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That's great!

I remember that dish garden - you couldn't see the rot at all before you separated the plants, it grew only where they were jammed tightly together. I guess it's not too surprising that it couldn't survive the sun. I wouldn't have thought to try that, though - it was inspired!

Thank you Aeonium 2003, Bbarv, Jerrytheplater and Ohugal The pup has grown a bit more as shown below.

greenknight wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 5:59 am That's great!

I remember that dish garden - you couldn't see the rot at all before you separated the plants, it grew only where they were jammed tightly together. I guess it's not too surprising that it couldn't survive the sun. I wouldn't have thought to try that, though - it was inspired!

Thank you Greenknight It was an experiment with nothing to loose. They were in pretty bad shape when I unpotted them. If they survive and grow, the two with the biggest damage will probably need support to stand upright. They have pretty big holes on both sides. But the lack of perfection doesn’t bother me, if they survive, that will be a victory for both me and the cacti

( for some reason the photos from the original post don’t show )

This seedling suddenly appeared, its much bigger than the Gymno seedlings. I put a few Opuntia sp. seeds in this tray, not really expecting anything to happen , reading that they can take several months to germinate. Looking at Opuntia seedlings on the net, it could be an Opuntia? I guess the next growth will reveal its identity.

Yes, that is how opuntia seedlings look like.

Aeonium2003 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 24, 2022 3:39 pm Yes, that is how opuntia seedlings look like.

Thank you Aenioum2003 Hopefully it will survive, as an absolute beginner when it comes to sowing cacti, its extra fun since I harvested the seed myself.

These Lithops have spent the winter in a unheated room and haven’t got any water since september, last year. They look much better than the ones kept in the kitchen .( all from the same pot initially) In the first pot there is a mix of gravel and potting soil, the last pot pure gravel.

Mrs Green, I'm really impressed. You cultivation abilities have done an amazing change from when you first joined the forums. Nice growth in knowledge and abilities. The Plants are looking really nice.
Mike M

mikethecactusguy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 25, 2022 3:22 pm Mrs Green, I'm really impressed. You cultivation abilities have done an amazing change from when you first joined the forums. Nice growth in knowledge and abilities. The Plants are looking really nice.
Mike M

Thank you very much Mikethecactusguy for your kind words!

Finally a bit of sun, so the Notocactus uebelmannianus flower opened.

Easter cactus flowers (Sclumbergera gaertneri) All the eastercacti are noe either flowering or have buds. They rarerly or never flower at easter, still full winter here then.
The easter cacti flowers a lot more, after I by ‘accident’ found ot tht they like even more water then the christmas cacti. I was treating a couple of easter cacti for root mealis by soaking the rot (and soil) in hot water and soap. Several treatments , so the soil got so waterlogged that it grew a thin layer of mold on it. I was pretty sure that the roots would rot and the cacti say goodbye. But on the contrary, the cacti perked up, grew new ‘leaves’ and flowered a lot more. Since its nearly a year since the treatment and new flowers are on the way, it isn’t ‘death blooming’.

Astrophytum asterias have been on my wishlist for a long time but after loosing three A .myriostigmas whom is described as the easiest species in the genus, I may have to reconsider.. I bought two small A.myriostigmas ( 5 cm pots) primo february this year. Both potted in a pure organic mix. The first one fell off the table not lang after the purchase, so I had to repot it. Being so early in the year, I didn’t expect it to survive and it didn’t. It rotted from the neck, not long after.

The other one seemed fine for nearly a month but we got a spell of warm and sunny weather and seeing that the soil got very dry, I thought a tiny amount of water wouldn’t hurt. Wrong..not long after it started to lean sideways and yes, it too had rotted from the neck.

Visiting the shop again a couple of months later, I found they still had a few myriostigmas left. I picked the best looking one and it seemed firm and no telltale leaning to one side. This time I didn’t gave it any water at all, but I did worried how to go about repotting it in a more suited mix, seeing that the roots was very thin and sparse. Well..I didn’t have to worry, the problem solved itself..

About two weeks after I got it, I noticed it tilted to one side..and sure enough, it had started to rot from the neck.

After three straight failures with the same species, I may have to realize that Astrophytums isn’t for me

On the other hand, most of the Lithops seems to have survived the winter and are splitting, so I am not totally hopeless ( I hope)

The big seedling is indeed an Opuntia

As mentioned before, I don’t see any reason to spend money on something I can re-use and get for free. I mist my plants a lot and over the years I have bought several spray bottles especially made for plants. None of them have been better than the re-used spray bottles with window/glass cleaner. The latter have a finer spray/mist and the also have a practical spray function, which is great for watering plants that are a bit awkwardly placed and hard to get to, without taking everything out.

Nice way to recycle!

Shame to hear about the Astrophytum. Could it be too humid? These really don't like humidity combined with cool temperatures.

jerrytheplater wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 1:24 pm Nice way to recycle!

MrXeric wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 10:21 pm Shame to hear about the Astrophytum. Could it be too humid? These really don't like humidity combined with cool temperatures.

Yes, it was a surprise that all three should die. The first one I more or less expected to loose, since I had to repot it in winter but the other two I had hoped to keep alive. A bit lower indoor temperatures than most people prefer yes but I don’t think it’s especially humid indoors. But I guess that depends on what one consider to be ‘normal’

Springtime

Mammilaria sp.taking advantage of the sun
New buds on the way. If I knew this Fero wasn’t treated with something before I got it, I would be very tempted to taste the extrafloral nectar
Fluffy pup

You got the captions reversed on the Fero and the Mamm - both looking good, though. There is a lot of nectar on that Fero, you should probably clean that off before if gets moldy.

Nice growth on the old Pilosocereus.