nut

There's a really interesting paper on the problem of protection and poaching from the wild of Ariocarpus Bravoanus.its called Ariocarpus Bravoanus-on the edge.found on the living rock site.bit depressing in a way.

Yep mate go to chorns if you want a serious loph.make sure you print out there map in thai and English,I had my mates thai wife with me and the cab driver still got a bit lost or was trying to take the long way...never can tell In Bangkok!just getting a cab there is an intense experience.its so worth the 25 min drive but!!!

I know a guy who grows em,ill pm you mate.

I pretty much only use terracotta,it's just got so many advantages over plastic I believe.does anyone know where to buy scoria from in west aus??

I said pretty much exactly that yesterday!!!

Yep the rot was well advanced.i actually can't stand MOST grafts,they are a means to an end in someways but i don't like the form they tend to take.really I don't think the soil density is too bad I can crumble it easily in hand...and as for the commercial mix that's about 15 - 20 percent of total.i think that's good advice zelly.much of the soil I saw in south Texas last year had a similar density to what I've happening now.ive never had rot problem with plants grown hard on own roots but have had drama with a few grafts.i degrafted it as it was starting to get that Incredible Hulk on roids look,pups sprouting everywhere etc...thanks for the advice people :-)

I just noticed a prized plant that I tried to degraft has succumbed to rot,the whole plants fucked!!then what got me concerned next was when I was dumping the soil in the bin along with the plant I noticed the soil mix I had made has become very hard..I had to dig it out with my finger to clear the pot,it clearly drains well as it was bottom watered 4 days ago and was basically dry.now my stress is I've just potted pretty much all my favourite Mexicans in this mix.its made of a sifted commercial cacti mix,river sand,granite dust,which I also sift to leave me with mostly larger particles,about a quarter spongelite and some crushed limestone.i don't think I lost my plant to rot because of this mix,it had not even rooted yet but am worried for my others.should I repot and formulate a less compacting mix???

I bottom watered but not enough to actually allow any direct contact with the plant,was hoping a bit of evaporative moisture mite have encouraged some root development,the plant itself never touched water.it was sitting on a dry layer of spongelite on top of the mix proper,I've degrafted before and done the same without probs.im just not sure what constitutes too greater soil compaction is all.as I said it drains well.i had let this degraft callous for weeks.

Yeah it's interesting the amount of super advanced plants they had,I know Uncle Chorn himself started collecting something in the region of 47 years ago and Kit told me Uncle Chorn had passed away about 3 years ago.i was looking at some lophs that were maybe the size of a tennis ball and said seed grown,to which he replied yes,in fact I didn't see many grafts at all.i asked how old and was told 3 years I think.i asked how so large so fast but didn't really get an answer.as I've said,Kit didn't speak a heap of English and I thai so I couldn't ask a lot.i also fully understand they may have some growth techs they may wish to keep to themselves!!Kit met me at the gate with a pollinating brush in hand and I know they are hard at work on their own genetics.when I was in Thailand I thought a few times the climate in some ways reminded me of south texas,a known loph range.they have high average temps,high average light levels,so I guess a long grow period.humidity I'm sure could be a problem,but only if you had weak plants.i did not see anything other then super healthy everything.anyone who loves cacti and doesn't make the time to go to uncle chorns is gunna miss out on a awesome experience.just call ahead,make sure their open and print off the thai version of the map.its about 30 mins north of Bangkok and so worth the time,when I get back to Bangkok I'm going back there with more time to spare.i mite add Bangkok is crazy I can't think of another city in the world as intense.

Mutant what do you been by drags up as he repots?can you please explain this?

tarenna no probs!!as i was taking these photos i was thinking the crew on the Corroboree are gunna love this shit!!!!!!im starting to think ill pay the quarantine peeps anything to get some of those plants into the country,once you see those kind of plants, money just isnt as important......

as i said before the place is huge and the photos show a small part it,the third last image was another section i didnt have the time to see.Kit told me during those huge floods they had a few years back they lost 70% of their plants and the area in the third last image was totally under water,in fact from what i could understand it would have been up to my waist where i am taking the photo from.the ario in image 409 was what he said was 8000 baht from memory,but i could be wrong.im so glad i took the time to go out there and see plants of this quality.im still not over having to walk away from so many flawless giants that were for sale,so close and yet so far away!!

I've wondered the same got,kit gave me a price on a huge ariocarpus that I still have to post images of and it was cheap,$270 aus dollars I think,I'll tryn get the rest up tonight.yep Ceres I was literally shaking and my heart was pounding as I walked through the place,I just kept looking up at kit and shaking my head in amazement,he doesn't speak much English and I much thai bit he got the idea,standing with a big smile on his face like a proud dad.i was SHATTERED I could not just bring a bunch back with me!!mutant your on the money I think ,there's a whole bench of plants he said were Japanese in genetics.i did ask him how they achieved such rapid growth rates but he was a bit quiet on that!!

they being her and the cab driver!!!

my mate is married to a girl from north east thailand,i took her and the map and they still had trouble!!

Thank you all involved,GREAT to hear some good news for a change :-))

Incog,you win funniest prick on the forum for me,last nite I shed a tear laughing so hard at the visual of u,what I think you would look like!,adventure time or ren and stimpy style,pumping those pecs for a month over your slowly rotting pumpkin,big shit eating grin,jumping to the sidelines just for food or water,then back on the job over ya pumpkin roffl!!!!seriously dude you made my shitty day with that one,so did this whole thread.

Ill chuck in for sure

Fuck Myco sorry to here mate.this is just all so sad.

Fark me I wish that above dribble could be edited away!!!!!

Ill throw down a hunge,I'd spend more than that on a rare cacti anyway.lets be intelligent about this peeps.it was going to happen and it has.

^^^^What he said....this could have happened to any of us Myco.....

That's the danger,but touch one touch all I say

Dude I got a scop from bunnings on weekend,mate got a tbm,yep a tbm from a west aus bunnings,a few days before and we all know they come from a massive supplier.

God DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!this is bad news.sooooo sorry this has happened to you Myco.what in fuck is wrong with this world........