Diane's Greenhouse

[Eveandrea]

Hi Diane, I saw this thread only now, what a pity, you have a great collection in every sense . The bench with your Agaves looks ready for some Show, is there any special variegated A. victoriae-reginae among them?
Lovely Conos and Lithops, I love those optica rubra ones!

[attilathethumb]

Lithops

IMG_1303 (Small).JPG

love this collection they are my favourite kind are they easy to grow from seeds ????

[Diane]

Hi Eve, I bet you can guess which are the "special" variegated Agave victoriae-reginaes!! And all thanks to you!!


Attila, Lithops are not difficult to grow from seed - most of the ones you see were grown by me from seed. They just require a little patience.

[attilathethumb]

i think ill give some a go then from seed too if i can find a good supplier
thank you for the info

[3bears]

hi diane, i am lusting after that large perfectly grown a. retusus. i have recently purged most of my previous eclectic collection and have started maybe a thousand various a. fissuratus seedlings starting last spring. i continued this spring with the retusus types. i didn't realize how nice the retusoids are until i looked around the web. years ago i had one with the plain flat triangular tubercles, and didn't care that much for its looks. but i am hooked on the ones with fat rounded leaves. they look like sea anemones.

i'm glad to see you are such a fan of grafting. that's the other aspect that has got my attention. i guess i'm not so much of a collector but more a mad scientist who likes to play with biology. seed sowing and grafting gives me an interaction with my plants i find very fulfilling. i am hoping technology gets up to a point where we can do genetic engineering right at home.

here are some other grafting tricks i would like to try, esp the upside down graft. this summer i tossed away my scion bases, but maybe i should have tried grafting them as well:

http://sacredcactus.com/grafts.htm

[DWDogwood]

Fantastic collection. See kids, the little ones do grow big if you keep them long enough!
You know I love those Scleros!
But what's the double headed wooly one at front left of pic captioned Thelo etc? A Copiapoa?

[Diane]

Hi 3bears, glad you like the retusus! You say you are growing a THOUSAND seedlings??? Wow, you must have a lot of space!

Re: grafting, I'm not a huge fan of it, but neither am I averse - needs must! Some plants are almost impossible to grow unless they get plenty of heat in a UK winter, and mine don't! So grafting is sometimes a necessary evil.

Hi DWD! You're right, time is what it takes for some of these "oldies" - I have been collecting for over 30 years, and it wasn't easy to get hold of the choice plants back then - there was no eBay for a start!

You're right, that plant is a Copiapoa barquitensis, and looking a bit better since I repotted into a plastic pot this year - it had been in a clay pot for years, and always looked a bit stressed.

[3bears]

"you must have a lot of space!"

well, a 1000 seedlings fits quite nicely in a standard 10X20 flat. the first batch is 18 months now, looks like they can stay there a couple more years. seeds are cheap, and the internet makes it so easy, i guess i went a little nuts. i bought a 6x8 mini greenhouse, which holds 24 seed flats quite nicely. in fact it was so useful, i bought a second one and have set it up in the basement with lights and fan for this winter. i am experimenting with shop lights, cfl's and leds. for the $75, it was worth it just for the racks, but it also holds in the heat from the lights, and keeps the cats/cat hair out!

i have just today finished putting bubblewrap up on the outside one, and will use it as a cold house for my larger yard cacti i used to store in my basement. the bubble wrap was a snap to install, as it slipped right between the frame and the plastic covering. i also have a fan and an electric space heater and a thermostat to install, which should easily hold temps 40F as a minimum. the only problem with these cheap greenhouses is you have to add your own screened vents, and the door zippers go bad. the vents were no problem, i glued some plastic screening reinforced with waterproof tape to both ends, and added a flap of plastic on top to seal it as needed. as for the zipper, it didn't matter in warm weather, but when i seal it up for winter, i won't plan on opening it up again til spring. and the unit i bought even came with an extra cover in case the current one becomes unusable.

[Morgans Beauty]

hi diane,

so much good looking plants you have and still more lovely mesembs very nice to see, i'm really envious...thx for sharing

[CoronaCactus]

Great collection, Diane!
Great variety, but those Sclero's do stand out