A. brevihamatus is very similar to A. scheeri, which can have spines from 1cm to 5cm (and perhaps longer). NCL does not even quote a spine length for A. brevihamatus, but the illustration is of a plant with fairly short spines. Your plant looks more like A. scheeri!

Looking at temperatures in Holbrook, today has a high of 51F, and tonight a low of 21F. Do you not think that these temperatures have something to do with successful propagation of the plant? It is known that some plants do not indulge in growth if their night-time temperature is too high. Pediocact...

04K01s.jpg This is NOT an entry, because it is not my photo. But, given the subject of the competition, I couldn't resist. The photo was taken late last year in Arizona's Saguaro National Park by Kathryn Dragan (you can see others by Kathryn at http://plantworlds.org/arizona/carnegia.html). I think...

My plants are grown in the open, most of them in pots. For the ones which might be sensitive to watering in winter, I have a strong awning which can be lowered and wound up out of sight as necessary. Or I did have. A storm took it down. The very strong (and heavy) metal arms supporting it were broke...

I am surprised that no one has taken advantage of this topic to post their own unidentified plants. Everyone must have at least one. I suppose, with the internet, it is easier nowadays to track down a plant. When the only things I had were Borg and Backeberg life was not so easy. I had one plant for...

Thanks anttisepp, you are right. How about this one...

I can get some good plants from my local nurseries. The problem is that they are always unlabelled. I am pretty sure that the nurseries order them by name, considering that they seem to arrive in batches of twenty or so plants of the same species, but they just don’t bother to pass on that informati...

It's the drainage that's the problem. Fairly tough species will grow outside in Cyprus. The soil is rich and the temperatures are right. But Cyprus winter can be very cold (even with some nights below 0C), and rain can be heavy with downpours sometimes lasting three days a time. Not everything is as...

DaveW : Thanks for the links, I will check them out. The EasternCyprus forum is interesting. South Cyprus is no good to me but it seems that they have the same problems. (I can't go to South Cyprus for cat lit!). iann : I said grit not sand. It's actually a gravel about the size used for aquariums.

North Cyprus is a strange place in many respects. Yes, we have pet shops and aquaria which basically sell birds or fish – I know of only one that sells gravel. Washed gravel meant for swimming pool filters is OK and, being in larger quantities, is much cheaper. Horticultural products are hard to fin...