Does anyone else keep these plants . I have been steadily building up a collection

I am sure you probably know this already, they are non existent in wholesale and very rare in collections. Difficulty to grow makes them less desirable and on top of that have likely had less human exposure than lets say lophophora, ariocarpus, obregonia, epithelantha and whatnot due to their remoteness and did not have the time circulate across specialists and then commercially. The sad part about the genus is that they are being poached ( we mentioned that one smuggler Andrea) and that their numbers are in a decline.

I think here in the UK we have been lucky that some members of our society have taken a major interest in these plants many years ago and have been at the forefront of their classification . There was a study group that produced a journal on South American cacti called the Chileans that started in the 1960s you can find more information here
https://www.cactusexplorers.or...
Graham Charles wrote this excellent book on copiapoa and has done a lot to grow /distribute the plants in the UK




I am sure none of my plants are habitat collected . The plants look very different in cultivation, rhe poaching is very sad and it goes on in many areas still. I recently heard a talk from an explorer who regularly travels to South Africa . The amount of conophytum that are being poached and sent to Asia is staggering. The crazy thing is it's even plants that are widely available. Apparently the Asian collectors want wild plants
Steve

Just look at this collection of a uk grower 😍 these plants are likely 40+ years old . You can see they are very different to habitat plants but beautiful in their own way . This chap recently passed away and a local company are doing an amazing job of sorting and selling the collection . I think these will be out of my price range


And here is an amazing shot of his greenhouse . What an achievement a lifetime of dedication

I have killed 1 of those....Sure will grow them, if I can find a seed grown, or pups grown that within my budget range. A lot of those in here are degrafted ones.

Kaktus said: I have killed 1 of those....Sure will grow them, if I can find a seed grown, or pups grown that within my budget range. A lot of those in here are degrafted ones.

I haven't lost any yet .i am extremely careful with water . Their source of water in habitat is a times only morning fog . Some only spray their plants rather than fully water to try to replicate this natural process . I also read that it is often very windy in habitat which has a cooling effect on the plants, they like bright light but can have trouble in very high heat. I am still very much in the learning phase .

Copiapoa hypogaea is the only 1 I grow.

elgecko said: Copiapoa hypogaea is the only 1 I grow.

Not in my collection yet Steve . How do u you find it to grow . Looks like you have kept the right growth form and are getting plenty of flowers
Steve

Added this one to the collection in early 2018.
I've had no issues with it. It grows very slowly.
Flowers easily.

When you made the post, I then watched a video on Copiapoa hypogaea. They mentioned if it is watered too much it will grow tall. I guess the main plant I'm doing very well with the watering.

I started some seed in 2023. In the video they also started some seed at the same time. However my plants look nothing like the ones in the video, or my mother plant.
Mine are very tall and skinny. The ones in the video were short and the size of a dine / nickle.
I can see I must be watering these too much. Another issue I might have with them, I did not know they have a large / long tap root. I have them in a tall pot, but I placed something in the pot to fill up some of the space before putting my soil in the pot. I probably only have maybe an inch to an inch and a half of soil in the pot, so it is very shallow.
I wonder if I re-potted them and backed off on the water, if they will get the proper shape back or if once they have grown out of form, they are out of form. Seems like it may be too long of an experiment to find out.
I may start some more seed. I've been thinking of removing all the spent flowers off the plant. It is several years worth. When I removed 2 or 3 flowers back in 2023, that's where I got the seed from.
Each flower has a few seeds.

elgecko said: Added this one to the collection in early 2018.
I've had no issues with it. It grows very slowly.
Flowers easily.

When you made the post, I then watched a video on Copiapoa hypogaea. They mentioned if it is watered too much it will grow tall. I guess the main plant I'm doing very well with the watering.

I started some seed in 2023. In the video they also started some seed at the same time. However my plants look nothing like the ones in the video, or my mother plant.
Mine are very tall and skinny. The ones in the video were short and the size of a dine / nickle.
I can see I must be watering these too much. Another issue I might have with them, I did not know they have a large / long tap root. I have them in a tall pot, but I placed something in the pot to fill up some of the space before putting my soil in the pot. I probably only have maybe an inch to an inch and a half of soil in the pot, so it is very shallow.
I wonder if I re-potted them and backed off on the water, if they will get the proper shape back or if once they have grown out of form, they are out of form. Seems like it may be too long of an experiment to find out.
I may start some more seed. I've been thinking of removing all the spent flowers off the plant. It is several years worth. When I removed 2 or 3 flowers back in 2023, that's where I got the seed from.
Each flower has a few seeds.

Thanks Steve
I haven't tried growing seed yet so I can't speak to how they should look, but they do seem stretched .you could try repotting and see how they go on . Rather than bin them, you could try burying some of the stretched part .
When I got my plants from our chairman he had some that were crazily stretched (these were mature plants ) As I had picked them up relatively inexpensively, I was brave enough to behead some of the most extreme ones . I am pretty sure they have rooted .Your experience shows why copiapoa are expensive. To grow plants properly, to decent sizes, takes a very long time 👍

Well this is the latest purchase i collect in a weeks time. It's probably been around as long as me 😃


Looks bigger on the pic above than it is when seller uses hand for reference

Still quite a decent size, and those small tattoos near the nails of the sellers distracted me, never seen people made those kind of dots and cross tattoo.

Kaktus said: Still quite a decent size, and those small tattoos near the nails of the sellers distracted me, never seen people made those kind of dots and cross tattoo.

To be honest I prefer that it isn't massive 👍

Calderana

There is an online magazine called Carpophyma published in New Zealand that covers cacti and succulents along with some politics and music. Very pro Ukraine. This link goes to a Dropbox account that contains the most recent issue.

This issue has the 5th in a series on travels in Chile called "The Chilean Raid" looking for Copiapoa and Eriosyce in habitat. That article was originally published in French and is translated here. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...

This is a link to the website for Carpophyma which contains all of the issues since May 2020. https://62428e8038489.site123....

@Jerrytheplater
Thanks Jerry for that link . Will have read . Here is my smallest growing copiapoa 'rarrissima'. Always seems to have this patchy beat up look .it offsets and take up water quickly . Very small heads . Maybe I am overwatering which is causing the columinar type growth . more info on link
https://www.cl-cactus.com/fnfi...

Steve

Hi Ketsui73
Its an interesting genus and you have many nice species. I have just a couple.

I have two Copiapoa humilis, first purchased at the Connecticut Cactus and Succulent Society show and sale of April 4, 2023. My most recent photo was taken last year on June 21, 2024 when it was blooming. I just sprayed all of my plants with water today, their first water since last fall 2024. :


And I just bought a new one last week at the CCSS Show and Sale on April 12, 2025. I have not taken any photos yet. It is a single head, no offsets yet.

@mjguitars8
Hi again Mike to be fair my interest in this group started by accident . The chairman of our local BCSS branch sadly passed away and I helped with the clearing of his massive collection of plants and books . Unfortunately he did not ask for help soon enough and the plants had a very rough ride with no water for 2 years ,cold temps due to a broken heater and a large mealie bug breakout . I was supprised by how well the copiapoa has coped . At the charity auction I came away with quite a few and this started my interest in the group which have a lot of affinity with ariocarpus that you grow . Did yours come with labels ? I love the spines on the second one . Looks like Echinoides bridgesii but I could be wrong 😃 still trying to wrap my eyes around the differences. There seems a lot of variation within species
Steve

@Jerrytheplater
You are growing the humilis well . So many get too much water and look stretched.
Steve