A sensible listing in Red Books would be "not observed in habitat since 1984" since to say any plant that regenerates from seed is extinct without having absolute proof is not scientific and in remote country areas few botanists ever cover more than a fraction of any possible habitats. &q...

David48 wrote:If it is another mite, I presume spraying with a miticide will deal with it just the same.

Not necessarily every miticide. I had some tiny mites on a mesemb and tried Kanemite (Acequinocyl), which is great against spider mites, but it didn't work. I had to use fenpyroximate to get rid of them.

I sowed Dioscorea elephantipes in February/March and they are already quite big, so if you go the seed route I'd recommend keeping them well watered and well fertilized so they grow faster. Germination was quite good at about 20-25 degrees C. I sowed them on coir. Too bad shipping to the UK is proba...

The ethics of using or not using peat for composts are not straightforward, particularly when much harvested peat is burnt in power stations. Definitely true. Where I live we only have very few peatlands/moors so conserving the associated local wildlife is one of the reasons I don't use peat. One o...

I once had similar problems with some sites and SSL and it turned out that I had to re-download a root certificate to get everything working again.

I've sown half the seeds I got 2 days ago and intend to treat them like any other cactus seedlings when/if they come up (high humidity, medium light, no drying out).

Some more information about them here: http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... challensis

There are different grades of Akadama, some just dissolve into mud after some time, some keep their shape well - and some grades also differ in pH. Personally I like to use pumice (I can get a nice brownish-beige pumice where I live). I'm also planning on trying out chabazite either pure or in mixes...

Beautiful arrangements!

Thank you so very much! The seeds arrived today in perfect condition - and more than I expected - I'm super happy!

NorfolkExotics wrote:Are they hardy?

From what I've read so far, they aren't frost-hardy.

NorfolkExotics wrote:I'll have to start looking for a shrevei ssp. magna now...

I could send you some seeds if you like.