One of my roommates is an Echeveria Spruce-Oliver hybrid... at least as far as the good folks in the plant ident forum could decipher. Anyways, his name is Nacho, and a couple months ago he moved indoors from his summer home on my porch. My apartment doesn't have any good south facing windows where he could sit all day, so I had to jerry-rig a planter-contraption (I am poor) from materials I had around the house, in a west-facing window. Well, as you can see from picture number one, that's what Nacho looked like when I put him by the window. His lower foliage continued to turn red, shrivel, and fall, and then he began to sprout that thing that you can see in the remaining pictures. Until today, I assumed that was just him getting leggy in response to unsatisfactory lighting conditions. However, today I first saw what appears to be some sort of fruit/flower, as depicted below. Am I to assume that the massive stalk of growth is actually then some kind of inflorescence and not simply a desperate attempt to get more light? Or is it possible that it's both? Will that thing eventually just fall off? Is this the peak of Nacho's life? Should I be looking for some kind of pups from this wackiness? Is it all downhill from this event? I can't hardly find any information on Echeveria Spruce Oliver on the internet at all, so if anyone knows anything, it would be greatly appreciated.
No responses?! Yes, you've got a bloomstalk! Sounds as though you don't have enough light to encourage new growth....but it should maintained, at least, in that west window.
This is cool! I never expected any blooming action out of this plant. Will the bloomstalk fall off when it has spent itself, or will it resume blooming when I put it outside again next summer? I wish I had an option to keep it in a sunnier place... it's a fun plant. But my only south-facing window is in the bathroom, and I would have to put it in a hanger directly in front of the toilet. Some things are just a bigger priority than cool plants. Ah, well, summer will be along in a few months. Hopefully the loss of leaves from the bottom doesn't decimate the plant before then. If it does, would I be able to take a cutting in late spring, and transplant it to a new container before the summer? I'm not sure that 4 months of acceptable outdoor weather would be enough to really make it grow... Thanks for your response.
lol! Yep... priorities! The bloomstalk will kind of 'dry up', and then you can cut it off. I suppose it would eventually 'fall off'. Yes, you should be able to cut the top off in the spring and root it to start your plant anew. The old stem should also sprout new growth. Enjoy your plant's blooms!
