Crown of thorns/ euphorbia

[Umbrae]

Any fans of these spiny beasts??

[Silas_Sancona]

Had 4 different colored Thai hybrids before being sacrificed to the desert sun god.. a complete surprise. Didn't anticipate these guys having issues with Arizona heat.

My largest was the Red- flowered and while it was kept out of direct sunlight  ( ..after seeing what it did to the others)  it apparently decided that this summers heat was too much and went from perfect to rotted out in under two weeks, despite the fact that it got watered once a month. 

Definately will try more later. One of the most intreauging, desert-ish plants to grow.

[Umbrae]

Silas i wonder if it wasnt the dry they didnt like it gets wicked hot here but we have a constant high humidity 

[Silas_Sancona]

5 hours ago, Umbrae said:

Silas i wonder if it wasnt the dry they didnt like it gets wicked hot here but we have a constant high humidity 

.. That was a thought since the larger one I had ( red flowered) came from a nursery I'd worked at in Florida. Two others were originally bought in CA. and had no issues when I relocated to Bradenton, anyhow..

When we moved here to AZ, I found a Orange flowered hybrid that rapidly went downhill after acouple weeks in part sun and light but weekly watering.. That summer took out the blush colored Crown. The last two, the red and dark pink/ lavender-ish colored crowns did fine until the 110+ heat returned in June, than the cycle started again. 

While the smaller ones would need a bit more water, the red one grew perfectly with the once a month soaking for nearly 2 years until each stem would start showing signs of rot/ wilt toward the end of summer this year. 

While Florida, and other summer humid places have their own brand of heat, summer heat here in the Desert can be a whole different animal.. water too little,.. You kill things... Water just a bit too much when it's 108+ every day, and doesn't drop below the mid 80s at night, you kill things.. Summers can be a tough balance here.. even Agave have to be watched since many  can start having issues if given too much water during the summer ( many seem to slow/ shut down when night time temps exceed roughly 80f) 

Trust me, I've been quite surprised by what in my collections have gone up in smoke the past two years here. Hoping to make a change of residence before next summer..

- Nathan

[Umbrae]

my only AZ experience is in Phoenix, not a fan, especially in summer. I know the queens I see always look kinda rough 

[Umbrae]

[Umbrae]

[Umbrae]

[Umbrae]

Will have 5 new colors coming in march, hopefully it will warm up soon and i can start farming some cuttings off these 

[Umbrae]

Buttered popcorn another Thai hybrid  

[Palms1984]

Those  are some really beautiful varieties.  I see them everywhere here in San Diego where I live.  I especially like the large-bracted varieties.  This plant is so widely used here in San Diego because of it's drought -tolerance.  

[tacobender]

I got a lot of euphorbias, they do well here. The extreme heat and humidity of summer do stress them. They look better with some shade.

[Umbrae]

I received a shipment of euphorbias from thailand yesterday , from a new supplier and was expecting the same as the other as it has been so in the past .... oddly enough these were all grafted 

[Umbrae]

[jimmyt]

On ‎2‎/‎28‎/‎2018‎ ‎3‎:‎21‎:‎23‎, tacobender said:

I got a lot of euphorbias, they do well here. The extreme heat and humidity of summer do stress them. They look better with some shade.

I agree with tacobender.    My extreme Texas heat and relative low humidity stresses the euphorbs out.  I have to keep mine in some shade to avoid sunburning and wilting......

[Umbrae]

I would think your winters would be rough on them

[jimmyt]

My winters are Fatal!  My euphorbs are in pots and spend winters in the heated greenhouse.

[Rose]

Love them but they really dont love heat and humidity coupled with rain. Best to grow them under cover of some sort in the wet season. Even a covered veranda is good if it gets enough sunshine. Just to stop the water getting at them. Fungicides are not a solution, they will rot sooner or later. 

Lots of stunning colours. At the moment I love the chartreuse green one I bought in Bangkok,  very reminiscent (to me at least) of the temperate garden plant Euphorbia X martini that grows in cooler climates with its bunches of lime green flowers. Goes with everything particularly deep red shades. Would love it if it was easier in our climate. I grow them in pots under cover and then place them in the garden in their pots as filler plants in the dry season where they just flower on and on and on, no break. A South East Asian favourite, they all grow them in the same way, usually positioning the pots under awnings, doorways etc in the wet season or permanently. 

[Howeadypsis]

I love Euphorbias, fascinating group of plants, and I'd love one of those E.millii

Edited June 7, 2018 by Howeadypsis

[The Germinator]

Umbrae, do you have an online store to purchase your lovely plants. The plumies and Euphorbia's are look very nice.

 

 

[Umbrae]

On 6/13/2018, 4:56:37, The Germinator said:

Umbrae, do you have an online store to purchase your lovely plants. The plumies and Euphorbia's are look very nice.

I do not have a online store, i cannot ship to CA

 

 

M

[Matthew92]

I love crown of thorns, they do wonderfully in the sweltering FL summer. At one of the big box stores this spring, they interestingly were selling 1 quart ones as an annual along with the others. They were some of the most red (doesn't show up that much in the picture below) crown of thorns I've seen. The one I bought (and since put in a bigger pot) has done very well and never stopped flowering. Not very cold hardy from my experience. The most mild winter I've experienced here (25 deg) completely annihilated a nice, healthy one I had.

 

[Umbrae]

[Umbrae]

Grafted white doing its thing