Miniature Discocactus

[James Pickering]

Please visit my Miniature Discocactus page: http://jp29.org/cemindisc.htm .......... that I have just added to my Brazilian Cacti in Cultivation Web site. I welcome all comments and suggestions.

James



Post Edited (01-04-07 15:53)

[Maria J]

It's great James, in fact, it has now swayed me to add the Discocactus buenekeri & D. araneispinus to my list. I hadn't added them before now assuming that they were difficult to grow, but it seems that it's just the D. horstii which is not so easy!
Great photos and easy to read! I definitely give it the thumbs up! :-D

[James Pickering]

Maria J wrote:

> It's great James, in fact, it has now swayed me to add the
> Discocactus buenekeri & D. araneispinus to my list. I hadn't
> added them before now assuming that they were difficult to
> grow, but it seems that it's just the D. horstii which is not
> so easy!
> Great photos and easy to read! I definitely give it the thumbs
> up! :-D

Thank you very much for your feedback and kind words, Maria. I personally feel that the first two species have been given a bad "rap" -- they grow very well on their own roots for me. Some of my plants in Dan Bach's unheated greenhouses have already experienced near freezing nighttime temperatures this winter with no apparent ill-effects. They are, however, rejuvinated by the relatively warm afternoon sunshine after cold nights. The D. horstii growing on their own roots have not fared nearly so well -- I have lost several plants.

James

[scousetigger]

Lovely plants. I may look for a couple to add to my cacti collection. At the moment I just have a variety, mainly the more common types you can pick up anywhere.

[James Pickering]

scousetigger wrote:

> Lovely plants. I may look for a couple to add to my cacti
> collection. At the moment I just have a variety, mainly the
> more common types you can pick up anywhere.

Thank you for the feedback, scousetigger -- do you do any windowsill/patio growing?

James

[scousetigger]

I have a couple of my cacti on my bedroom windowsill as it faces south. The rest are in an unheated 6' x 6' greenhouse, though I do have a small fan heater now which is set to frost setting, about 5c. I'm not sure if I should still keep the cacti on the windowsill bone dry during the winter, as well as those in greenhouse, as those are actually above the radiator. I should imagine being small plants Discocactus would be ideal for windowsills.

[Julie]

Scousetigger, I would keep them dry, as at night my forbies get down to 11 C on my sill above a radiator. However it was fitted by cowboys and the room has been a few C cooler ever since.. so yours might be warmer if your curtains stay still when the wind blows! If you've a room thermometer, see how cool your cacti get.

(I don't have a min-max thermometer, I just check them with a torch when I get up in the night!

Those cacti are sweet. I like white daisy-like spikes.

[James Pickering]

scousetigger wrote:

> I have a couple of my cacti on my bedroom windowsill as it
> faces south .................

> I should imagine being small plants Discocactus would be ideal
> for windowsills.

Indeed, scousetigger -- this is the theme that I try and emphasize on my pages.

James

[James Pickering]

Julie wrote:

> Scousetigger, I would keep them dry, as at night my forbies get
> down to 11 C on my sill above a radiator. However it was
> fitted by cowboys and the room has been a few C cooler ever
> since.. so yours might be warmer if your curtains stay still
> when the wind blows! If you've a room thermometer, see how
> cool your cacti get.
>
> (I don't have a min-max thermometer, I just check them with a
> torch when I get up in the night!

Good tips, Julie -- thanks.

James

[scousetigger]

Thanks for the tips James. I will look around for some Discocactus for my windowsill. It will be nice to see them anytime without going out in the cold or wet to check the greenhouse ones.
Sue