Quixote

Good idea about the tissue paper. But since they are not turning red, I guess they are not getting burned?

I don't know. It's my first attempt at growing these from seeds. I don't have any heating mat or flourescent lights, just a little pot in a window sill... I hope you are right. They don't seem to be unhappy, just not in the mood for growing. Might be because they need the warmth, but without the direct sun. And the only way I have of making it hot for them is to place them in the sun...

The curves remind me of a certain picture. Let's call it Trichocereus Kardashianii

Cuzcoensis, I'd say. Long centrals, spines turning white..

You fought in Vietnam for 4 years and they stil made you pay 32 dollars? Over here in socialist paradise, we sit on our bum till it falls off, then they fix it for free - apart from paying most of our income in tax.

Or maybe they built the ruins as a tribute to the cactus...

I hope you paid her a bit of money for the cuttings, looks like she could use it.

Well, since those are growing in pots, won't the new stems just start etoliating too, when light levels drop in winter? Cutting off the stems to stop skinny growth seems like "kicking the can down the road" to me. I generally keep my cacti from growing thin, by not watering them in winter, and I keep my livingroom quite cool. But still, they have a bit of waist for each growth season. It annoys me.

Won't the new pups just eventually develop like their wretched forebear?

Just got my first loph fruit with 1 (one!) seed, and now I can't wait to plant it. But autumn is coming soon in North Europe, would it be possible to germinate the seed to be ready for next summer's growing season? My cacti are all indoors in pots. Sorry if this has been asked before, I did some searching here and on Google, but didn't find the exact answer.

I just discovered that my big Pachanoi (about 1.80 metres tall) actively bends AWAY from the light. It's growing in a pot by the window, and for many months I have been trying to straighten it up, since it's leaning in one direction. So I turned it so that it was leaning away from the window, into the apartment. My idea was that it would stretch towards the sun. But it never straightened up. Just kept growing more and more off-center. Then finally I tried turning it around again, so that it was leaning towards the window. In just one single day, it straightened up, and even started to lean the opposite way! I was really surprised about this, as it goes against everything I thought I knew about plants. Have any of you noticed the same?

Well, I am not one of the experts here, so I hope I am allowed to start a new thread in the series of "how to recognise.." It seems that a lot of people are wondering about Cuzcoensis, myself included. Is it a variety of E. Peruvianus, or is it more closely related to E. Bridgesii? In any case, what are the distinguishing features? (I did some searches on these forums and on the web, and there didn't seem to be any consensus at all...) Some of the things I have read about Cuzcoensis: It grows only natively around the Cuzco area in Peru. It basically has the same shape, form and spination as T. Peruvianus. The ribs grow in a slightly "wavy" shape. Some say the spination differs in that Cuzcoensis is supposed to have a strong central spine, whereas Peruvianus doesn't. Personal observation: this is not reliable. I have a certified Peruvian Torch that has some areoles with strong central spines, others without. Others say the Cuzcoensis has two central spines in each areole, whereas Peruvianus and Pachanoi have a single spine. One spine points upwards at an angle, the other downwards. Personal observation: this is not reliable. I have a certified Peruvian Torch that has some areoles with one central spine pointing upwards, and another pointing downwards. The spines turn bone-white after ageing a bit, whereas Pedro and Peruvianus keep some colouration of the spines. The Cuzcoensis looks like a "+" seen from above. It differs in other 'subtle ways' from the classical San Pedro. The base of mature spines seem darker than the midsection or tip. (After the spines have set and before they turn all white) The long central spines broaden out noticeably at the areole, in comparison to Peruvianus where the spines seem needle-like all the way to the areole. Personal observation: this is not reliable. I have a certified Peruvian Torch that has spines that are somewhat fatter at the base than towards the tip. Possibly they have to be even fatter at the base to signal a Cuzco trait. Ribs are more sharply defined than Peruvianus, whose ribs seem smoother/rounder in shape

Well, today my last surviving Lophophora seedling succumbed to mold and died. I had around 5-6 seedlings, but lost them one by one. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do differently next time. Had them covered by plastic film, and poked holes in it day by day to make the air less humid gradually. I guess I wasn't poking enough holes rapidly enough. Or maybe I should only keep the plastic wrap until the seeds sprout and the seedlings turn green? It seemed to me the seedlings would quickly develop in the beginning , but then their development would just stop. They would sit there without changing until mold kicked in.

Please remember that I'm talking about a Pach growing in a pot by the window. I'm sure that if we had the glorious sun you have down under, my cacti would also thrive outdoors and grow straight as arrows

Thanks for all advice. I know it would be better to show some pictures of my setup, but I threw away the soil in great disappointment before I thought of taking any pics. Next time I will try the open setup with sand and misting a couple of times daily.

Nice to see how they just shrug off the destruction wrought on them by humans.

Update: Nothing happens without direct strong sunlight. Todays is overcast, and the cactus keeps leaning towards the window.

I have another hypothesis: it's a behaviour meant for mountainsides. In my case, the cactus is in a pot by a window that goes from floor to ceiling. That means it's getting a lot of light from one direction, and nearly nothing from the other. This seems similar to the conditions of a plant growing on a mountainside, with the sunlight coming from one direction and the mountain on the other. So, why would the cactus bend towards the mountain in this case? To avoid falling over. Imagine that you are standing on a thin ledge with a vertical drop in front of you and a cliffside behind you. What do you instinctively do? Lean back towards the mountainside of course. If you stand straight or lean towards the sun in this case, winds sweeping along the mountain might topple you off. Well, it's just an idea for now.

Actually no, I didn't get it

A pig with arms? I have to admit I'm curious to see that.

You who live in desert places, Australia or southern US - how about just setting your plants free? Take a road trip and leave a cactus here and there. They don't need to be planted after all, should be easy.

That's absolutely beautiful, but are the flowers really blue like this, or is it photoshop magic? Googling around for more pics, it seems many of the flowers have more of a purplish colour to them..

Just wondered which plant in the world has the most vivid true-blue flowers. Google came up with nothing, so I thought I would ask here. I know many of you like plants in general..

Yes Zelly, the proof is in the pudding, but sometimes asking for advice is sensible too.. Yesterday I planted the seeds, time will tell how it turns out.

My house is not that cold, it's just that there's not much light in the winter - down to 7 hours of very weak sunlight a day. So if I had a tiny loph seedling, would it be ok to just keep it in the window or would I need to rig up electric lights for it?