My first Dyckia

[Gee.S]

I've long admired these spiky Bromeliads, so finally brought one home. It was all of $9, but I thought I'd risk it. An extremely similar but larger plant in the vicinity was labelled Dyckia grandidentata, which is not in the Gallery. Does that seem right or is it something more common? How about care? Can this take a lot of sun? Should I plant it out someday or maintain it as a container plant? How large will it get? So many questions....

Dyckia grandidentata ?

green_g 052.JPG (143.46 KiB) Viewed 4977 times

[Luc]

For the ID I don't know, there are so many hybrids in the trade but it looks different of D. grandidentata. FWIW, I've tried some bromeliads, especially Dyckia, and all thrive in full sun without special cares, no watering after the first year, they are just relatively slow-growers. I think it's better for you and the plant if you plant out now.

Take care at your fingers !

[Melt in the Sun]

You'll need to keep it off the ground, or the rabbits will destroy it.

[mickthecactus]

Take care of your fingers indeed! They can be quite vicious.

[Spination]

Congrats on your first Dyckia, and a real beauty at that.
I water my Dyckia frequently during the sunny hot part of the year, as they tend to dry out quickly, and they seem to like it.
Right now, all my clay potted Dyckia get watered every day, and they reward me with no dry, burned tips, and generally appealing looks. My whitish looking plants get full sun until early afternoon, my dark colored ones get some protection, especially late day sun. I tend to place those pots behind or under the shelter of larger plants.
I was not familiar with Dyckia grandidentata, and it appears to be a good name, but does not match at all this site's representation for your plant:
http://dyckiabrazil.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... ntata.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Your's looks like a hybrid, of which there are so many, but something similar to this plant I have:

2015 03 04 Dyckia Megalodon f X750.jpg (169.17 KiB) Viewed 4939 times

This one goes by the name of "Megalodon", is a KG hybrid, and beyond that I know nothing as far as parentage.

[Gee.S]

Thanks all, great info! I believe I'll just keep it as is, and in the shade for now while we have 115°F temps and UV 11 sun. In the fall, I'll repot and start giving it a little more light to see how it manages.

[Spination]

Just to follow up and toss out some more info...the silvery white coating you see on the leaves are called trichomes, and are very abundant in the species D. marnier lapostollei. A lot of hybrids with that as a parent on in their background feature various amount of trichomes, and I find that feature particularly attractive. They can erode with overhead irrigation, so I make sure to avoid watering the rosette itself. With age, a plant can build up a thick layer, giving it a very interesting and attractive effect.
My guess is your hybrid has D. marnier lapostollei in it's background.
D. marnier-lapostollei

2015 06 27 D marnier lapostollei b.JPG (149.58 KiB) Viewed 4925 times

Here's one such hybrid - D. Gray Ops, the seed parent of the hybrid reputed to be D. marnier-lapostollei var estevesii. Although I think it looks good, you can see what happens if water gets splashed on the leaves... a couple of blotches on an otherwise near perfect rosette.

2015 06 27 D Gray Ops a.JPG (163.75 KiB) Viewed 4925 times

Here's one of my favs - D. Toothy This one I forgot to bring in during a rainstorm earlier this month, so looks a bit blotchy. It stays outside, sun until about 1 PM, and I use a hose to water nearly every day, but only wetting down the gravel top dressing.

2015 06 27 D Toothy a.JPG (146.95 KiB) Viewed 4925 times

There are so many hybrids, with a lot of intersting names, some stand out more than others. This one is an interestingly named one: D. Silverback

2015 06 27 D Silverback b b.JPG (208.48 KiB) Viewed 4925 times

The backs of the leaves explain the name, I believe

2015 06 27 D Silverback a a.JPG (172.02 KiB) Viewed 4925 times

To follow up on my previous comments about keeping them well watered in summer, one source suggests keeping them in a shallow container with water. Conversely, they shouldn't be watered much, if at all in the winter. To date, following those guidelines, I have not rotted one yet.

I hear all the time how brutal the spines are, but I handle mine (repot, remove pups) with my bare hands, and find them rather benign compared to agave. I just handle them gently, and they are rather easy to work with. I think their bark is worse than their bite.

[MikeyDude]

There are some nice specimens posted above, in the silver range which is my favorite color type. I have heard that the silver variety such as Dyckia marnier-lapostollei like to stay pretty dry compared to the other darker colored variations, so I keep mine separated and water them about half as much as others and also give them more sun to keep them brighter looking, however they all seem to do pretty good with light afternoon shade.

[Spination]

Hey Mikey...beauties there, and thanks for jumping in and finally posting here in the designated Dyckia Zone.
I know you are very experienced with these plants and I admit that my interest in these wonderful plants began with your posts and pictures elsewhere. Since then, my collection is steadily growing, and there's no doubt I have been irreversibly infected with the Dyckia-bug ever since I first saw those pictures of many of your awesome plants.

This is a great site, but there has definitely not been enough Dyckia talk exchanged.

Here's one I got late last year, and looked horrid until very recently, but has sprung to life in the last couple of months, and promises to be a stunner in the next 1/2 year or so...

This is how awful it looked pictured right around March... I've found it's common for these to suffer after bare-root shipping, especially if from far away and dry for too long. It's almost a 50-50 prop when seeing the leaf-folded-closed condition whether the plant will come around, or completely fizzle out.

