I am joining the forum as a complete novice and I hope to learn as much as I can from those that are happy to help.
I bought a cactus from my local gardening centre 6 years ago. Here is a picture of it then.
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Here is what it looks like now.
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2 years ago I picked up these 5.
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And here they are today.
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Although very much alive, I'm certain that I am doing a number of things wrong and I have several questions that I'm sure the forum will have no issue answering but I am unsure the best way to post. Should I create a post listing all my questions or should I post each question individually in the relevant thread?
Welcome!
I can see some small issues, but compared to some of the plants I've seen over the years on the forum, you seem to be doing pretty good!
Depending on what type of questions, I usually do/prefer one thread per relevant subject (with questions that pertain only to the topic), but that's just my personal opinion.
A cactus and succulent collector who especially likes Aricarpus. ...Though I have a bit of everything! Want some pictures? See my flickr! I also do art and such.
I too welcome you to the CactiGuide forum. Although I am not the most experienced grower of cacti, I do at times try to give advice in the pest and disease section of the blog. Also, I do not shy away from asking questions myself, especially about cultural practices and identification of the plants.
As gemhunter178 already stated, most blog members prefer to have one plant presented at a time. At the beginning, I did oftentimes place a large number of digital images of various cacti into a thread I started about cactus identification assistance. The reason was, that I needed to have the plants identified, in order to report them to the Fish & Wildlife Service, which would pick a plant rescue center for them. Those were plants arriving without any documentation from Mexico and some people showed up at the U.S.-Mexico border with a whole collection of cacti and succulents.
While some blog users were eager to help me with the ID task, others were reluctant, because of the substantial number of images entered.
I venture a guess, that if only one plant is shown at a time, you will most likely receive more responses from the forum members.
Hi from Nottingham UK. I've been cactus grower for 59 years. Main problem with numerous identities requested at once is that the reader has often forgotten what the first pictures were to answer the request. Best to just post two or three at a time and another two or three the following days and you stand more chance of people bothering identifying them.
Your red spined plant is Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubispinus:-
DaveW wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2020 9:30 am
Unfortunately it has become a little etiolated through lack of strong enough light. The top and bottom should be as thick as the middle.
I have been told this by a few members now, I had wondered why it grew this way!
Unfortunately it is getting as much sun as I can give it given our location and accommodation.
What will happen to it if it continues to live as it has been?
Is there anything I can do other than move to a more suitable country?
Have you been letting them go dormant in the Winter? The fact they have thinner and fatter sections suggests to me that you've kept them growing during the season when they should have been resting. Ideally you'd keep them dry and cool then, but you should at least cut back on watering to the point they stop growing. See: http://www.cactus-art.biz/note-book/Dic ... r_rest.htm
You could provide supplemental artificial light. It should be on only during the day, the plants need their dark time.
