Old members

A place to post thoughts, errors, praise, or other comments about CactiGuide.com
DaveW
Posts: 7373
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:36 pm
Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: Old members

Post by DaveW »

Agreed that is how we all start. Most beginners in the past eventually joined cactus clubs and could show the so called resident "expert" the actual plant. Whilst many things are recognisable from a good picture online, it is often hard to identify some plants from a picture rather than "in the flesh" so to speak, since there is often no sense of scale. When we get a plant we cannot always identify it right away, therefore we rely on placing it in a group. First which genus it is likely to be, then the group within the genus we think it is, and next down to species level. When identifying our own more difficult plants we often do not solely rely on looks, but look up botanical descriptions and try and match it with those. Unless they are very familiar plants (and thankfully those beginners get hold of usually are) snap judgements to the plants identity can often be wrong.

Another problem is beginners usually have small plants, or even think a so called "expert" can identify very young seedlings not long after germination. Many plants don't really show their adult characteristics until say five years old or more and some not even then. Plus we all do not grow the same range of genera. I do not grow many Cerei so usually leave their identification to others at a young stage. Again to definitely identify a plant it may need to have a flower on it, which smaller plants often do not. Also a photo may not really show all the flowers characteristics one can see when physically handling it. In fact in descriptions a botanical drawing can often illustrate the diagnostic features better than a photograph.

In the UK we are well catered with cactus branches where you can actually take a plant in to be identified if near one. That is much more reliable than identification from pictures:-

http://society.bcss.org.uk/index.php/branches.html

The American Society has similar local affiliated clubs:

http://cssainc.org/affiliates.html

There are lists on Cactus Mall too:-

http://www.cactus-mall.com/clubs.html

If you do have one within reach they will usually help beginners and are often a better source of plants than you get from the supermarket. Particularly if you want plants that flower rather than Cerei seedlings sold for the casual cactus trade which may need to be 5ft high at least to flower. I joined my cactus society in 1961 and have never regretted it. By the way if you think this is a really specialised forum, you want to see some of those devoted just to specific genera!
the_cheshirecat
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:44 am
Location: UK

Re: Old members

Post by the_cheshirecat »

I am younger than your average member then, yay me!
Considering that I relocate every 3-6 months this is not really the right hobby for me (I have to move 40 plants next month... It's going to be like the hanging gardens of Babylon in my car!), but I really enjoy my little plants, and how they change constantly so it's well worth the hassle.
I am also a sucker, and if I see a dying plant in a supermarket bargain bin it will go in my trolley, because I can't tolerate the idea of a living being being thrown away for no good reason other than not having been cared for on the sales floor, so I can't see myself stop anytime soon [-X
The forum is definitely specialized, although it is much more tolerant than others when the discussion goes slightly off subject (grilled pineapples and all).
Still, I found it rather friendly, and there's a ton of ideas and posts, and absolutely amazing pictures, and I wouldn't be surprised if you had lots of visits from non registered users who just pass through looking for information.
Ty the cheshirecat
DaveW
Posts: 7373
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:36 pm
Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: Old members

Post by DaveW »

40 plants is a doddle, we used to often take that many for displays at shows and when collections were broken up of members that died fetch that many plants home. The advantage in the UK these days is the popularity of cars with a hatch back instead of a boot (trunk in the USA?) since the back seats fold down so you have almost a mini pick up truck for moving plants and far more height to the roof. We also used those trays that stack one on top of another rather like bread trays for the smaller lower growing stuff and I think similar stacking trays are available from DIY stores and other places. The DIY stores also sell various sized large plastic storage boxes with lids that many plants can be stacked in to transport them. Wrap the plants in newspaper or bubble wrap around the newspaper if spikey and pad between the pots with paper and they should travel OK.

See:-

https://www.google.co.uk/search?source= ... 7171498107

I have also carried long Cerei wrapped similar to in the above video but lying horizontally over the seats in a length of plastic guttering to reinforce them with the seat belts securing them to stop them moving in transit. If a car is not big enough you can always hire a small self drive van for the day.
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ElieEstephane
Posts: 2909
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: Old members

Post by ElieEstephane »

Imagine driving around with cereus poking out of the sunroof
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
DaveW
Posts: 7373
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:36 pm
Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: Old members

Post by DaveW »

It has been done!
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Aiko
Posts: 2369
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:26 pm
Location: the Netherlands

Re: Old members

Post by Aiko »

I once took a five kilo heavy Ferocactus along on a train ride. Not something I would ever do again...
DaveW
Posts: 7373
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:36 pm
Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: Old members

Post by DaveW »

First show I ever entered when I was 21 and had just joined our local cactus branch was 4 miles away in Nottingham and as I did not have a car at the time I took them on the bus in a cardboard box.
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ElieEstephane
Posts: 2909
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: Old members

Post by ElieEstephane »

Aiko wrote: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:49 pm I once took a five kilo heavy Ferocactus along on a train ride. Not something I would ever do again...
With all those spines, no one would have dared to try to mug you :lol:
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
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saboten
Posts: 178
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 2:29 am
Location: Riyadh KSA

Re: Old members

Post by saboten »

the_cheshirecat wrote: Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:39 am As a new member, I have to say that stepping into a specialized forum can be a bit intimidating: I am an "expert" in my field, so being the latest dork in something else is quite humbling.
We often start with the odd cactus from the supermarket, and before we know it we're hooked with a dozen weird plants, and if you google pictures they all look very samey.
So, as annoying as it is, ID or advice on a moribund plant will be how a new member steps in.
And whilst some will disappear, some will stick to it.
I'll leave it to you to decide whether it's a good thing or not...
I agree with this--I am relatively new here, and an 'expert' in nothing, really-- so it feels really quite intimidating to come into any specialized forum. I first came here to try to save a plant. I often want to contribute, but find I have nothing really very interesting of of substance to add. And so, I lurk a lot, despite knowing it does nothing to keep a forum community rolling. I will try to post a bit more where I can

However, like someone said, everyone here is really quite friendly! I really appreciate that, too, since online communities (in my experience) can become awfully harsh sometimes.

PS Spikylover, if you see this, I was wondering if your username is possibly a reference to the EP by Sawao Yamanaka from the early 2000s called 'Spiky Love'? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll assume it is just a coincidence!
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