chilli Posted December 21, 2012 I accidentally left some nice cuts in the sun. Burned them. Left some tiny seedlings in the sun too. Also burned those. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted December 21, 2012 As usual every day, take a deep relaxing breath in the garage after work and roll up my first cigarette of the day. ~Michael~ 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chilli Posted December 21, 2012 is that a little Mammilaria polythele v inermis I see hiding out amongst the Trichocereus? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted December 21, 2012 heard this almighty crash and then possum screaming last night at about 2am. got outside this morning to see half my cacti knocked over with spines missing. he must've fallen off the fence into a pile of cacti. poor little fella that must have really hurt. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowfella Posted December 21, 2012 Wish the neighbours cat that comes in at night and uses my cactus patch for a toilet would end up like that possum! Might teach it a valuable lesson! Transplanted 5foot worth of C. peruvians from old bed into the new one, likely take over the whole thing once it's established some new roots but atleast where it is now it won't grow into the neighbours yard. Rest of the plants will be put in over christmas as I managed to score a 5 day weekend next week 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mushroomman Posted December 21, 2012 I was taking a few Peres cuttings this morning and when I bent down I copped a bum full of psycho0 spikes lol Other than that I grafted 5 TPM x N1 seedlings, thanks again nitrogen:) has anyone got any freaks from these seeds yet? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bit Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) Potting up some echinopsis hybrids., Some general adminration for my asterias and other buttons which are thriving in my greenhouse Edited December 22, 2012 by bit 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CβL Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) I should have some Astrophytum Capricorne (I think) pollen either tomorrow or the day after if you'd like some bit. The plant has a red flower. Edit: After a quick search, it seems that most Astrophytum flowers are yellow on the outside. So not sure what's going on with this one - whether it's red, or just an immature flower. Edited December 22, 2012 by CβL 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted December 23, 2012 Today i spotted two big white fruits on an ariocarpus restusus. How do you tell when they are ripe? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted December 23, 2012 bogfrog, for best results, you should wait for the fruits to completely dry out. That way you'll ensure the fruit (and seeds) has fully emerged from the aerole. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dionysus Posted December 23, 2012 put nice marbles in a few pots as a top dressing, noticed a snail has eaten one of my younger lophs and munched the top of 2 of my favourite trichs i normally don't like snail poison, as the after math is gross, but this is the first snail in this series of pots ever so i figure it won't hurt in this instance, one menacing snail is acceptable loss to me i guess where as piles of them isn't also got my first ever crest (mammilaria elongata, fancy, i know) and gave the rest of the kids a bit of a feed, it has been a few weeks. (don't call DHS on me too quickly, i refer to the cactuses as kids) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Change Posted December 24, 2012 Hey everyone. A friend of mine purchased these lophs a fortnight ago. Since receiving them they have been looking a little sadder each day, any advice on saving them would be appreciated. They were potted in normal potting mix with plenty of perlite, i recommended adding a good amount of sand to the mix but they had none on hand. The mix is light and fluffy and dries out really quickly. They have been sitting in a concrete courtyard underneath a table so they don't receive direct summer sunlight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Bowser Posted December 24, 2012 Hey DTB, Looks like that soil isn't the best for growing cactus in general... lots of what looks like uncomposted bark and woody material. IME most store bought cactus mixes are shit for actually growing a cactus in... seems like the soil mix companies just throw all their left over crap together and add sand and perlite and call it a cactus mix. Sure they might barely sustain cacti like peres, selenicereus, hylocereus... but other than that you're better off making your own mix. Lophs like low amounts of organic material in the soil. Check out Kada's Garden website soil suggestions for loph soil suggestions under "mineral mixes" and remember that lophs typically grow in areas rich in limestone. Probably want to replant in better soil and keep dry while they heal. Good luck! