Sebas

I have plenty of 2 year old Datura Stramonium seeds if you're intrested...

Heck... I like 'em!

Hopefully this is the right place to post some of my poppy photo's. These are all home-grown over the last few years, location is The Netherlands. Enjoy...

Thanks guys. This is no disaster, I only want to make sure I don't run into these problems again. I'll start by mixing my soil up with drainage enhancing material... It pumice the way to go? Edit: or perlite? or clay pebbles?

Hi all, What should the normal color be, of the part of a cactus that's below the ground? I see it turn brownish-yellow. No problem you'd think. But sometimes when I see a plant is in need of water (dehydrated ribs), I water it and check the next morning. When it hasn't swollen up, I suspect there's a problem, so I lift it from it's pot to inspect it... Then I discover that the brownish-yellow part below the ground is getting softer. I wash the roots clean and let the thing dry completely for a while, or I chop it off to re-root it. But what's going on? I mean, I use standard cactus soil and I don't think I'm over-watering them... Thanks in advance!

Either way... I like'm.

You guy-hssz!! Gorgeous & inspiring.

My God... I bet you spend quite some time on your balcony... I know I would. Great work mate.

On SS-list is mentioned: Trichocereus bridgesii fma. monstrosus clone A & B I think A should be the short-segmented clone, and B might be the one that just, well, gets longer segments also. And I believe the "Inermis" is another distinct clone. Trichocereus bridgesii f. monstrosus clone B One of 2 disitinct mutant clones of this beautiful blue-green Bolivian cactus. 2-5 ribs initially bearing 3" yellow spines then becoming smooth and spineless. The stems reach 4"-6" in length then stop growing and begin to offset. Eventually forms dense stands to 6' tall made up of hundreds of small multi-branched stems.

Inermis shot... This is not mine...

I believe this is the TBM 'Inermis' clone, I have one myself (The Netherlands). I've been talking with one of the forum members and offered to trade it with him, so he can import it into Australia. Can't wait to see this project succeed.

I'm glad you saved it... this plant deserves propagation.

I still find some root mealy every now and then. It kinda starts bothering me... Pyrethrum isn't of much help, and I don't feel like using systemic stuff. I've been thinking about and reading into Neem. Maybe mix some Neem seeds through the soil? Any other solutions? Also some other questions come to mind. Are stronger (more disease-resistant) plants less vulnerable to root mealy? How about plants in pots outside, or in full ground, are those less likely to get root mealy cause of natural predators? Or to be more specific, would it cure a plant from root mealy by putting it outside of a period of time? Thanks all!

Anyone ever got the feeling that plants in clay pots are less likely to attract root-mealy compared to plants in plastic pots?

Same here, some root mealy got in that way... Unfortunately, I haven't found an affordable source yet for neem-pellets or pulver. But when I do, I'm planning of just mixing some of it along with the soil. Very curious if that helps...

Thanks EG, I see you're from Germany, that's nice. Kali soap, might that be something similar to "green soap"? Since I've read somewhere that green soap is a kalium salt, where solid soaps are natrium salts? Non off my plants are really suffering from it I think. But I don't want this spreading either, so I've started to wash clean the roots of my most suspectable plants. Leaving them bare root for the rest of winter, thinking of a plan... I've read good things about Neem, but I was kind of hoping someone could confirm this. (Wasn't Zee_werp experimenting with this?)

If it's small enough, I'd say put it in some protective material and send it in an (normal or larger) envelope. Probably not much checking will occur when doing so, right?

Checked. Post-office told me that when something is held back by CS, a letter will be sent out to the recipient.

The person I talked to at CS said that when a cactus cutting arrives, THEY don't stop or investigate it. That's all I know... In the Netherlands "personal use" does count for something. It's documented on the website of the custom services that for plants in quantities of less than approx 5 kilograms, rules are applied less strict. Only thing I know is what I've been told by dutch custom services. I don't know about international treaty, or how these rules are applied, but I tend to believe my custom services. I know you're probably right Torsten, but could it be individual countries tend to follow their own directives? I.e. "condone" certain situations or simply interpret them less strict?

Hi all, Not one moment have I felt troubled by the situation, nor have I doubted Ed's credibility at any time. Ed = cool, end of discussion. I did come up with the idea myself the package might (accidentally or intentional) be traveling by boat instead of plane. But I kinda dropped the idea since we pay extra to specifically have it shipped by air... maybe I was being naive... Today I called our customs services, they were helpful and confirmed what I already knew. A plant or cutting that is not considered endangered or anything, for personal purposes, isn't any problem! If in a rare case the packaged IS held back for investigation, they send out a message to inform the recipient. I can actually contact the intake service by email, to double-check if there isn't a package there for me. I will try doing so tomorrow. It's true, also in Europe, that tracking can only be done with the tracking-code. Thanks everyone.

You're welcome! I've read that if you're patient enough, it can be propagated by putting leaves into the ground. I still need to try that sometime, it sounds like fun.

How about "Zamioculcas zamiifolia"?

147 ? Can't wait to see those flowers...

Agreed Andy. One thing I'm experiencing at the moment, is having put a whole bunch of cuttings in the ground, all have grown one pup, but I can clearly see one or two more pups that have been generated, but haven't popped out to the surface so to speak... just sitting there, little bulbs just above the areole, and just beneath the cutting area. How much chance is there these will actually also grow on? Is it possible that these just stay dormit until I cut off the one pup each cutting has? Can't wait till summer to find out. Edit: small corrections.