I lately realised that the fan shape of my huernia "crested" cristata has transformed into long shape huernia.


I cut one from crested (picture left) , root it , and the look and feel is exactly the same as Huernia Schneideriana ( picture right), can not tell the differences
Note: I am not sure if all the ID's are correct those are the name that I got from seller or google.


I have a lot of questions about this crested thing:
1. looking at the development, at the end of the day, all the crested fan shape will become the long shape, then there will be no more crested version, where the hell the sellers get the crested huernia then? should we always cut and reroot the crested version before it grows big ?

2. I like the crested model of the cactus/succulent, Is there anyway for us to prevent this transformation to "long" shape happening, I really do not want my myrtillocactus to transform

3. Can we make the transformation the other way round, from the long shape transform to crested shape, my Huernia Schneideriana has hundreds of new branches/small cactus, but none of them is crested

Below are my other collection that has transformed from crested to non crested..


Appreciate any input/insight, tx.

Kaktus said:I have a lot of questions about this crested thing:

I will try to answer the best I can.

Kaktus said:1. looking at the development, at the end of the day, all the crested fan shape will become the long shape, then there will be no more crested version, where the hell the sellers get the crested huernia then? should we always cut and reroot the crested version before it grows big ?

Some crests are more stable than others, but when they are not particularly stable (plant in pic 1) the solution is a combination of pruning normal growth wherever it occurs, and cutting and re-rooting the crested parts where necessary. Some crests present a constant battle, and I generally lose interest when they all-out refuse to stay crested.

Kaktus said:2. I like the crested model of the cactus/succulent, Is there anyway for us to prevent this transformation to "long" shape happening, I really do not want my myrtillocactus to transform

Not that I know of. I don't think you're doing anything to cause this, the instability tends to be hard-wired, inherent in the plant.

Kaktus said:3. Can we make the transformation the other way round, from the long shape transform to crested shape, my Huernia Schneideriana has hundreds of new branches/small cactus, but none of them is crested

I have had normal plants spontaneously develop crests. It's not common but it's not unheard of. Propagate enough succulents and one or two will start cresting. There's a pretty tremendous growth disadvantage for crested growth compared to normal growth most of the time, meaning that the normal parts will continually outpace their crested counterparts, growing side by side, and the crest will tend to diminish relative to the whole.

I would imagine that plants which spontaneously crest are probably less stable (more prone to reversion) than crests which have been maintained and selected over an extended period of time, but this is not based on any particular observations. There is still quite a bit of mystery in my mind about what triggers the change, and what its molecular basis might be, but some crests are less stable than others, for whatever reason.

Here are a couple of Echeverias that spontaneously crested here.



In the case of the second plant compare these 2 shots taken 5 months apart.



Both crests gave me a few reversions but stayed mostly crested.

Thanks a lot Baja, Now Its clear for me on this crested things.. And I started to worry on all my crested succulents..

You have a very beautiful Echeverias, I like Echeverias because the plant itself looks like flower, no need to bloom. I failed in keeping Echeverias, they always "Melt" after sometimes,
too much water = melt
not enough water = dried, start watering = melt
keep in the shade = melt
too much sunlight = Die
Expose to rain = dead

So this is the future development of my Huernia Schneideriana
April 2021


Now


Future

True to the spontaneous cresting-saw a pilosocereus in a store doing that. And crested pilosocereus doesnt exist commercially.

Kaktus said:Thanks a lot Baja, Now Its clear for me on this crested things.. And I started to worry on all my crested succulents..

You have a very beautiful Echeverias, I like Echeverias because the plant itself looks like flower, no need to bloom. I failed in keeping Echeverias, they always "Melt" after sometimes,
too much water = melt
not enough water = dried, start watering = melt
keep in the shade = melt
too much sunlight = Die
Expose to rain = dead

I have about as much luck as you with echies 👍
my biggest issue in the uk is lack of light indoors . I can keep them ok in the height of summer but In spring fall the plants stretch every time . If I try to withhold water to prevent stretching then I loose too many lower leaves and end up with a plant on a spike . I got sick of restarting them all the time
Steve

Kaktus said:Thanks a lot Baja, Now Its clear for me on this crested things.. And I started to worry on all my crested succulents..