2015 02 23 D White Fang.jpg (136.91 KiB) Viewed 4901 times

And only a couple of days ago. When looked at from different angles, the dark leaf surface is almost iridescent, in strong contrast to the white teeth (fangs ) The picture does capture that effect in part. Pic was in the shade, with no flash!
It's almost hard to believe it's the exact same plant, and although it's come a long way, I think it can improve much more yet.

2015 07 04 Dyckia White Fang a.JPG (141.51 KiB) Viewed 4901 times

[MikeyDude]

Good recovery Spine, I see your White Fang has a really nice blackish color now.
Earlier this spring I separated some offsets that were attached directly to the base of one of my plants, and in some cases the offsets snapped off with no roots what so ever. I went ahead a put them into a light mix, soaked them in Super Thrive hormones/vitamins and walked away, well those suckers finally rooted and all are making nice plants. So just a testament to the terrific will to live of these tough, durable little plants.
I think the only way to kill these guys is to over water, particularly the silver colored varieties.
Attached is a Dyckia 'White Fang' that has some really nice claws. One of my favorites.

[Spination]

I've had that happen too, with offsets breaking off the base of the plant, without roots. I had thought that perhaps I was being too impatient in removing them too early, not giving them enough time to set down some roots of their own before removing them. In my case, I used powder rooting hormone, brushing it on the bottom/base of the small rosette after wetting it down, but I can see your approach sounds more effective, by using a liquid to soak. Using powder, I would say I'm getting at least 8 out of 10 survival rate, losing one or two here and there...which I thought was acceptable enough.
Also, I've found that if I take no-root offsets, and put them on a seedling mat in the greenhouse and just mist the top of the soil mix with a spray bottle daily, the success rate is even better (no losses so far). Due to space considerations, I've only done that with more favorite cultivars I didn't want to lose.
Also, thanks for sharing your experience with watering dark colored plants vs light colored ones. I haven't had any problems with treating them all the same, but it's always good to have another view derived from different experience, and something else for me to think about.
I really like the look of your White Fang plants, such big teeth they have there...
Here's 2 others I really like, which are looking pretty good today...
Dyckia Keswick (although we discussed previously it may not be the original Keswick)

2015 07 09 Dyckia Keswick #1 X750.jpg (190.77 KiB) Viewed 4887 times

And this one - Dyckia Arizona X Brittle Star X Ruby Snow X Platyphylla, which has doubled in size since I got it Aug of last year, and is adding another head.

2015 07 04 Dyckia Arizona X Brittle Star X Ruby Snow X Platyphylla.JPG (283.11 KiB) Viewed 4887 times

[mickthecactus]

They are lovely if painful....

[Spination]

No pain, no gain....

[Gee.S]

These things aren't exactly slow growers, are they? Same plant pictured. I have no idea how or when it magically added a second head, let alone more than doubled in size over four months. I'm not sure what to do with it. There must be some way to repot it with those long leaves hanging below the soil line.

dykia 001.JPG (104.72 KiB) Viewed 4785 times

[Spination]

Yes, when the season is right for growing, and they get sufficient water, they sure do. It's looking very good Ron.
I wouldn't say it's necessarily underpotted, but with some of the larger pups removed, it would have a cleaner, less cluttered look. When I repot, I usually go to a slightly larger pot, because I prefer the leaves hanging over the edge, at least the tips, if possible. Otherwise, and also, I use a gravel top dressing to keep leaves from direct contact with the soil. Removing pups isn't difficult, I grab them close to the base where they connect to the stem, move them back and forth and snap them off. I dip the broken off end in water, and then in rooting hormone powder, so it sticks, and them pot them in their own small pots, keeping them in mild conditions, moistening the soil just at the stem with a water bottle sprayer. You'll know they've rooted when you notice they're growing. Sometimes, the larger pups will also have roots growing down into the soil, which gives the rooting process a big head start. Alternatively, Mikey soaks his pups in Super Thrive, as mentioned in an above post.
They don't seem to grow in the winter, and when it gets damp and cool out, I keep them pretty dry. My rule of thumb is that when the weather is nice enough so that the soil dries out relatively quickly, I'll keep them watered. When it cools down, and it takes too long for the soil to dry, I keep them dry. So far, I haven't rotted any.
I think your plant could wait until spring before repotting, and the whole pups thing is a matter of personal preference. Some folks like the look of a cluster, some like them less unruly looking.

[Gee.S]

Thank you sir. I am never comfortable when I can no longer see soil in my potted plants. And I'm not putting my fingers anywhere near those offsets!

[Gee.S]

Here is my repot solution. We'll see how long it lasts.

Dykia shmykia

webwhat 013.JPG (122.71 KiB) Viewed 4537 times

Dykia shmykia

webwhat 014.JPG (116.87 KiB) Viewed 4537 times

[Melt in the Sun]

I ended up getting rid of my last one this winter. The incessant frantic offsetting prevented it from ever looking very nice - it was always a tangled mess of split heads and underside pups. I'd probably try some more if I ran across some seedlings with less tendency to offset, but as with many things the easiest to propagate are the ones for sale.

[Gee.S]

I may wind up putting mine in the ground, to see if it can fend for itself. It looked so much better when I brought it home than it does now.

[Melt in the Sun]

good luck - mine got stumped by thirsty rabbits every May/June.

[Gee.S]

Kept the offsets in check, right?

[Gee.S]

Paydirt!

Dyckia 004.JPG (109.64 KiB) Viewed 4409 times

Dyckia 001.JPG (58.32 KiB) Viewed 4409 times