Search found 46 matches

by Thermoman
Wed Sep 23, 2015 6:48 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

Peter wrote:9ft, Ian.
Mrs. T. maintains that it is barely 8ft :wink: .

Yes, all well this end, thanks Peter. My feet are dry but I make sure that I know where I left my wellies. The plants you gave me continue to thrive.
by Thermoman
Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:38 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

The draught (gale force) this creates in the greenhouse ... disrupts Mrs T's expensive coiffure on the rare occasions that she enters my haven. 1. Surely a welcome deterrent? - unless you are paying for the coiffure, in which case it becomes a matter of cost-benefit analysis. 2. Mrs. T. had very sh...
by Thermoman
Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:11 am
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

...So long story short, scorch in the UK correlates more closely with temperature, not UV exposure. For it to be all about the UV there needs to be some compelling explanation as to how higher temperatures but lower UV result in scorch whereas lower temperatures and higher UV do not... We may have ...
by Thermoman
Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:47 am
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: What Mammillaria is this?
Replies: 7
Views: 2141

Re: What Mammillaria is this?

rodsmith wrote:I don't own a copy of the NCL.
I'll show you mine.
by Thermoman
Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:52 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: What Mammillaria is this?
Replies: 7
Views: 2141

Re: What Mammillaria is this?

It looks like camptotricha to me, Jan. It depends whether you are a disciple of the New Cactus Lexicon(NCL), Rod. This regards M. camptotricha as a subspecies of M. decipiens. If you look at the photographs on p.426 of the illustrations in the NCL (426.1 & 426.2) I think you might agree that Ja...
by Thermoman
Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:57 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

It's always puzzled me why plants burn (rather than overheat due to greenhouse being too warm) under glass since some claim you cannot get sunburned under glass, therefore I see no reason why plants should be different in that respect to humans. I wonder whether the focus should not instead be on t...
by Thermoman
Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:09 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

I treated myself to some of these pull down blinds that go on the outside, they fix on the top ridge, they aren't cheap & I only got 3 of them so that I can shade a set group of plants if I want to I may get more next year if I think they are useful. I did get them cheaper as I was ordering som...
by Thermoman
Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:26 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

Drape it over the outside of the greenhouse? That is precisely what I do but I am a bit slower up and down ladders these days and, with three greenhouses, I consider myself lucky if I am back indoors within 3 hours. (More often it takes 3 days!) Don't forget that, if the netting is external, it has...
by Thermoman
Sat Sep 12, 2015 12:13 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: To shade or not to shade.....
Replies: 50
Views: 16253

Re: To shade or not to shade.....

About five years ago I set out to prove that shading is not necessary in this country. This year I admitted defeat but I still find it difficult to understand how plants which are exposed to the blazing tropical sun in their natural habitats (i.e. near the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, where most...
by Thermoman
Fri Sep 11, 2015 3:59 pm
Forum: The Cactus & Succulent Plant Forum
Topic: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulents?
Replies: 173
Views: 220451

Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

After a long and frustrating battle with red spider mite – mainly of the false variety – victory finally came into sight this summer (short as that may have been). Then the mealy bugs moved in and a new battle started against both normal and root varieties. I can sympathize with the correspondent wh...