I failed in keeping Echeverias, they always "Melt" after sometimes,
too much water = melt
not enough water = dried, start watering = melt
keep in the shade = melt
too much sunlight = Die
Expose to rain = dead

@kaktus High Humidity is a problem with Echeverias. I have problems with about 50% of the ones I try to grow. Overhead watering should only be done early in the day so there is time for the plants to dry. As a collector it is better to water from the bottom to avoid the crown rot (melt).
Not enough water does shrivel them up and they do not revive well once they have desiccated. They do not need to "dry out" completely between watering like cactus and many other succulents that love to be dry.
Shade makes them stretch out and grow weaker. 30% shade gives me better growth than in full sun.
They will grow best for you as potted plants under roof . Forget about landscaping with them. We do not live in the desert. (Southern California)

I love crested plants and buy them every time I can. When I see normal growth extending from the crest, I cut it off immediately.
The sooner the better so as to leave a smaller scar.
I see crests happening where the normal plant is highly stressed.
I have several crested cactus , but my favorite one is my Euphorbia lactea.
It started out as a variegated crest but reverted to the green variety which has overgrown the slower variegated part.
Here it is in 2014


and here it is today


Oops, I need to cut off this normal growth.
I love the pink color of new growth. summertime.

Thanks a lot Bob on the explanation about echeverias, it looks like the climate in here not really suitable for me to grow them.

Really love your mixed crested lactea, really love this one, I will try to create one like this by mixing 2 plants in one pot, hopefully by time they will looks like yours. strange that the concept of mixing 2 into 1 never been applied by the nursery..

OrchidBob said:

Need suggestion on this crested echinopsis, it started to grow the normal shape..




Should I cut it or let it be? If to cut, then where should we cut, A or B? or there is other recommendation, tx

I would cut your crested cactus here



with 2 goals in mind: to keep the cross sectional area of the cut to a minimum, thus reducing the size of the scar on the mother plant; and to remove as much of the normal growth as possible.

There is sometimes a paradoxical effect where removing normal growth only triggers a bunch of branching, and even more normal growth. This tends to be minimized when you try not to leave any normal growth on the mother plant, so as to avoid some great revival down the road.

Thanks Baja, I did thought about that option, but am worried that when the 2 side dry out, they will somehow shrink inside and at the end killed the middle crested one, don't know what will be the chance for it to happen

@Baja, I've cut the 🌵 as per your suggestion, but I cut one at the time, wait for it to dry before making another cut. And have seen other 2 long shape growing at the other side.

@OrchirdBob I manage to create a combination lactea like yours, green and white, almost made a 3 color ones, but at second thought, it may be too much with 3 color.
This is the before and after






Interestingly, that the seller gave me this one for free, if I have known that she will give me this, I don't have to buy the 2 lacteas

Kaktus said:So this is the future development of my Huernia Schneideriana
April 2021


14 July 2021

Today 11 Sept 2021


The fingers are not growing longer too much, but new fingers are growing everywhere

It is a pretty spectacular plant, regardless of its confused identity.

I haven't seem crested E. lactea here in a long time. Which is odd now that I think about it, they used to be a yearly thing here.

Baja_Costero said:It is a pretty spectacular plant, regardless of its confused identity.

Looking at the normal form, it looks like it is
Huernia (Ceropegia 'Red Dragon Flower')

Hamwild said:I haven't seem crested E. lactea here in a long time. Which is odd now that I think about it, they used to be a yearly thing here.

Possibly it is an old style succulent, people do not appreciate it anymore, likewise I don't have any interest at them at all, until I saw Bob's photo with combination between green and variegated version.

Kaktus said:
Looking at the normal form, it looks like it is
Huernia (Ceropegia 'Red Dragon Flower')


Possibly it is an old style succulent, people do not appreciate it anymore, likewise I don't have any interest at them at all, until I saw Bob's photo with combination between green and variegated version.

That's a possibility! I found them kinda pricey ($15) myself, so I never purchased one. I tend to kill expensive stuff.