i think i am addicted

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mikethecactusguy
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by mikethecactusguy »

cactomania.. very funny. I'm glad I'm only at stage 2 and happy.
Mike The Cactus Guy
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Pushrestart
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by Pushrestart »

I bounce along between stages 2-3-4.
Collecting of anything seems to be very human. I’ve been at this a few years so I’ve gone through periods of buying then taking a break and it makes you think about what you’re growing, collecting, and why. Always be mindful of the Why. Always share advice/seeds/plants if you can with new growers.
For introverts, misanthropes, or people who mostly enjoy their own company growing plants is a truly immersive activity without draining the life force out of you. I’m planning on spending more time in habitat as time and circumstances will allow. There’s a lot to learn and see in these places and given the environmental regression taking place in most countries, I need to hurry up.
DaveW
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by DaveW »

"I’m planning on spending more time in habitat as time and circumstances will allow. There’s a lot to learn and see in these places and given the environmental regression taking place in most countries, I need to hurry up."

Certainly time in habitat changes your ideas of how variable species are since we often just grow what are in effect cultivated clones of a species and have difficulty recognising new variation introduced from habitat as the same species.

If you ever get to go to habitat for those who live outside of the habitat of their favourite genera do so. I did not get the chance until I was 74, therefore you have time yet and I have never regretted it.
prickle
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by prickle »

DaveW wrote: Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:33 pm

You have no excuse Prickle since there is a very good cactus Society in the UK and usually has branches in the reach of most people. Admitted in lockdown at the moment plus they put on the National Show though that has been postponed until next year.

http://society.bcss.org.uk/index.php/hi ... s-a-k.html

http://society.bcss.org.uk/index.php/hi ... s-l-z.html



i have stumbled across that site during my hours of cacti digging around the internet :D
there are none near me, but i might venture out to some soon.
to be honest its probably a good thing that i dont buy more cacti, i havent really got much space :/
ilariav
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by ilariav »

Don't look for help in quitting around here. None of us think we have too many! SEEDS! I have seeds!!
My hubby buys me cactus.
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Steve-0
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by Steve-0 »

I was thinking a collection of 50-ish plants would be plenty. So I did a recount Sunday morning.
75....WHAT!?!?🤯🤯🤯...WHERE DID THAT EXTRA 25 COME FROM ? 🥺😬😬😳😲

Oh yeah...Home Depot just had a fresh shipment arrive. 😕☹️🙄😆
bartab
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by bartab »

Steve. it is going to get worse. I am sure I am over 200 pretty easy.

And my wife thinks most all of my cactus are 5 or 6 dollars!! When she sees me walk in with a cactus, my standard line is: " I saw it up at (name a place), and it was only 5 bucks so what the heck, I brought it home." I had planned on getting rid of all of my extras this year at a cactus club sale, but that is not happening.
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Shane
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by Shane »

DaveW wrote: Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:33 pm "its so much easier these days with forums like this"

To a certain extent, but forums are just a new addition to the hobby, not a replacement for clubs or Societies. They can never reproduce the face to face contact with other enthusiasts that clubs give. Also it is far easier to get plants identified if the person you are asking can actually handle them since a photo is two dimensional.
Agreed. Clubs are great and everyone should check out their local society (if there is one). Definitely a different experience than just being part of a forum
Los Angeles, California (USA)
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prickle
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by prickle »

ive been going less than a month and i am up to 9 already. at this rate i will have 108 a year! :D
although i got "lucky". one of my buys was a pot with 4 individual golden barrels in. i didnt know that at the time, i assumed it was one cactus. it was recommended by somebody here that i pot them individually, so i did. in the process i repotted my prickly pear monstrose, which also turned out to be 2 seperate cacti! so i got 6 for the price of 2 :D

i wonder if it had the same effect that gambling has when you win a few bets in a row :D
DaveW
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by DaveW »

For those Brits on here don't forget the online BCSS Branch type lecture at 7.30pm BST today Tuesday 16th June (for those in different time zones, British Summer Time (BST) = 1 hour ahead of GMT since we Brits put the clocks 1 hour forward in summer). Or anybody abroad that wants to tune in at their appropriate equivalent time. Use the live link in the link below and password is "bcss"

http://www.society.bcss.org.uk/index.ph ... talks.html

Lithops tonight.

