Dyckias & Hechtias for Palm Crazy

[PalmatierMeg]

At the request of @Palm crazy I am posting a few photos of some of my larger Dyckia and Hechtia mother plants. I have scattered pots of them around my Garden Lot. Hechtias and Ananas (pineapples) in particular can get huge. Aside from their mesmerizing spiny rosettes I love Dyckias and Hechtias because they are not monocarpic, i.e., they don't flower just once, then die. Rather, they carry on year after year of spring flowering and get bigger and bigger. Dyckias are monoecious, self-fertilizing, while Hechtias are dioecious. As I have only one of each species, I don't get seeds from any of mine. So, here goes.

Hechtia 'Explosion' - my largest Hechtia, probably 5-6' diameter and 3-4' tall. I recently bought a bigger pot for it. In winter it is gray-green but in summer it blazes with shades of pink, purple, red & orange.

Dyckia sp dark green with double heads. It is tagged but I didn't have my leather gloves on to search the pot. It needs a bigger pot too.

Hechtia sp lime green

 

[PalmatierMeg]

More

Dyckia 'Chameleon' - This cool cultivar looks almost like a hologram of green, orange and yellow that changes as light plays across its leaves. It also get very large for a Dyckia

Dyckia estevesii - a very desirable species that grows on a flat plane instead of in a rosette.

Dyckcohnia Zebra - an intergeneric hybrid between a Dyckia and a Deuterocohnia (monocarpic). Offspring are not monocarpic. I've had this hybrid for years and have never had it flower so I wonder if it is sterile.

Finally, a couple more Hechtias

[Gonzer]

Outstanding group!

[Palm crazy]

 WOW, some of those Hechtias are huge. A very nice collection! I really like the little red dyckia too. 

[Josue Diaz]

Amazing plants - well grown! Thank you for sharing

[Tracy]

7 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Hechtia 'Explosion' - my largest Hechtia, probably 5-6' diameter and 3-4' tall. I recently bought a bigger pot for it. In winter it is gray-green but in summer it blazes with shades of pink, purple, red & orange.

Very nice looking, but I can imagine it's a real challenge to work around.  Reminiscent of one of my larger Puya species.  I don't see many Hechtia's available at retailers here in Southern California compared to the abundance of Dyckia species.  I'm glad I picked up my Hechtia glauca when I did, as I haven't come across them in a retail setting since.

[PalmatierMeg]

Hechtias are non-existent and Dyckias almost so in most retail outlets here that usually carry only "air plant" bromeliads. That makes sense as terrestrial bromeliads don't have "rock star" attraction. I got most of my plants from Tropiflora and Michael's Bromeliads here in FL.

[GDLWyverex]

On 9/20/2018, 2:39:16, PalmatierMeg said:

At the request of @Palm crazy I am posting a few photos of some of my larger Dyckia and Hechtia mother plants. I have scattered pots of them around my Garden Lot. Hechtias and Ananas (pineapples) in particular can get huge. Aside from their mesmerizing spiny rosettes I love Dyckias and Hechtias because they are not monocarpic, i.e., they don't flower just once, then die. Rather, they carry on year after year of spring flowering and get bigger and bigger. Dyckias are monoecious, self-fertilizing, while Hechtias are dioecious. As I have only one of each species, I don't get seeds from any of mine. So, here goes.

Hechtia 'Explosion' - my largest Hechtia, probably 5-6' diameter and 3-4' tall. I recently bought a bigger pot for it. In winter it is gray-green but in summer it blazes with shades of pink, purple, red & orange.

Dyckia sp dark green with double heads. It is tagged but I didn't have my leather gloves on to search the pot. It needs a bigger pot too.

Hechtia sp lime green

 

I have this one which I think is a hybrid between some dyckia and some hectia which I really like

Richard

 

Edited September 27, 2018 by GDLWyverex

[PalmatierMeg]

Richard, it looks like a large-toothed hybrid of Dyckia Arizona. I have grown a number of similar plants that I got from Tropiflora In Sarasota. They turn that gorgeous deep purple in full summer sun.

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post is that Hechtias have thicker, "fleshier", more flexible leaves than Dyckias, in general. Hechtia leaves when fresh resist being trimmed by pruners, requiring them to be hacked at. Sharp scissors work better on Hechtias. Dyckias' more brittle leaves are more amenable to pruners. Dyckias are monoecious but Hechtias are dioecious, which makes natural hybrids between them, while not impossible, certainly difficult. In the past 8 years of growing both genera side by side I have yet to have an intergeneric hybrid - in fact, none of my Hechtias that flowered produced any seeds and they all can't be males. They don't appear interested in hybridizing within their own genus. I suspect the few intergeneric hybrids between terrestrial bromeliad genera (Dyckia, Hechtia, Deuterocohnia, Orthophytum, Cryptanthus etc.) are the result of human intervention.

