Uebelmannia Pectinefra - or is it?...

[ragamala]

JonNo, I am disappointed you have had this experience. Like most or all other responders I can only agree you have been subject to mis-selling. I note on the www.williamscactus.co.uk website the same pic advertises an U. pectinifera for 6 pounds, which would further increase my discontent.

Unless you have fallen in love with this cactus challenge the seller. Talk about misrepresentation, and reference to Trading Standards. Send the plant back and start whatever proceedings are necessary to give you a full refund. There is nothing in their terms and conditions to prevent you from making a serious and substantial claim.

[Paul in Essex]

I, on the other hand, would take it on the chin and move on. Nothing quite as pointless as tying yourself in knots over something so trivial - once you get involved with something like this it can consume you.

I say this because a few years ago I wrote the plant descriptions and care notes for the website of a nursery I have dealings with. I later discovered another nursery owner had copied and pasted my words into his own website and I'm ashamed to say became rather obsessed by it for a month or so. I investigated all the legal avenues open to me, even considered some not so legal ones, and felt immense frustration at the lack of support available for such a thing, at the bare faced lies the guy was telling me - the whole situation. Life is to short, I finally realised, but only after having spent too much time fretting over it all.

The name of the nursery is out there now and, because he has acted in bad faith, he has now lost a decent number of potential customers. Good enough, I'd reckon.

[ragamala]

I, on the other hand, would take it on the chin and move on.

Probably me too, Paul.

On the other hand there is no problem in sending off a complaint, without agonising about how it is dealt with. Who knows? Maybe JonNo would be offered a full refund? Don't ask don't get.

[JonNo]

The price was £6 when I bought it (from wherever I bought it from...) - plus £4.13 postage, so £10.13 left my bank account and went into another one - so as far as I'm concerned that's what it cost me!

And you're right, I could and maybe should stand up and fight - but as Paul says, life is too short... I know exactly what he means when he says it becomes all too easy to get obsessed with such things, and at the end of the day its ten quid... I rekindled this interest as a means of getting away from stress!

The remaining sadness of course is that of still not having achieved my wish to own an Uebelmannia Pectinifera!

[el48tel]

The price was £6 when I bought it (from wherever I bought it from...) - plus £4.13 postage, so £10.13 left my bank account and went into another one - so as far as I'm concerned that's what it cost me!

And you're right, I could and maybe should stand up and fight - but as Paul says, life is too short... I know exactly what he means when he says it becomes all too easy to get obsessed with such things, and at the end of the day its ten quid... I rekindled this interest as a means of getting away from stress!

The remaining sadness of course is that of still not having achieved my wish to own an Uebelmannia Pectinifera!

Think positively .... the year is young .... plenty of cactus marts and zone ralleys to attend ..... with opportunity to purchase plants ..... and if I've guessed correctly, said plant dealer is at most of them.

[Diane]

From what I have read elsewhere, the seller is noted for his non-communication, so I doubt whether any emails sent will get a response.
JohnNo, you have got a Uebelmannia, albeit a grafted one, and I can tell you that is probably the best way to grow it - they are extremely temperamental on their own roots, and not really a beginner's plant, a grafted plant stands a much better chance of surviving.

[ralphrmartin]

I've just lost one (on its own roots) despite keeping it at over 15C in the winter.

Definitely not the easiest of plants.

[JonNo]

Thanks Diane, you seem certain that it is indeed a Pectinifera (and not a variant) and although some of the other evidence offered up suggests it may be a variant I'm happy to bow to your expertise!

Whether or not I can keep it alive is another matter... I was aware before buying that they're not known for being easy and I guess it will indeed stand a better chance being grafted. All I can do is give it my best shot!

Thanks again all.

[Mal L]

I tend to go along with Diane on this. Treat it as a chance to still test your skill and/or cultivation conditions, but with a more reasonable chance of still having a a growing, happy Uebelmannia in a year or two's time. Then you can celebrate so far so good and £10 well spent. If you had received one on its own roots then you might have had a funeral service for it by then! If you do have success with the grafted one, then you could always go the extra step later, and try an ungrafted one as well (when you see a good one for a price you like), knowing that even if it fails you will still hopefully have the grafted one.

[KarlR]

Shame about your experience, but as others have said, that is a young Uebelmannia you've got. Probably it is U. pectinifera. It will develop ribs in not too long I'd guess, and if treated right will look much like the advertised plant.

If you want to try it on its own roots, you could always destroy the growing point and try to root one of the several offshoots that will develop.