# hey buddy, can you spare some info on Pereskia?



## likespaphs (Jul 2, 2007)

soon i'll be growing a lot of pereskia species for a new prof and i'm getting them in as unrooted cuttings. anyone have any hints or suggestions for rooting them? i've grown bleo and grandifolia for a while without issue....


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## NYEric (Jul 2, 2007)

ouchie!


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## likespaphs (Jul 2, 2007)

yeh, but i already knew that...


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jul 2, 2007)

Pereskia roots easily....I just grew them by sticking them in a typical cactus mix, just kept them wetter...I gave them away though...nasty plants...those tiny glochids are worse than spines...Take care, Eric


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## likespaphs (Jul 19, 2007)

well, they came in today. don't look incredibly happy, but hopefully i can change that...
only left with one glochids (i was gonna say spine, but technically, i don't think it is...) in my hand i can't seem to find...















this is a Pereskia grandifolia or rose cactus





and this (drum roll, please) is the first time i've bloomed Pereskia bleo. i think it's also called wax rose


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## Candace (Jul 19, 2007)

That's beautiful. I want that greenhouse more, though.


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## NYEric (Jul 19, 2007)

Nice; and I'm impressed w/ how they don't look so thorny.


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## likespaphs (Jul 19, 2007)

oh, but they are...
do you see the big thorn sticking straight down on the rose cactus?
they seem to be grouped around the leaves so they may be hard to see.


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## likespaphs (Jul 19, 2007)

yippee! i found the glochid in my hand and got it out!


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## Heather (Jul 19, 2007)

Ouchie!


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jul 19, 2007)

Pereskia (and Pereskiopsis) can be used as grafting stock for Epiphyllums and Christmas/Easter cacti. Just split a stem down the middle, insert the cutting (trimmed to expose the cambium and make it fit), and use one of the long spines to pin everything in place. The bloom is gorgeous...but I couldn't hack the glochids long enough to see mine bloom. Forget the species name..they were given to me by Frank Bowman, who was in charge of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's cacti collection at the time. Take care, Eric


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## likespaphs (Jul 20, 2007)

yippee! the leaves have perked up and things are looking pretty good!


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## NYEric (Jul 20, 2007)

Just needed some TLC!


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Nov 24, 2009)

My son has been bugging me for Pereskia for some time now...so I finally decided to bid on a few that were on Ebay...he did real well on his SAT's, so I promised him that I would break my long standing ban....we'll see if I win...I'm sure they will make him happy...but I'll have to be sure my tweezers are within reach.....Take care, Eric


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## goldenrose (Nov 25, 2009)

likespaphs said:


> yippee! the leaves have perked up and things are looking pretty good!


Time for an update , how are they doing? Blooming?


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## likespaphs (Nov 26, 2009)

they're growing like gangbusters, well, most of them.
i'll try to take photos in the next week or so but the suckers now take up a whole bench. 
some have flowered, others nope.


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## likespaphs (Nov 30, 2009)

*update....*

so things have changed a little. here is how they look now






no flowers today but here's a closeup of the fruit of one of the smaller flowered ones. the metal clip lookin' thing is the tweezers from my swiss army knife






some things have been added, for example, some Avonia (well, depending who you ask they may now be called Anacampseros)


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## likespaphs (Nov 30, 2009)

this is an Anacampseros







some Pereskia have big spines (swiss army knife tweezers again for scale)






some turn woody pretty quickly






they like stuff with vestigial leaves


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## likespaphs (Nov 30, 2009)

Dorstenia are in the fig family. apparently the flower stalk is very like a fig, but they don't close up on themselves as figs do (?)






here's the inflorescence






then there are the weird things....


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## likespaphs (Nov 30, 2009)

weird stuff.....

Senecio are in the dandelion family











Alluaudia are found in Madagascar






this one has tiny leaves that fall off as it develops but the photosynthesis takes place in the stem.






any questions?


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## nikv (Nov 30, 2009)

Very interesting plants, but I think my fingers would be full of glochids if I attempted to grow them.


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## likespaphs (Nov 30, 2009)

actually, Pereksia don't have glochids but Pereskiopsis do.
there are three species of Perekiopsis here, though, and lots of other things on the bench have glochids. a good thing is that i have dissecting scopes to help me remove them.


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## NYEric (Dec 1, 2009)

likespaphs said:


> any questions?


R U a masochist!? oke:


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## Yoyo_Jo (Dec 2, 2009)

Glochids, eh? Never heard of 'em. Learn something every day. Thanks for the photos and info.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Dec 2, 2009)

Weird plant alert!

I thought I read "glorchids" at first...time to get another cup of joe...:rollhappy:


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