Hi
@nmumpton
Sorry I'm just seeing your questions for me.
Most of my stapeliads that survived my many repots over the last months are flowering now, or growing buds. The matea grew like a weed when I first got it. It seems to like a lot of light and warm temps.
I keep them in pure perlite, on a heat mat and under my T5 lights and give them plenty of warm, filtered water when I see new growth or flower buds.
I used to keep them in a soil/grit mix since that's what was recommended to me, but I'd rarely see a flower and if I did, I'd only see one make it to the flowering stage usually.
I think they like the heat and water combo with my lights, but the heat mats keep the perlite in their pots at 80-84 degrees F. They like a lot of light and aren't burning with my 4 T5 bulbs, I made sure the lights are high enough where they might get dark at new growth tips but not the entire plant. They'd often get really dark green / purple from too much sun when I had them by my giant south/east facing window.
@Monetwwqi I just started collecting these last summer. I became obsessed with Rhytidocaulon first, so I found most of those on ebay. I'd never seen such a strange looking plant or flower before and really fell in love with them. The more solid brown/maroon colored one is from Miles2Go, same for one of my flavopurpurea. Some of the others I just found when traveling. I've gotten a little better at noticing their stems at nurseries even if they're not flowering. I know there are some other websites that sell too (ParadiseFound, CoronaCactus)
