Yes I had this Pelechyphora for nearly 50 years. No change in growing conditions or it's looks and flowering the previous year. However on repotting it a year or so ago after the winter rest it turned out to just be a hollow shell. Nothing lives forever!

We forget that plants are individuals and like humans have their own natural lifespan even in habitat. Some individuals, even given optimum conditions, will live longer than others. The older less vigorous we get the more liable we are to die from what we would have shrugged off as youngsters. One a...

Thanks Phil it saves me looking. I had forgotten Ritter (= John Donald as editor on his behalf) had published some more Rebutia's in Ashingtonia. A few blank pages in the reproduction to skip through though. https://www.cactuspro.com/lecture/Ashingtonia/AshingtoniaVol3/page-18.html The Ashingtonia j...

My interest Ralph was because years ago I was given a "Rebutia buiningiana" which when I searched the Web did not match the pictures for that name. I later found out it was the old "R. buiningiana" nomen nudum, evidently still going round in cultivation with the original name of ...

Ralph in his talk had a guess at what the Rebutia archibuiningiana name meant. The botanical definition is:- "In biology and anatomy, it usually means "primitive", "original", or "ancestral"1. For example, archipterygium means "primitive fin or wing". Fro...

Will not affect those in the UK, but the notice of Ralph's talk says GMT. We have put our clocks forward an hour to British Summer Time = BST so evidently the notice was written before then. Just checked with Nigel in charge of talks and it should be 7.30pm BST for those abroad calculating the time ...

As said various ways, you can use rubber bands, weights or even cling film depending on the scion shape.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9vRsOQzeiOI

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UM4jHckOmzg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxj7oBSkrK8

If you use purely mineral mix, assuming no nutrients or trace elements are derived from the mix itself which is unlikely, you need a balanced fertiliser that provides all the trace elements normally obtained from the organic part of potting soils, one similar to those suitable for hydroponics. https...

You also may find some information here:- https://sacredcacti.com/blog/tag/nurse-plants/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/nurse-plant However you may not have access to the same nurse plants as in habitat and many are found not just under shrubs but among grasses, th...

I have virtually not been on the Forum for the last 4-5 years but when I put a link in to a new Pyrrhocactus on our branch email circle one of our branch members reminded me of this post. It therefore seems a good place to put in the new Pyrrhocactus for comparison purposes rather than in a disconne...