Occasional Diary

Abdul Aleem's love for cacti goes beyond words ...

This is not the Saguaro National Park but in fact a part of a cacti collector's garden. The last post was also about an avid cacti collector, hence the title, 'Kings of Cacti' and this one too will focus on the same theme; it is about Mr. Abdul Aleem who is one of such nature lovers that we are truly blessed with and it's absolutely amazing to get to know such people with unique hobbies. Anyone who is kind towards animals and the environment in general is the kind of a human being we need, especially during these testing times of global warming and environmental turmoil speaking of which one gets reminded of the Conocarpus that are an environmental hazard for the city since it's not indigenous. 

It's a little off topic but let me go off tangent about an amusing incident that took place two days back. My friend came over to meet but was lost upon entering the building and couldn't locate our apartment, she called but I somehow missed her calls (somehow I have become quite immune to my X-Files ringtone, I need to temporarily remove it or at least assign a different one to clients) so she summoned the chowkidaar's daughter and asked, 'Where does the toutay wali baji live?', and the girl knew exactly where to bring her. I'm sure the entire neighbourhood knows about the presence of my parrots for the noise they create because they can be heard till the end of the street. At least it's better than making people suffer from passive smoking ... again, off topic. Neighbours who are smokers can be difficult in Ramzan for they enjoy inflicting carbon dioxide upon us post-iftar and continue doing so pre-sehri, anything that hurts the lungs more than ears is more toxic as you may or may not agree depending on whether you are a smoker or non-smoker.

Now moving on to cactus again ... last year I was quite lazy at the blogging front and even though I had been meaning to write something about our visit to Mr. Abdul Aleem's cacti garden, procrastination amidst corporate life (using a better word lol) took over until the idea almost vanished into thin air. However, I feel it's rude to deprive people about the presence of such a person.

Be it a a birding trip or a green spot exploration, one has to be an early bird to make the most of it and so we complied. Mr Aleem given his amiable demeanour was waiting for us to give a warm welcome. 

You would enter the street and know where his treasure is as a part of it is also displayed around the garden's boundary and oh were we not drooling already?!?!

He walked us through his cacti, bonsai, and orchid collection and the air plants were quite a pleasant sight as they seemed like very unique plants since at least i had not seen anything like that until the flower show that I had attended just before this visit. 

Mr. Aleem, who started collecting cacti plants since 2001 is a chartered accountant by profession and despite his field, his hobby is very colourful. He is also part of Pakistan, UK and USA cactus and Succulent Society and participates in various exhibitions. A look into his library will have you awestruck considering his massive collection of books that he has purchased from Amazon plus magazines of cactus societies. 

Below are some of his gems:

Golden Barrel Cacti a.k.a Echinocactus Grusonii (must be very comfortable to sit on yeah?)

A landscape view of the cactus garden

Echeveria Crassulaceae (gorgeous but not really recommended for Karachi's weather conditions since 25 C is the maximum it can tolerate unless you keep it in a controlled environment)

Agave

An assortment of more cacti

An now my obsession with Haworthia continues, these were the plants that were the first ones I saw or rather it was my selective observation. Below are the various types of Haworthias:

Haworthia Limifolia

Haworthia Fasciata (I LOVE these!!!)

More Haworthias!!!

Again ... Haworthia Fasciata

Haworthia Coarctata

Okay ... enough with my Haworthia obsession, let's move on to other plants.

And now presenting the orchids!!! The purple ones are my most favourite!

Below the orchid pots are these AH-MAZING air plants as you can see above.

The King of Cactus, Fahim Siddiqui Surrounded by His Treasure!

When you visit such as place, make sure you aren't wearing loose or flowing out-of-every-where clothes as those would be an issue for these plants; you never know when a thorny, prickly cactus would cling on to your clothes while getting dislodged from its place. It's okay if you get pricked because it won't kill you but it's absolutely not okay to have a plant disturbed and pulled out of its place. 

I inadvertently follow a practice of wearing the wrong type of trousers and was wearing bell bottoms that day because of which I had to be very cautious and prudently walk past the plants so that I don't disturb them or unconsciously pull them off, thus becoming a kleptomaniac. This turned out to be a suggestion for Fahim sb to add to the rules for his visitors: 'Loose clothing not allowed' ... obviously, these plants are very precious and demand time and effort for maintenance and their destruction cannot be afforded as a result of clothing of mass destruction. So yes, if you plan to visit, be advised for appropriate dressing.

And how can you not LOVE these plants?!?!? You just cannot not love these beauties ... Below are some pictures of our Cactus King's collection (pictures taken post permission - we are nice people and follow the rules of photography ... *honest*).

Honey bees enjoying pollen and nectar from a cactus flower

Mammallaria Alamensis

Some fruit - not sure if it's edible though ... the birds would know

Quite some Melocactus Bahiensis (round ones with discs on top) and Horse Cripplers - scientific name: Echinocactus Texensis (the thorny ones on the top row)

Cacti plants are watered on a weekly basis and sometimes succulents can be watered twice a week depending how hot the weather is becoming, it just depends on when the soil has got dry or how rapidly it’s becoming dry to be precise. A simple trick as suggested by Mr. Fahim is inserting a pencil for ascertaining the moisture level; if it comes out dry then the plant needs watering and if it's still moist. there is still time until it dries out. waiting for the next watering spell. Once a week, full watering is required, water sufficiently until it drains out of the holes at the bottom of the plant pot. 

People are usually of the view that plastic pots don't work here and only mud pots will let the plant survive, else it would completely be a case of Darwinism. Plastic pots work just fine, all you need is sufficient daylight (sometimes direct sun ruins some succulents such as aloe vera) and appropriate watering. Just remember, that the number 1 cause of killing cacti is over-watering, although I'm guilty of having some killed because of under watering or perhaps saline water mixing into our main water supply, that is, whenever we get it, though its scarce and available only on alternate days for hardly 10 minutes ... such is the water situation in Karachi, my friends. Please conserve water and avoid wasting it.

Another tip that we were given was about re-potting plants, if you are re-potting a cactus, make sure you place it in a shady area for around 21 days otherwise if re-potted and immediately kept under direct sunlight, the plant could succumb to Darwinism in such a case as well. Based on my experience, cacti plants are very sensitive and requires vigilance, you just have to ensure the right amount of water and yes cactus food too. You can get the UK brand called Itax (available at Lotia Nursery - Gizri) or NPK 20-20-20 and follow the simple steps written on the container - it's one teaspoon per litre of water, itax is used in even smaller quantities, that is, a pinch of powder, it comes with a measuring spoon in the container so you're sorted. Ever wondered why some cacti look more fresh than others? This is the trick.

When you look at the seemingly belligerent thorns don't you ever feel that there is at least one person in your life who you would want that he/she sit on such a plant? Well cacti plants are very precious and expensive so just let it be.

Moving on to some more wonderful cacti from American Cati's collection:

Grafted plants upfront

Let me show one of the plants I got from them earlier, from the flower show in February this year, the flowers bloomed into what can be referred to as the gardener's fantasy.

Gymnocalycium Damsii

So folks this was all from this King of Cacti - Fahim Siddiqui, the next post will be about another king from the same city, whose immense love for cacti and orchid plants is also worth talking about.