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mu! Posted December 24, 2012 I cut down some cacti that had rotten feet due to high rainfall in the area this year. At first it seemed unusual that with all the rainfall we'd been getting that they weren't fattening up as would be expected and were actually behaving in the reverse, dehydrating and developing that very 'sucked in' look. Then they started to lean a bit. By then it seemed pretty obvious that they'd rotted at the base and were losing structural support. One swift flying kick to the head of the cactus confirmed this Five casualties this time round. They'll be calloused and repotted, ready to be planted out again as soon as they develop a healthy root system. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C_T Posted December 24, 2012 DreamTimeBliss : lophs only have 5% organic material, the rest is crushed up rocks. so use only 5% of that perlite and potting mix you got, and add 95% small rock-gravel stuff. they look really bad. as Mr. Bowser said, keep DRY and shaded sun, maybe setup a shade cloth tent over them. good luck. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soulsvr Posted December 24, 2012 You know I just love this thread. Personally there is not a day goes by that I dont spend at least 30 minutes, Gazing at, Talking to, Adding a little water here & there. I decide daily if I am going to Graft something, or even repot something. This spring if everything goes right I am going to build a small Greenhouse. I had one once before. MAn talk about adding at least 1 hour a day, And that can go up and down like a kid on a slide. What really go me about the time involved in growing my cacti now and even then was I didntr care or even keep up with it. I really do love ma cacti and hope a they grow lARGER & lARGER, AS THEY DO i HOPE i CAN KEEP UP WITH GIVING THEM AWAY AGAIN. i HAVE ALWAYS DONATED MOST OF MY CACTI FOR SHIPPING. eVERYONE HAVE FUN WITH YOUR CACTI AND MERRY CHRISTMAS 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted December 25, 2012 Today was the first time in a long time that my town has got up to 27 degrees, so I gave all my cacti some Seasol as a christmas present. They look very cheerful! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted December 25, 2012 CBL cross the capricorn with asterias or capricorn. There are red-flower vars, but they are rare I think hey, MS Smith, so you heat the cacti in the garage? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 26, 2012 Just noticed I have a heap of Adenium arabicum seedpods forming which will make excellent graft stock if I ever get a hybrid flower worth grafting. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CβL Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks mutant - but it seems it was either too late, or not to be. The flower seems to have withered a bit, and doesn't look like it's close to opening at all. There still might be some pollen inside though - will take some if the flower makes no progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinion Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) My stapelia is flowering for the first time, around the same time as the A. titanum in the Melbourne botanic gardens (different plants, but they both stink). Flies love it, and now there are maggots in the flower (evident in the photo). Edited December 27, 2012 by Pinion 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Getafix Posted December 27, 2012 I had a bunch of seedlings, 150 odd that needed repotting. I stared at them over a beer and thought bugger that, I am over repotting so dug up the lawn and made another cacti bed, put the little suckers straight into the ground with a good dose of blood and bone. I planted out Sausage x Scopulicola, SS02 x Jules Giant, Pachanoi x Peruvianus, Rosei 1 Open, Super Pedro x J3, J2 x Pachanoi, Rosei 1 x Pachanoi, Pachanoi x SS02, Pachanoi x Terscheckii, Pyscho0 x Pachanoi, Pyscho0 Open, Jules Giant x Scopulicola and Macrogonus. Cheers Getafix 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinion Posted December 27, 2012 I had a bunch of seedlings, 150 odd that needed repotting. I stared at them over a beer and thought bugger that, I am over repotting so dug up the lawn and made another cacti bed, put the little suckers straight into the ground with a good dose of blood and bone. I planted out Sausage x Scopulicola, SS02 x Jules Giant, Pachanoi x Peruvianus, Rosei 1 Open, Super Pedro x J3, J2 x Pachanoi, Rosei 1 x Pachanoi, Pachanoi x SS02, Pachanoi x Terscheckii, Pyscho0 x Pachanoi, Pyscho0 Open, Jules Giant x Scopulicola and Macrogonus. Nice job! Laborious work, but your backyard looks great (I can just imagine it in 5-10 years time). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Getafix Posted December 27, 2012 Yip was hot work today! To be honest I can't wait to see the garden in a few years, it will be a cacti jungle for sure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted December 27, 2012 Yip was hot work today! To be honest I can't wait to see the garden in a few years, it will be a cacti jungle for sure! And how happy is the mrs about it 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites