With an Echinopsis that size, you should get flowers within a year or two. Still no guarantee you'll be able to identify it as a species though.

Well I just snap it: I couldn't resist. I had to do it even tho it's night outside. Here is how it looked few days ago: http://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=27667" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Any difference? (Unless night I mean and cold weather?) I love ...

This is my 37 year old M. hahniana in bloom in June this year. It was damaged a couple of years ago when we had a hard winter but has survived ok and bloomed well again this year. It measures 12 inches (300mm) across.

majcka wrote:Some of them are still shiny. So I guess I'll have to work it out some more.

When I want to cut out the background clutter I use a piece of black velvet, which seems to be completely non-reflective.

might be conditions during the winter. I don't know for sure, my hybrid M. elongata x microhelia bloom after I let them dry in winter. I keep all my cacti dry in winter as the humidity here is pretty high. I stopped watering the cacti in late September. My few succulents (non cacti that is) get a d...

You say it's been neglected, so this could be the reason for no flowers. I have two M. elongatas with different spine colours and neither of them have flowered, although most of my other Mammillarias have. Perhaps conditions didn't suit them this year. We've had much less sun than usual in Wales.

Neem oil is reckoned to be very good against mealy bugs but I'm not sure about the granules. Perhaps you mix them with a liquid before use. If you've got a heavy infestation it would probably be best to use a powerful spray of water to completely clear the pests although this is a bad time of year t...

I agree, warasii. Here's mine, photo taken last week.

These are my Victoria Reginae seedlings. The seed was sown in March 2012 and I potted them up in June. The photo was taken in September and I have been pleased with the progress they have made in what has been a cool damp summer here.