opened my tent to check, just a couple more weeks and the good weather will be here. this a first. 8 years of watching this plant decide whether to live or die. while these flowers are miniscule, there is a kind of delicate magic to their appearance. i did reward them with a misting.

hi jim, mine get extremely strong light, they are south facing top shelf, have remained completely dry, and get as high as 94F during sunny periods, which lasts ~3 or 4 hours. its in a seed pot with some l friccii, so apply that type of culture. i barely water these even during season.

[quote="Jim_Mercer"]Hopefully the buds in the centre will be flowers rather than leaves got me to go have a look today. i haven't set foot into my tent since i sealed it for winter. i believe i see some tiny white petals in the midst of all the hair. what do you think? IMG_3273.JPG IMG_327...

although i voted a long time ago, i like the way this thread is heading. my worst pest was scarid flies when i was growing seedlings. when they first developed, i tried hit and miss chemicals, including orthene, which just made them even more prolific. when i realized i was going to lose some entire...

hi christer, is that super glue on the pereskiopsis stocks? and have you started to degraft anything yet? that will be the next hurdle for me. i have some degrafted scions sitting in sand since summer, still just sitting with no roots. one more, do you still use a humidity chamber with super glue pe...

i cast around the internet briefly and found this on arios. i guess you can use this tech on any tap root species. very interesting way to remove the scion. http://www.cssaustralia.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=109 and there's this thread which you have se...

oyster shell/limestone discussion- http://www.bcss.org.uk/foruma/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=151095&hilit=oyster+shell at this point, i'm not sure a limestone potting soil ammendment is either necessary or desirable. nutrients become unavailable to the plant at pH greater than 7, soil is recommended...

as to the lime vs limestone question- http://ralph.cs.cf.ac.uk/Cacti/Cactus%20and%20Alkalinity.pdf <<Warning -- The pH increase caused by limestone creates some confusion with cactus raisers. We often see references to adding lime to your cactus soil. This is a big mistake since lime and limestone a...

thanks to mike for pointing this out. ian got me to think a bit about alkaline soil and cactus. and i do grow a lot of arios. i think even steven brach mentions potting on ario seedlings in soil ammended with crushed limestone. http://ralph.cs.cf.ac.uk/Cacti/Cactus%20and%20Alkalinity.pdf <<Cacti and...

from the echinomastus thread, this is something i have not been aware of- http://echinomastus.succulentstreasures.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&lang=en since most potted cacti are not grown in karst soils, (unless you add a good amount of crushed limestone), what does ...