Peth people, some cactus need your help

[Guest Monkey Shines]

I recently visited Frasers Gift And Garden Centre and all of the cactus are in a bad way, I was told the guy taking care of them has retired and now they are looking very bad, many of them are rotting and there are weeds everywhere in the display garden with cactus just lying on the ground and pots knocked over. They have some beutiful specimens there but many arent for sale, I think alot of them wont survive for much longer so they need to find some good homes. They have some good grafting stock like M.Geometrizans and some T.Scoplicaula(sp) all at very reasonable prices, they also have alot of other nice ones like 10cm astrophytum myriostygma for $17 which is an excellent price. It would be worth going out there just to see their 2 enourmous T.Bridgesii monstrous which arent for sale unfortunately and their 2 metre multi branched Trichocereus Grandis i think it is and many other crested and monstrous forms. The adress is corner of comrie and fraser road canning vale.

[mr b.caapi]

[hmmmm.....seems you didnt notice the t.pachanoi in random spots....hehe

but yeah i must admit,the place is looking rather unkept,i think youll find with the warmer months coming through,the cactus and the display will start to look how it was...

its a shame they dont sell peyote anymore,

i think i grabbed the last tray full....

[Guest reville]

their bridgesii is magnificent

the trich you speak of is a T gladiatus and ive had my eye on pups 4 a while.

Im after about 6 M geomerizans for peyote grafting.Can anyone help me with that? pups, plants whatever.

i picked up a large T scop from there once , they were all on sale for $22 each for a few weekends only, now up to $45 again, highly recommended purchase as a cheap source of propagating material ( i ahvent the heart to chop so im waiting for pups)

[Guest Monkey Shines]

They do sell M.Geo there under the roof thingy but youll have to look for them, I think there was about 4 but there could be more approx 30cm. I dont think even the warmer months will help some of them, some of the grafts have shriveled up and died and they havent even bothered to remove them, does anyone know if theyll be getting more stock soon?

[spaced]

Originally posted by Monkey Shines:

does anyone know if theyll be getting more stock soon?

I very much doubt it. Fraser's bought out a collection off someone a while back - I think it might have been a commercial nursery. They've been more or less selling everything they've got and not bothering to replace it or keep any for propagation. How hard is it to grow a few Trich's in the nursery to help out those in need? Each time I go there I notice the collection both diminishing and showing signs of worsening illness. The reasons stocks aren't replaced is because its virtually impossible for a nursery to import cacti from the eastern states. They have to be permitted species for a start - which most cacti aren't (the good ones anyway - edible /medicinal) and then I've heard you even need a dangerous goods permit (prickles). And yet they (ie bureaucrats) have the nerve to crap on about the water shortage! Cacti would be ideal for the home permaculturalist / commercial grower in WA. A brief look through Jeff Nugents book on Agave and Cacti will show just how many uses these plants can offer - all whilst using up hardly any water and some of them tolerant of high salinity. They won't even let people drown in their own waste over here - you can't even recycle your own grey water in WA.

There's still some good stuff at Frasers worth getting hold of. Try haggling with them.

[Guest Monkey Shines]

With trichocereus being listed as a quarantine weed could you call it by another synonym for the genus that isnt listed like echinopsis and import it?

[Guest Thelema]

B. Caapi : do you realize, according to staff at Frasers, that it was due to the last customer buying a whole trayful of lophs that alerted the guy who provided, with the pique to stop his supply? Apparently he was so miffed by such bulk buying for drug purposes, he's decided not to supply anymore.

Thanks.

[mr b.caapi]

[ well, it seems to me that you are in fact

" on drugs " ,i for one cannot stand sarcasm from an ill informed person such as yourself,and secondly would not even attempt to consume a tray full of lophs,especially since they were grafted,and were only the diameter of a 20 cent piece!!????

so before you come in here and start crying

and whinin....GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!

the reason frasers no longer sell this species is because "i have retired from this trade and i am no longer involved with frasers"....that "my sarcastic friend" is straight from the horses(ex growers) mouth...

thankyou....and goodnight!!!