T-rex Plants Blog
Published weekly. Ish. You can also follow along on Instagram at @trexplants
Growing Melocactus azureus – The Turk’s Cap Cactus
I've waited a long time to write about these, despite having grown them for the last 5 years and selling more than a few of them on my Etsy shop. They have a reputation for being hard to grow and finicky, something I experienced myself with the first couple I tried to...
Aloe Hybrid Update – New Additions and Growth Continued
Continuing my update on the aloes and their winter growth, we're going to look at more! This post will have more of my recent additions, all within 2023. I divided multiple plants last summer, including my "purple people eater", "raspberry ruffles", "krakatoa", "mauna...
Aloe Hybrid Update: New Additions and Growth
I haven't posted an update on my beloved aloes in some time, and the collection has morphed making an update overdue! I have divided several and offered the divisions for sale at the local cactus club; some have rebounded quite well, while others are slower to...
Growing Ariocarpus for Beginners
Ariocarpus is a wild genus. With the rise of plant popularity during COVID, these went from a relatively niche cactus, popular among experienced growers but almost unheard of otherwise, to incredibly in demand and fetching insane prices. Unlike the tropical plants...
Coryphantha Confusion: andrae, pycnacantha, or elephantidens?
This article first appeared in the SDCSS monthly newsletter, and references the local club meeting. Coryphantha! A genus you may or may not have heard of - they’re native to Mexico and even up into the Southwest US. In recent years, some species have become highly...
How to Grow Monilaria pisiformis – the Bunny Ear Succulent
These little plants have captured the hearts of just about everyone who sees them - and can you blame them? These are charming things that look like bunny rabbits, and are popular on Etsy and Ebay, most often sold as seeds. Sadly, many novice and even more experienced...
What Does It Mean When a Cactus or Succulent is Hard Grown?
As you begin to sink further and further into the addiction - sorry, the hobby - of cactus and succulent collecting, you'll encounter the phrase "hard grown". What does it mean? Why do people like (or dislike) it? Should you be doing it? Is it bad for your plants? Is...
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...