The Autumn Cactus and Succulent Show at RHS Harlow Carr on Saturday 23 September 2023 - a few photographs

[TraceyM]

Thank you Terry.
It has been great to have a few new photos each day and is very much appreciated.
I hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful photos you took at our show.

[el48tel]

The main thread has been restarted
https://forum.bcss.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=174914

[Tina]

one of the best judges in the BCSS.

is Gareth Darbon.
He was also the youngest qualified show judge, nice chap & always so friendly & helpful.

Although we have lost so many Cactophiles recently we probably need more new Judges for next year.

[Apicra]

I see no politics in this thread, just a point about judging at cactus shows. Two different assessments of a specimen have been given and they both cannot be correct. I can agree that judges should not make decisions based upon their feelings - decisions must be based upon the evidence on the table in front of them.

The Austrocephalocereus dybowskii specimen in question is clearly multiple seedlings planted in one pot. There is variation in spination and width of the different heads. If it was only one seedling, the one original head would be taller than the rest. It is very broad at the base and planted low in the pot. There is no evidence that stems originate from one single rootstock and it looks unlikely that there is enough vertical room for natural branching to have occurred. Why isn't more branching continuing around the outside of the cluster?

Is this a species that naturally branches very low down? A look at photos on the Internet shows many small single heads in pots and also many groups in pots all about the same size. It is telling that almost none show new branches sprouting. It is a common practice in large nurseries (in the Netherlands for instance) to pot multiple seedlings together to make more saleable products. It is difficult to find photos of plants in habitat, but the few do seem to indicate branching at all heights naturally.

So if I had been judging, I too would have marked this as NAS since it breaks the "not more than one plant in a pot" rule. It is a lovely clean plant and would be a joy to see elsewhere in a display, but it is not fair to other entries for it to be in a competitive class. Perhaps the owner knows better and has grown it for many years and seen the number branches increasing, in which case I would like to know so I can correct this assessment?

Best wishes,
Derek Tribble
Long time BCSS judge.

[el48tel]

Apologies - Classes 35 and 36 will be posted much later today

[el48tel]

The last few photos have been posted on https://forum.bcss.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 57#p338557