Can anyone ID this succulent? - Orchid Board

scy · #1 08-10-2012, 04:26 PM

Hi,

I bought this at a street fair about 2 months ago. I have no idea what it is. I asked the vendor how to care for it and all he said was to water it once a week when it's sunny and once every 2 weeks when it's not.

Well I put it in an eastern facing window, slowly acclimated it to my environment. Flower spikes grew and all these buds showed up. A couple of weeks passed and they didn't open. One or two even shriveled up. I put it in front of my sheer curtain to give it more light. A day later, 2 buds started to open to reveal the flowers were lavender or purple. I thought it would open fully the next day but it just closed back! Well another 2 weeks passed and none of the buds opened. Another bud is starting to dry up.

What can I do to get the buds to open?

Thanks!

Leafmite · #2 08-10-2012, 04:32 PM

Is it sedum?

nenella · #3 08-10-2012, 04:34 PM

I can't help as I am not an expert on these.. but I would just keep on doing what you are as those buds look like they are healthy and going to open!

and if they have got this far they will be opening very soon!
Look forward to seeing pics as it looks like a lovely coloured bloom to be!

lambelkip · #4 08-10-2012, 06:55 PM

a lot of succulents only open the flowers when their pollinator is active (usually at night) then close back up for the rest of the day. you'll just have to catch them when they're open, there's nothing you can do to keep them open longer. the same buds will open and close many times before falling off.

santiago · #5 08-10-2012, 07:58 PM

it's probably some kind of anacampseros, bot is etiolated, meaning that it isn't getting enough sun

lambelkip · #6 08-10-2012, 09:43 PM

I think it's getting enough sun, it's just one of the species (like Anacampseros rufescens) that only opens the flowers for a short time each day.

santiago · #7 08-11-2012, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lambelkip

I think it's getting enough sun, it's just one of the species (like Anacampseros rufescens) that only opens the flowers for a short time each day.

i think i wasn't clear enough; i have no idea of what could be going on with the flowers, when i say it is etiolated, i mean the plant is stretching to get more sunlight, and gets that look instead of a clump of leaves where you can't see the stem.

scy · #8 09-06-2012, 03:44 PM

Thank you everyone for your responses! I googled the suggestions and looked at the photos. It looks closest to Anacampseros rufescens! I've been peeking at it several times a day (morning, afternoon, night) to try to catch it in bloom. It's been closed everytime I looked and even lost 2-3 more buds, but today I saw more of a partial bloom than last time! I'm shocked, since I expected it to bloom in sunny weather and today is rather cloudy. Unfortunately the overhang of the house blocks out the sun from hitting my western facing windows, so it will have to stay where it is. It threw out some more leaves and a few more buds. I hope that all the flowers will magically open at some point! I'll definitely post updated photos if it opens more.