Thanks! plant 3 does look like that one on lifle. I figured that it was iffy getting any id on the babies (1) but there it is. I'll look up the other one.(2) I figure maybe someday it will bloom and that might be definitive.

These two are from a packet of "cactus seed" that I bought years ago and found at last. These two seem to be the same type. The spines are slightly different color as shown in the pic. The whole first year they just sat there small and skinny and didn't grow much. Now they are taking off a...

I think it might be an hydrometer, but for things heavier than water, like clay slurries, not for alcohol. Potters use them, also soils and cement people.

One of the plants in my picture above is an Oreophila. That could be a good one for iffy climates as it goes into its winter dormancy early. The one pictured alone is a type of the hardiest variety, it can grow all the way up the east coast through New Jersey and into Canada. Their winters can be br...

I keep both carnivorous plants and cacti as well. I keep my cacti in the green house 9-10 months a year and the sarracenias(pitcher plants) outside. I find the care requirements are similar in a weird way. One must pretty much stand in water and the other is dry, but the schedule is easy for both. T...

What sort of light does it get when inside? It could be mildew if it is kept too damp. Are the grey patches soft? Are they just on the one upright pup, or is it overall? My gut wants to say it is sunburn, but it doesn't sound like it gets enough light for that. It really depends on your environment....

Don't look for help in quitting around here. None of us think we have too many! SEEDS! I have seeds!!
My hubby buys me cactus.

I had a couple of my prickly pears bloom and set seed last summer. I treated the fruit more or less like I would save tomato seeds. Lay them out on a plate, in the shade, and let them do their thing. It's dry around here all summer, so they sort of rot-dry. Then I put them into pots barely covered w...

I agree with the id's above. The only way to know for sure is to take samples to an entomologist. Insects are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Don't be too quick to kill them. Not all pollinators are bees for instance, and many of the insects we see are predators. Please be really careful if you do de...

Really sorry, but the photos don't show enough detail to do an id. (at least for me) Some more conditions might be helpful as well. Inside or out? Have you looked to see if they are living in the soil? You might be able to rid them by repotting, washing the plant and carefully disposing of the old s...

A few years ago we were using a spring for drinking water. We found a small reverse-osmosis filter at the local big box store for around $300. It was easy to attach and stripped bacteria and minerals out of the water. Unless you are watering hundreds of plants the filter rate should be fast enough f...

I don't have much experience with cactus seed, but 10 weeks in the freezer seems like a long time. It does get cold in the desert, but many deserts don't stay cold day and night. Other types of plants that need cold stratification frequently do fine in the fridge. They need the winter, or something ...

Hard to say from the picture, but it looks like it could be scale. There's a post on scale and mealie bugs below.

Thanks for letting be know about the flower/fruit. BTW, mine was labeled "dominoes" as well. It's a bit over 3.5 inches across and shows no sign of offsetting. Perhaps I'll give it a bit more shade. It's much lighter in color than the others shown here.

Thanks for the info. I looked thru hundreds of pics and it just didn't quite look like any of them. Typical. I really like this plant. It's the first cactus I ever had that bloomed for me. (but maybe I was trying the wrong varieties for the conditions I could give them.) I have a lovely big greenhou...