[quote="Stuart Estell"]Being a slightly perverse kind of chap, I'm actually most interested by the "new" acharagma, although photographs would have been good. Whether it turns out to be anything other than proof that A. aguirreanum is more variable than previously thought is anyo...

I think the problem with Copiapoa conglomerata as a name is that is has now been attached to at least three different species, C. solaris, C. cinerascens and C. ahremephiana. Walter's view, as expressed in CactusWorld may be correct but Ferryman's comments as reported by Dave W also give credence to...

Hello John Assuming it's not a hybrid, your plant is almost certainly Echinopsis backebergii, the form previously known as Lobivia winteriana ... and if it is a hybrid, this is surely one of its parents! Sorry, Aiko, it's definitely not a Frailea. As you say, many of these have taproots but the genu...

Hello DaveW. Thanks for the well researched and absolutetly correct reply. My point to AnTTun was intended coloqially and encouragingly from a horticultural point of view, but not botanically. From a grower's perspective, Melocacti with cephalia are more than capable of outliving their owners and pr...

Hi AnTTun. I posted a reply to a very similar thread earlier today, which you may or may not find helpful! Whatever, I do not agree with others who have suggested that Melocacti are in decline from the time they grow their cephalia. They simply reach another stage of life, passing from juvenile to a...

I have just looked at the photo gallery on the old liverpool site and I had this plant flowering 10 years ago in a 2¾" pot http://www.bcss-liverpool.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/AUT_2509.jpg Nice one, Jim. I really love looking at old pictures of my plants, as it gives such a pleasurable sense ...

Thank you all, especially to Liz. It's a while since I wasn't thought of as old!

"Not the most spectacular flowers..." ... but quite pretty, though and T. krainzianus has lovely adult spination. A very nice clump, too. Have you tried the pink flowered form, known currently as T. pseudomacrochele ssp. lausseri? It tends to form less tidy clumps but the flowers are a del...

Hi Mal In my experience, you need to be a little careful with Melocacti but they are far less temperamental than their reputations suggest, providing they are kept warm in winter (12-15C is safest). As you probably know, once they have developed cephalia, the standard stem stops growing and only the...

Hello! Having lurked (werewolves do, you know) around the forum for more than a while, I've finally been persuaded to join. Aided by the Sussex climate, I've been growing cacti since my teens and my oldest plants have been with me for over 30 years, although most of my collection has been built up o...