However looking forward to next Tuesday when it is Roger Ferryman who I spent three weeks cactus hunting in Chile with.

As to cacti I gave up counting when I got to around the 1000 mark! So been addicted for 60 years.
prickle
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by prickle »

DaveW wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:25 am For those Brits on here don't forget the online BCSS Branch type lecture at 7.30pm today Tuesday 16th June (for those in different time zones, British Summer Time = 1 hour ahead of GMT since we Brits put the clocks 1 hour forward in summer). Or anybody abroad that wants to tune in at their appropriate equivalent time. Use the live link in the link below and password is "bcss"

http://www.society.bcss.org.uk/index.ph ... talks.html

Lithops tonight.

However looking forward to next Tuesday when it is Roger Ferryman who I spent three weeks cactus hunting in Chile with.

As to cacti I gave up counting when I got to around the 1000 mark! So been addicted for 60 years.
i will be out at that time :(
1000!!! how do you keep on top of all those?? :lol:
DaveW
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by DaveW »

"1000!!! how do you keep on top of all those?? "

I don't, you eventually rely on some dying every year to make room for new ones. Helps of course when you retire and have more time available in the greenhouse. Some of course do eventually thin their collections down by getting rid of the commoner species to make room for new. Unfortunately I like the common ones too, therefore just kept getting a bigger greenhouse.

I did not have girlfriends either saying I had too many plants and the lady I met on a dating site actually liked cacti. As said before it is now far easier with todays dating sites to replace girlfriends than get rid of your plants. If they are dictating to you before marriage, just think what it will be like afterwards! :D
prickle
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by prickle »

DaveW wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:44 am I don't, you eventually rely on some dying every year to make room for new ones.
:( thats a sad thought. im sure you felt that way when you were one month in to your addiction too :lol:
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Steve-0
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by Steve-0 »

@ bartab .. "you may be right.....I may be crazy!" - Billy Joel


75 is too many already...I'm looking into the future a few months and while many of mine are cold hardy, there is a winter ahead of us for sure and I'll need to have something prepared and ready by say October 1. I plan on overwintering some out doors and some indoors as I've done with one E. grusonii for the last 8 years. That was easy...there was only the one to manage. So I'll be paring down...not acquiring more.....said no one ever. lol.

I know one is going to Vanderbilt with my daughter in August...so...74....and two more are in the sick house recovering from root rot after a rare monsoon which left them outdoors uncovered. Oops...and I knew better - they are Pediocactus simpsonii - the root rot specialists.

Could be 72 in a week or two or they may recover.

We'll see how the ambitious plan goes.


PS ...and I feel so much better already. I have less than a tenth of Dave's collection. However my allotted time above ground is also much less than a 60 year collecting run. Maybe 10 maybe 20...not counting, not worrying about it either. Enjoying the moments and the journey which are gooooood!

PSS- and "Here's to wives and sweethearts! ....may they never meet." Captain Lucky Jack Aubry, Master and Commander, movie adaption of the nautical novel.
DaveW
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Re: i think i am addicted

Post by DaveW »

There are quite a few collections in Britain that must have over a thousand plants. Probably most BCSS Branches have a member with a reasonably large collection.

Probably the largest private collection in the UK is Graham Charles who has thousands of Cacti and Succulents, which as you can see from the link is now housed in a four bay commercial greenhouse. His older greenhouses are now used for seedlings and propagation. Graham is not commercial though he sells his spare seedlings to help pay the cost of the collection.

See:-

http://northants.bcss.org.uk/nl221/nl221GC.htm

There are also quite a few very large private European and American collections I am sure and to them 1000 plants would be only a modest collection. And we in the UK cannot really grow them outdoors so for those abroad who don't need heated greenhouses with a hectare or so of yard or garden to fill massive collections are possible.
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