Cactus and Succulent Society of San Jose Sale

The Plant Sale held by the CSSSJ was by far my favorite plant shopping trip!

I found out about the event through their website: http://www.csssj.org/

The variety, quality, and quantity blew my mind! The pricing, I have to say, was very fair. The sellers consisted of some nurseries and mostly individual hobbyists (who are members of the CSSSJ). A majority of these folks are so knowledgeable that they grow the plants from seed. It must take a lot of patience, because cactus and succulent seeds take a long time to germinate and grow!

CSSSJ Sale

Joseph Clarisonic (pottery artist) and Nick Wilkinson (owner of Grow Nursery)

Beautiful Pottery for sale

This beauty caught my eye and I had to find out where I could get one of my own! They are like a mountain of tennis balls.

The gentleman who owns this gorgeous Geometricus is Ron Harris. I approached him to ask about his gorgeous specimen plant! I wanted to know where in the world this plant comes from, what is the rate of growth, how old this plant is, and most importantly where can I get one??!

Geometricus (Ron Harris)

Well, here is Ron Harris, so kindly telling me about his specimen plant! He found me a baby Geometricus which I promptly purchased! Per Ron, the Geometricus is from Argentina and he keeps his in his green house. In full sun it will turn red, but in his green house the plant will stay green (resembling tennis balls). His plant grew 20 balls in one year, and in another 9, so the growth rate really does vary. Ron wasn’t sure about the age of the plant, but at a rate of 9-20 balls a year…I would say, the plant doesn’t necessarily take that long to get large. Although to reiterate, Ron seems to really baby his plant by keeping it in perfect growing conditions in the green house. I can definitely say that this baby cactus is the most I’ve ever spent on a cactus/succulent. It’s considered very rare.

Ron Harris with a baby Geometricus

Moving along, I had been obsessed with finding an Aeonium Cristata. I ran into Loyd Monaco (president of CSSSJ) who was very helpful explaining to me what the crest looks like and what it means in terms of the plant growth. Here is Loyd posing by one of the prize winning specimens.

Loyd Monaco (President of CSSSJ with a Calibanos Hookeri)

Here is Loyd’s Aeonium Cristata. Following Loyd’s plant are other Cristatae species.

Cristate forms, or crests, occur when the cells of the growing point of a plant begin to multiply erratically, elongating the growing tip to form “fans”, rather than the usual single growing point. This can occur as a result of genetics, or from mechanical damage to the growing tip in the form of sudden cold, insect damage or other causes. When a plant is crested, it develops a form which often is far more attractive and interesting than the normal plant from which it has come.

Cristate (crested) plants require less light than the normal forms. Succulent crests should occasionally be trimmed of normal growth to perpetuate the cristate form. Cristate cacti should have “normals” removed carefully, and only during the active growing season.