T-rex Plants Blog

Published weekly. Ish. You can also follow along on Instagram at @trexplants

Avoiding Leaf Burn and Browning on Thai Constellation and Albo

I recently saw a friend post to Facebook asking about how to prevent the white parts of her variegated monsteras from browning as fast as they had been - which led me to examine my own plants, and consider how long it typically takes me to see real browning or...

Caring for Copiapoas: A General Beginner’s Guide

I'll preface this right away with the caveat that I have only been growing my 'poas for the last 3 or 4 years. Compared to the venerated growers who have had some of their plants for decades, I am still a novice copiapoa grower myself. Having said that - I've only...

Summer 2023 – General Update and Garden Progress

Apologies to anyone who typically visits my blog each week, eager to see a new post about a new plant, or an update to existing specimens. The last couple months have had a lot of chaos happening for me personally, and I needed to take a step back from writing so I...
Sulcorebutia arenacea – Beautiful Bloomers

Sulcorebutia arenacea – Beautiful Bloomers

These cacti are attractive, dense little plants that produce large displays of vivid, orange-yellow blooms throughout spring and early summer. I picked one up in late 2021, and have been enamored with the attractive, dense growth since. Distribution  These are native...

Growing the stapeliad Huernia pendurata

Growing the stapeliad Huernia pendurata

This funky looking plant is an easy to grow, fairly hardy stapeliad that produces unique flowers consistently through its blooming season. I've had mine just under a year, and absolutely adore it. Origins This is a nursery hybrid between H. hystrix and H. pendula, and...

Care Diary: Astrophytum capricorne

Care Diary: Astrophytum capricorne

Many people love the Astrophytum myriostigma and its lack of spines (and many cultivars), but there's a different cactus in the Astrophytum genus that holds my heart: Astrophytum capricorne. There are, as with the myriostigma, many cultivars and clones of this...

Care Diary: How to Grow Astrophytum asterias

Care Diary: How to Grow Astrophytum asterias

These small little cacti are extremely popular for how small they stay and their complete lack of spines. They grow in a single, small globe shape, with their growing and blooming season in summer. Grown well, they are rarely more than 3” tall, and can get as wide...

Care Diary: Glandulicactus uncinatus

Care Diary: Glandulicactus uncinatus

This little cactus has the dubious distinction of having a ridiculous number of genera ascribed to it. I recently entered mine in our winter cactus club show & sale, since as a winter bloomer, it's a fantastic little cactus to show.  Deciding on the category took...

Care Diary: Gymnocalycium andreae

Care Diary: Gymnocalycium andreae

I am, of course, obsessed with the Gymnocalycium genus. As a part of that, I have a habit of picking up pairs of species I haven't seen before any time I spot them.  Gymnocalycium andreae is no exception. I spotted these as small plants at Grigsby's cactus gardens,...

Care Diary: Stenocereus beneckei

Care Diary: Stenocereus beneckei

The Stenocereus beneckei is one of those cacti that when you see one grown in greenhouse conditions, or sheltered from natural rainfall, it absolutely takes your breath away. The ghostly pale body and stark contrast of the spines draws the eye no matter who you are. ...

Conophytum Eye Candy, Part 3 – Visit to Steve Hammer

Conophytum Eye Candy, Part 3 – Visit to Steve Hammer

As I said earlier, I took hundreds of photos when I visited Steve's, but I've cherry picked the best to post here.  Steve was a wealth of knowledge, kind, friendly, and it was wonderful to visit. His assistant, Oakes, was also extremely kind and helpful in showing off...