Nice collection.

I always give a good soaking from the top. It would take too much time (for me) to individually soak each pot from the bottom.

I am in Ottawa.

Does anyone use manufactured clay pebbles in their cactus soil mix? Apart from the cost, does anyone foresee a negative in using them? I have used them in my agave soil mixes, and it seems to do a decent job in keeping the soil aerated. I am not partial to the look of them (they look manufactured) a...

Well, a commoner indeed, but perhaps not so simple. Thank you Aiko for the initial identification. And thank you everyone else for your very insightful and thought provoking input. My Gymnocalycium denudatum was indeed bought at a local greenhouse here in Ontario and it is undoubtedly from a large d...

Good day all. I am looking for some help in pegging this one down. It was just added to my collection, and I suspect it is a fairly common plant. I cannot however, seem to find anything that looks obvious when looking through my "The Cactus Family' reference book. Any thoughts would be apprecia...

Thank you for the response Dave. Upon further investigation, it sure looks like my plant is very close to a Eriosyce curvispina robusta. (var. cabildoense?) Cheers.

Good day all. I have been waiting for over a year for this guy to flower and it finally did last month. I have been puzzling over an ID and have always suspected it belongs in the Copiapoa family. The only problem is that almost all copiapoas have yellow flowers. I was somewhat surprised when this g...

anyone??? Mams confuse me...a lot.

I rescued this little guy from certain death a few months ago. It sat on a shelf for many months with no water or natural light. It is thriving now and has almost doubled in size. Probably a very common big box store plant. Some sort of Mam? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew

hmmmmm. It will be interesting to hear what the people with extensive experience have to say on this.
I am leary of some of his claims and the lack of supporting evidence.

Good day all: I am trying to determine the cause of the bleached base of my two young Fero Wislizeni. They have been this way for some time, and I believe it started last summer while in the hot direct sun for extended periods. I have since kept then off the front line, and away from the direct sun....

It has been that colour since the day it hatched... Seems to be growing well, so we will wait and see I guess. Thanks guys!
Andrew

Thank you Tony. It looks like you may be right. Do you think the yellow colouration of my specimen normal?
Andrew

Hi all: This little guy was planted from seed in 2008. It has always had a very pale yellowish cast to it. All the others from the random package of seeds are of a different variety and a more normal deep green. It seems healthy in all respects and is in a mineral mix. It gets frequent fertilizer an...