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...

Could they be clones from offsets from an original plant since both look remarkably similar in size and character? All plants are individuals if grown from seed, but propagating from offsets will produce genetically identical plants. However only a DNA test would prove this. Those who grow Lophophor...

Hi Benjy I "Googled" Copiapoa using one of the localities and found 3-4 year old seedlings under Copiapoa sp or Copiapoa longistaminea aff (= affinity) were being sold by a Bulgarian nursery at €10 each, so obviously have been available in the EU for some time though unnamed. Therefore as ...

I forwarded this discussion to Roger Ferryman and this was his reply:- "I struggle a bit with Copiapoa, there are many overlaps and it’s easy to pick differences yet they are not always consistent. Regarding saxifraga it does not grow where Benjy suggests. The place is not well visited because ...

Hi All If you are as old as me collecting from the 1960's you may have obtained seed from New Mexico Cactus Research = Horst Kuenzler. You may still find material grown from their seed with HK numbers. They suddenly seemed to disappear and I found this article about it. At the end there are links to...

Don't know if this has been linked to before?

https://news.brown.edu/articles/2011/05/cacti

If you are growing hydroponically, semi-hydroponically or in a purely mineral compost you need a fertiliser that supplies all trace elements needed. Some general garden fertilisers rely on the plants extracting some nutrients or trace elements from the organic part of the soil. Therefore check the f...

Cacti like most plants can be grown hydroponically in one form or another, the nutrients supplied in solution rather than from organic matter in the soil.. https://gardeningwithallie.com/can-cactus-grow-hydroponically/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20cacti%20can%20be%20grown%20hydroponically.%20Cactus%20roots,it%2...

I went to Worfield Gardens in the 1960's on a Nottingham Branch trip. The "band" was called "Madam Bruce's Mexican Orchestra", a name I remembered as it was hardly a typical Mexican name! See also:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38HQBsQAMXU If its hard to repot cut off or break...

"But back to the airport security checks, they are absolutely not meant to detect a few plants etc., unless flying to a country with very strict border control rules (and even then it's usually the arrival airport that is responsible for it). If you watch the Australian Border Control programm...