Hi Keith and All~ Here are some photos (actually attached in reverse order!) of the columnar cactus. I have taken him out of his peat binding and am letting him recover for a few days. The pot was wrapped in polythene so it had condensation on whilst the peat itself was obviously damp in some parts....

Thankyou habanerocat and picnic! I haven't forgotten you guys, just been very busy lately. I now have two new acquisitions, one of which was a 10p rescue from Wilkos! Poor thing- a columnar- has three columns, one which looks healthy, one that is half rotted and split and one with a tiny bit of rot ...

Brilliant AndrewG, thankyou! Now just to get my tongue around those somewhat complex names! This really is exciting finally discovering what they are called and I think they will be pleased too! It is very intriguing to discover the bewildering array of types and just how similar to each other many ...

Thankyou very much Rodsmith. They are due for their first watering in their new pots at the end of the week. Here are the other three in my collection. The little white-spiked one was the first of this bunch that I got. I think it needs potting on too as I didn't know to do that at the time. I have ...

Habanerocat, many thanks for that advice. I did indeed check for the mealy bug but couldn't see any. Of course, that doesn't mean to say there weren't any as it is quite possible I missed them! I am beginning to see the wisdom in having my plants in individual pots as opposed to my original thoughts...

David, thankyou. That's really set my mind at ease knowing they can manage for so long without actually being potted up. I had realised they weren't to be over watered but I didn't know how important the washing away of salts build-up was so another useful nugget of information, thanks. I'm looking ...

This is great Rod, thankyou. I will check their roots over and go ahead with my plans to pot up tomorrow as I think their roots are OK. I treated them as carefully as if they were a piece being rescued from an archaeological dig! Thankyou both also for the start in species identification. It's alway...

Hi Gregory Thankyou very much indeed. That's most helpful. I was mainly concerned about leaving them in this unpotted state since Saturday; but then I suppose cacti are built to be hardy! I have secured my John Innes potting compost. I have some perlite and I will hopefully get some grit too and loo...

Hello! My name is Leandra and I am not a member...yet! I don't have a collection, though things seem to be heading that way as I currently have 7 and I know of at least two more types that are "must haves" for me! :smile: I recently went into Wilko and couldn't help but rescue four little ...