Mike,

It is all so clear to me now that I look again!

Thanks for the clarification.

Mark

Mike, Is that plastic that you've cut a hole in to plant the cutting? If it is, does that work well for you for rooting cuttings? Maybe it is just and optical illusion. If it is plastic, is it possible it forced some roots that grew out of the side of the cutting above the plastic to grow upwards? B...

I had a similar experience with a red heat lamp and a echinocactus grusonni in my son's lizard cage. I wasn't sure if it was the light spectrum, the extra heat, or some poor care on my part. I have another cactus in there again, and now that it is winter the heater is back on. We'll see what happens...

Daiv, Great flowers! I'm jealous you get to have such great cactus planted outdoors. I guess that's what I get for wanting to play in snow in the winter. I have a cactus that looks very close to the columnar just to the right and behind the flowered catus in the first picture. Can you identify it fo...

I just posted a couple of web sites that give good info on cold hardy cactus. It is in the General forum under Cactus in Connecticut. That will as least give you a start. Even if a cactus is cold hardy, you need to provide a quick drying soil by putting in a raised bed, perhaps with a foot of course...

A group of enthusiasts belonging the the Ottawa Cactus Club have a list of cactus that they have verified as cold hardy for their area. The link to the page is: http://www3.sympatico.ca/lycacti/ . One of the members, Rob Huntley, has a pretty good summary of what he has done at http://www.holidayjun...

I just thought I'd update. I received my seeds a while ago, but just sowed about half of them last week. I'm patiently waiting for some green to pop through the soil! It's always fun to plant new seed.

That is a beautiful cactus! I love the red spines.

Daiv is right, that is a good idea and a very generous offer. Thank you.

Mark

JaunKilo, Your cactus look awsome. Congratulations. I'm curious how cactus shows are judged. Beyond the obvious of good health and all its spines, is there a standard for different cactus. I used to raise show pigeons and there was a very specific standard down to the length of the toe nails and bea...

Daiv, Thanks for the heads up about the peat. I'm getting ready to dig out and fill me cactus garden and was going to use a mix heavy with peat. I will find a replacement. Cactusbutt, I had to do a search to find out what coir is. It is ground coconut husk. It is very resistant to water and I read i...

John & Kari,

It is information like this that I find so interesting, but don't have the time or resources at hand to find it. It is so good of you to distill it down so I with my simple knowledge can understand it.

Thanks for taking that time for us.

Mark

John, A very timely post for me. I'm putting together a list of lithops seeds I plan to order. I have one plant I picked up a while back and am intrigued by them. Can you tell me the names of #4 row 1, and #1 and #2 in row 2? I like the pattern & color of those 3 and might like to add them to my...

Kari, With my seedlings, I had used the peat pellets. When I repotted they were very young, but I broke up the peat and planted in a fresh mix of cactus blend. I was careful of the roots, but I know I broke off some. Even those seemed to do okay. They seem to be so aggresive at rooting it amazed me....

I saw a TV show once a couple of years back (which usually means almost ten years) were they showed a woman preparing the pads using a knife to scrape the face of the pad. I wish I had paid more attention to it. I want to obtain the type of Opuntia they use as food and try it. Of course up here in M...

Blue, We have a lot of problems with rabbits in the spring. We just brush our dog the garden and the smell of the fur repels the silly rabbits. Perhaps that would help with the squirrels, although squirrels seem a little sneakier. Along the same idea, perhaps an owl decoy would repel the varmints. T...