fouquierias.

http://www.raresucculents.com/...

Baja_Costero said:Here are some inspiring images so you know what lies in the future.... scroll down for the Fouquierias.

Wow, I wish that I could get my hands on seeds for F. fasciculata. It's gorgeous.

The different Fouquierias have always intrigued me, but growing them is a labor of love and patience.

After a failed attempt to skip the patience part and get one of those mature bareroot Ocotillos they sell at the big box stores over here rooted, I decided I was going to be patient and plant a small and therefore not crazy expensive Boojum tree instead.

Better luck so far. Over the summer it dropped all its leaves and went into: WTF with that sun mode... but utilizing the monsoon and unexpected Fall rains it has started leaving out and growing a few new branches:

I find the boojum will naturally drop leaves and go dormant, in summer, but they promptly wake up in Fall, and since my container is really small, it does not mind frequent watering in Fall. But I think it tolerates being watered a bit more frequently here right now, since it is still dry here, no rain again. Mother Nature not yet ready to take over in watering.

Just some winter season photos of my little boojum tree. It is enjoying the cool conditions and our winter rains. Have to move it now to more sun, it is getting rather leggy. I should have moved it promptly to a sunnier area since light levels are rather short at this time of the year.

How are things going in this part of your garden, Tarev? My cirio woke up in winter but only really started putting out new branches (red) in the spring.

Hi Baja, my Boojum is doing some new leaves too, but it dropped some when we had a short heat wave in late April, then resumed growing some new ones again.

It has been much cooler this Spring, but very dry, so I am watering the plant a bit more. It seems to like it. Had to stake the leggy branch, just to help it grow a bit more upright. But I know it will soon go to sleep next month, so just letting it store as much water it can take for now, to see how that caudex grows. So tempting to repot, but it does not need it yet. Compared to other caudex forming plants, It is much more slower growing than Adeniums.

Slower than most, I would agree. Your trellis seems to be doing a good job keeping the sprawl under control. My plant is sprawling everywhere but I try to view that as a positive thing because it gives the spiders a place to put up their webs.

It did surprise me when the branches seems to sprawl like a vine, so I had to stake it. At first I thought maybe I have placed it in a too shaded area, so I moved it to more light, still does the same. So I guess it is just how it grows for now.

June 2019 update:

I have re positioned this plant in May, in a more filtered light area, closer to the house. It gets western sun in the afternoon so that is quite hot, but thanks to the canopy of city trees, it is not getting roasted dry. I have also been watering this everyday, with special attention to misting the vine.

I guess I was underwatering it too much before. With the correction on watering, it held on to the leaves. Usually during summer it has dropped it all, and the vine is just like a dried out twig. This time around it is different. I guess being a young plant it really likes frequent watering. It is quite slow growing, caudex not any bigger, but it is remaining rock solid, so that reassures me. Hard to overwater at this time with our very dry and hot environment.

Be careful with the summer water. In a container that small, and with the excellent drainage I presume it has, you shouldn't have any problems with moderate water during summer. I have heard horror stories about summer meltdowns, and some people even water less often during summer to avoid problems. I was advised to do this by a pretty experienced grower, but in our very mild climate I water my plant the same year round. As long as the soil is going dry or mostly dry each time, you should be fine. To some extent the loss of leaves (and definitely the cessation of new growth) during summer is perfectly normal for this plant.

That was my thinking before too, about summer being its dormant period..but I realized now, this plant can handle daily watering here, since my location is just so dry. And this particular year is cranky, seems even if we did have some heat wave days, there are more cool weather days, and quite windy which dries out stuff fast. Today, it feels more like Fall than summer here. Thankful for it..a good relief for all the plants.