Hi Nick Bad luck - you seem to have had quite a bad dose of red spider mite (or rather your cacti have). Some of the best working systemic insecticides have been banned over recent years but Provado, by Bayer, claims to treat red spider mite. This is readily available and Amazon sell it. It helps to...

I use proprietary sticky yellow rectangular pads in my greenhouse to control flying pests. I changed all three pads early in December and am amazed at how many flies the pads have captured in the past month. See photos. We had some mild weather early in December but my greenhouse is only small - 8' ...

Unknown 2.jpg Unknown 1.jpg Hi Flavio Can't help I'm afraid. However I'm intrigued by the cactus in your 1st and 3rd photos. It looks very much like one of mine that I grew from seed in 1975 (yes - 1975!). No-one so far has been able to identify it for me (although I haven't tried this forum until ...

[the greenhouse receives no sun at all from mid-September until Mid March. As can be seen from a previous thread, the plants don't seem to mind http://www.bcss.org.uk/foruma/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=153892&hilit=sulcorebutia+2011. The biggest drawback during the winter is the sheer magnitude of t...

[quote="Chris L"] Rather shocked to see how low the sun is in the sky. I know the GH doesn't get as much sun as it should do, but it is where it is and can't be moved. Once the weather warms up next year I'll be lifting up some of the plants as they are not getting very much sun at all thi...

Spines look more woodlouse than earwig shaped. Lovely flower. I have had two Mammillarias flowering over the past few weeks. Seems to have been been a funny year.

Rod

Hi Newtocactus If you're looking to buy another cactus that will flower, I suggest you go for a Mammillaria. There are loads of species to choose from and most of them flower reliably every year, providing they get enough sun and appropriate treatment. Most decent garden centres sell them but check ...

Fero histrix_electrocantha 2.jpg Fero histrix_electrocantha 1.jpg I've been very interested in this thread. I have a couple of quite large Ferocactus plants grown from seed back in the 1970s. Neither of them have flowered yet. One I have identified as wisliezenii v herrerae but the nearest identifi...

It's a Mammillaria, but I'm not sure which one. What colour and size were the flowers?

Of course, Birmingham Botanical Gardens have a decent c&s greenhouse open for public access, near where the BCSS has held many shows: http://www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk/the-glasshouses/arid-house Best wishes, Derek Tribble, Horrow Branch I visited the Birmingham Botanical Gardens two ...