[GDLWyverex]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Richard, it looks like a large-toothed hybrid of Dyckia Arizona. I have grown a number of similar plants that I got from Tropiflora In Sarasota. They turn that gorgeous deep purple in full summer sun.

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post is that Hechtias have thicker, "fleshier", more flexible leaves than Dyckias, in general. Hechtia leaves when fresh resist being trimmed by pruners, requiring them to be hacked at. Sharp scissors work better on Hechtias. Dyckias' more brittle leaves are more amenable to pruners. Dyckias are monoecious but Hechtias are dioecious, which makes natural hybrids between them, while not impossible, certainly difficult. In the past 8 years of growing both genera side by side I have yet to have an intergeneric hybrid - in fact, none of my Hechtias that flowered produced any seeds and they all can't be males. They don't appear interested in hybridizing within their own genus. I suspect the few intergeneric hybrids between terrestrial bromeliad genera (Dyckia, Hechtia, Deuterocohnia, Orthophytum, Cryptanthus etc.) are the result of human intervention.

So, if the flowers turn out to be monoecious, it is for sure an interspecies hybrid, otherwise, who knows??? For the sake of accuracy it would be better to change the label from  dyckia_x_hectia hybrid  to Dyckia Arizona Hybrid.

Looking at photos on the internet;   it looks a whole lot like Dyckia Brittle Star X Dyckia Arizona

Great that neither are monocarpic.

Thanks for the info

Richard

Edited September 27, 2018 by GDLWyverex

[Josue Diaz]

I thought my dyckias looked good this morning after a rainy night. They are usually more silver but even when they're washed out they're lookers. I have about 10 of these I propagated several years ago

[Josue Diaz]

[PalmatierMeg]

5 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

Awesome plants. Glad to know some people promote terrestrial bromeliads. You are lucky you can plant them in your yard. I don't/can't plant mine because they hate my alkaline sandy soil

[Josue Diaz]

On 11/24/2018, 3:17:58, PalmatierMeg said:

Awesome plants. Glad to know some people promote terrestrial bromeliads. You are lucky you can plant them in your yard. I don't/can't plant mine because they hate my alkaline sandy soil

they are the most trouble free plants! And every now and then they send up the really tall spikes with bright orange flowers. 

I just planted a few puya species - NOT for the faint of heart. This is puya venusta, small and slow enough to keep under control in the ground. 

and here is Puya berteroniana - much too large to allow to grow in the ground. It will live out it's life and sucker profusely in a pot. 

[PalmatierMeg]

41 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

they are the most trouble free plants! And every now and then they send up the really tall spikes with bright orange flowers. 

I just planted a few puya species - NOT for the faint of heart. This is puya venusta, small and slow enough to keep under control in the ground. 

and here is Puya berteroniana - much too large to allow to grow in the ground. It will live out it's life and sucker profusely in a pot. 

I've not tried Puya genus because I read they are high altitude mountain plants. I don't know if they can survive in my sea level FL climate although Dyckias and Hechtias have no trouble here. Do you know if they can take high heat and humidity?

[Josue Diaz]

Not too sure about humidity, but they take interior, desert-like conditions. We regularly get over 100F throughout the summer. Maybe they'd be ok as long as they have sharp drainage? 

13 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I've not tried Puya genus because I read they are high altitude mountain plants. I don't know if they can survive in my sea level FL climate although Dyckias and Hechtias have no trouble here. Do you know if they can take high heat and humidity?

 

[Josue Diaz]

Here is s picture of a flower spike on mine that I took it this morning. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

15 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I've not tried Puya genus because I read they are high altitude mountain plants. I don't know if they can survive in my sea level FL climate although Dyckias and Hechtias have no trouble here. Do you know if they can take high heat and humidity?

 The only Puya sp. i remember seeing while in FL was P. laxa, in the "Desert" bed at Selby,   ...was surprised to come across it too..  I'd agree that most are likely too sensitive to Florida's summer heat / humidity to survive long term in most of the region. That being said, if i were to have tried any there, i'd definitely provide very sharp drainage ( plant on a mound, w / limestone rubble beneath), and maybe put them in a spot that gets shade in the afternoon during the summer. 
 

Wonder if our extreme summer heat / hot summer nights is one reason i haven't seen any around here either??

Anyway, Young Puya laxa @ Selby Botanical, Sarasota FL. 02/27/16. Assuming it was a recent installation. Hadn't seen it during prior visits.