It's bloom time for my cacti and succulents. Some are in bloom , others are showing promise and the rest are just storing energy to bloom a bit later perhaps in the month. The Caralluma umbellata plants in my garden are full of buds at the moment. One plant however has bloomed and has made me so happy.
This being the first bloom of this year means abundance to me. I have actually forgotten to feed my succulents/cacti this year for some reason. I didn't expect much as these haven't been re-potted or given much care.
It's usually the mammillarias which are eager to bloom as summer nears. However, this year they seem to be a bit slow, I've seen buds in one of them but no signs of blooms in any of the others.
The mammillaria elongata usually produces a lot of blooms by April, but this year I see no signs of flowers. I really have to start feeding them now to encourage some blooms, maybe re-potting would also help, though I am not too sure, please let me know if you have any ideas in the comments.
Back to the Caralluma umbellata these buds look like hoya buds. I did a quick Google Lens search to see what the image of the Caralluma umbellata buds throw up and right enough it did show me varieties of hoyas. The carralluma blooms are as pretty as the hoyas I should say except for the fact these are a bit unpleasant to smell. Since I keep them on the terrace, I don't get to smell them really I just enjoy the pretty flowers.
The buds of the carralluma umbellata appear at the tip of the stem. The stems are quadrangle, long, growing up to a feet in length. They have tiny leaves which are barely visible, almost like tiny pimples which fall off leaving scars.
These plants are easy to grow; most of the time clumps of stems fall off the main plant and form new plants. The only thing that needs to be taken care off is the watering, as in all succulents and cacti excess watering leads to rot.
These plants need a good amount of sunshine but if these get direct sun at noon the do get sun scorched as some of mine have. Just feeding them some NPK pellets in February will cause these to bloom profusely. Light is the most important factor when it comes to blooming of succulents and cacti. Six hours of indirect sun is what they need to bloom.
These plants are very similar in appearance to the heurnias except that the Caralluma umbellata grows upright. There are different varieties of carallumas but I have just this one in my collection.
The buds aren't great looking when they first appear, but they do look amazing as they near the blooming stage. The deep vine red to purplish hue of the buds make them stand out. The flowers look very attractive because of the umbrella like bunches and the pretty pearl centers.
I am looking forward of more of these bloom later in the season. right now I am enjoying the first of my blooms. Thanks for reading and supporting my work.