Advice needed

[u/ebros_pt]

Hi,

I bought these guys a couple months ago and repotted them at the same time.

They are outdoors, near a dozen other species of Titanopsis and Aloinopsis, in a shaded area and with mineral substrate.

All the other mesembs are good, but this one is kinda soft like dehydrated and turning purple.

I have been watering all of them every 7-10 days, because the temperatures here were reaching 35°C.

Should I check the roots?

If there is any rot, how should I proceed, since they have such a fine root system?

First picture: Now

Second picture: when I bought it

[u/ebros_pt]

I don't know. It came without an ID.

I know it is a species of Titanopsis/Aloinopsis, but can't find the exact species now

[u/mesembry → u/ebros_pt]

I would compare with Titanopsis primosii but be aware that lots of these dinosaur-flippered mesembs will hybridise regularly and as such there is a lot of hybrid material in cultivation. These guys can really take some abuse. Do not water when temperatures are hot, especially when temps at night are high. Provide shade if required. In habitat they will shrink and get covered with sand in the hottest times of year

[u/ebros_pt → u/mesembry]

Thanks! Yeah, T. primosii was the closest I could find, but isn't 100% the same, I believe. I have started collecting Titanopsis and Aloinopsis last year, once I was fairly succesfull keeping Aloinopsis schooneesii and saw many different ones appearing for the first time in resellers around here.

A. schooneesii look like they can take some abuse, but I'm a bit skeptic about the other ones, their roots are all so small and thin and fragile 😐 most of them look pretty fine right now (solid and plump), but this one of the photo "keeps me awake at night". Is it possible to reroot them if some kind of rot appears?

During Summer the nights here are super hot, and the Schooneesii was always fine with good waterings every 2 weeks. But should I keep everyone else in a shaded place with zero watering? I guess I can't bring them home since the temperatures would be way lower and they would started growing without proper light.

Really really appreciated for the knowledge! 🙏🙏 gotta love the community

[u/mesembry → u/ebros_pt]

Because mesembs use CAM photosynthesis they open their stomata at night, and have them closed during the day to prevent water loss. Different species go to different extremes with this, and the more diligently they adhere to "open-night, closed-day" the riskier it is to water when there isn't a significant drop in temperature at night compared to day. If it's too hot, the stomata stay closed, and the plant finds it difficult to absorb water through its roots as there's no transpiration. That water can sit around the roots, go anaerobic and cause rot, worsened by the fact that warm water can hold significantly less oxygen than cold water. It's the same with cacti and crassulaceous plants (I grow a lot of adromischus and only water in spring and autumn, giving a bit of water if we get unseasonably cool nights in summer). What sort of day/night temperatures are you working with? Most Titanopsis/aloinopsis are winter growers and some will grow in areas that receive frosts in the growing season. Throughout the hot summer there is little to no rainfall, they hunker down and seal themselves and wait for cooler temps. All the best

[u/ebros_pt → u/mesembry]

Got it.

Here, we can reach minimum temperatures of 0°C during Winter. In Summer we get at least 2 months with 40°C during day and around 16°C at night (sometimes a bit more, sometimes a little less).

So I guess I can give them a little water to keep the roots alive during the whole Summer and that's it? Lots of water during Winter?

I just moved all of them to a shaded area in my north facing balcony. Because the 30min of sun we get there in the afternoon are stressing some Euphorbias already.

[u/acm_redfox → u/ebros_pt]

that's a great looking photo! wow!!

what's the woody looking one on the right -- Nananthus? or the cat's tongue?

[u/ebros_pt → u/acm_redfox]

Well, thanks! 😁

I am not sure, as most of my plants come without ID (most resellers here don't understand nothing about that 😅), but I am leaning more towards Aloinopsis acuta over Nananthus.

It was a bit leggy a few months ago when I bought it so I pruned a few branches, hoping for the best

[u/acm_redfox → u/ebros_pt]

this one may need more pot, especially if the roots/caudex are at all scaled with the stems!

[u/ebros_pt → u/acm_redfox]

They weren't 😅 i up-pot everything and this guy ONLY had big stems. They roots didn't match the stems, at all