The improvements to the forum are notable, very nice! I hope the hiatus did not lose us too many members. That would be unfortunate.

H

Hi all,

I'm glad to see we are still mostly alive after a difficult year. I have a question:

What for you denotes objective growth in globular cacti? Is it the emergence of new spines? If so, would you consider an observable horizontal 'expansion' of the plant with no new spination growth?

H

Abhikjha,

I often pot astrophytums together until they are around 3cm (which takes about 2 years from seed in a tropical climate). It is no trouble if they are kept together beyond this size, of course.

H

One windowsill, It is not a good idea to wait for etiolation before trying to fix the problem. It is not often that cacti can revert and you will be left with many aesthetically unpleasing plants. Modern LED lux meters are not at all expensive and are sufficiently accurate for hobbyist use. I have n...

Timezones are a tragic thing.

H

Billgo, If flowers are just a bonus then the consistency offered by modern grow lights (mars hydro among one of them) makes them far superior to natural sunlight. If you have the time and patience for the initial set-up it is in my opinion you should consider keeping them indoors year round. A lux m...

Rorburg, I would not use neem unless I had no choice - it has comparable efficacy to systemics but only in trials conducted in controlled environments. It is also not effective as a contact. If you are worried about pollinators a screen door/window may be what you need. If you use soap please make s...

Rorburg,

Acetamiprid is a systemic with good efficacy though I am not sure how widely available it is in Scotland. If you have an ongoing infestation permethrin is a decent choice but it is a contact insecticide.

H

K.W.,

What do you use to take your pictures? The iphone11 camera is not doing it for me... though it is likely because I lack the necessary skills.

H

People seem to have a very liberal view of ownership with regards to plants so I would hope that everyone with rare and expensive plants take the necessary precautions. In Singapore, for example, tearing off entire sections of plants for propagation (i.e., stealing cuttings) is considered 'damage to...

Nopahl, Yes, that line of reasoning makes sense to me, and I have been doing that with my seedlings for several years now. What does not make sense to me is the bi-annual pruning of 90% of all roots. I understand why rotted ones are removed, and that some roots should be trimmed so that the fit into...

I am not sure that aggressive root pruning will shorten the lifespan of cacti. Why do you say so? Bonsais and fruit producing trees are often aggressively ripped to stumps but can live for decades (and centuries for some bonsai). I'm not coming to any conclusions about this one way or another, but ...

Mrs.Green, Yes, it's the same breeder. I managed to have a chat with him during a trip to Thailand and it appears that only 1/100,000 seeds sown are competition-tier gymnos. He prices these accordingly. I would personally rather buy 100,000 gymnocalycium seeds (they are extremely cheap and easy to ...

Steve, I have been grilling (interrogating..?) a local group I am part of for the past few months but have received vague, unsatisfactory replies. It may one of those things in cacti cultivation where though many do it, few know the reason why. For now I will keep to trimming a third of the roots (a...

George, Thank you. Are you saying that new roots can branch out from the trimmed ends? For context, I typically trim 30% of the roots off when repotting but have recently been informed by Asian hobbyists that I should leave two inches behind. The rationale behind this aggressive root pruning is that...