Welcome Craig Fry!

This is a place for members to post on-going topics about their plants and experiences.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

No photos of the new greenhouses
The main house is 32 x 16
The Winter grower house is 16 x 16

I'm in the process of reroofing
getting rid of the rigid plastic that has become stained and brittle
with film plastic

For one thing, once you switch to film, it's super easy to pull off the old and put up a new
It supposedly good for 4 years

The Greenhouse Megastore has huge supply of roof materials, and some good square pots
The new roof for both greenhouses costed $130 !!!
That about a tenth of the cost of the rigid plastic
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Craig and Denise Fry
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jerrytheplater
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by jerrytheplater »

C And D wrote: Fri Nov 04, 2022 3:06 pm No photos of the new greenhouses
The main house is 32 x 16
The Winter grower house is 16 x 16

I'm in the process of reroofing
getting rid of the rigid plastic that has become stained and brittle
with film plastic

For one thing, once you switch to film, it's super easy to pull off the old and put up a new
It supposedly good for 4 years

The Greenhouse Megastore has huge supply of roof materials, and some good square pots
The new roof for both greenhouses costed $130 !!!
That about a tenth of the cost of the rigid plastic
Up here, most of the wholesale growers use double layer sheeting with fans to inflate the space between the layers. A few use real tempered Thermopane glass. The roof opens up to expose the plants to full sun and wind when temperatures allow. All that I've seen use shade cloth under the arches at night to keep the heat in the growing area. When it snows they have to crank up the heat to melt it before it accumulates. We don't get much hail, but that can be a problem too. I've even heard about birds pecking holes in the film.

Do you buy your pots from the Greenhouse Megastore? What is your experience with them?
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

I like the idea of double wall film with air in-between, maybe in a couple years
The commercial growers are using it.

Though I really don't need insulation in Southern California, nor do I like having an electrical fan going all the time.
As of now, I don't use any electrical power for my greenhouses.

The Greenhouse Megastore has some green square pots that we bought that are good, the mid size with all the round holes are no good, very flimsy plastic. The other sizes with wide lips are good.
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Craig and Denise Fry
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Finished the roof over Thanksgiving
Then got on the House roof for some photos

The Big House
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The Winter House on the left
We also have most of the open areas covered with shade cloth
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Recent photo of my Astrophytum caput-medusae hybrid
"Astrotopia"
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keith
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by keith »

Nice is that a custom built greenhouse ?
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

I do all the building, farmer style
I am not a professional

Denise calls it shanty town
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Here is another of my Astrophytum hybrids

I call it "White Out"
It's an Onzuka V-Type cross
it's not that exciting for Mr. Jaded (me)
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I grafted this one in 2016
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From the right middle plant
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I saved the root stock that I cut the grafted scion off
and it grew 2 heads
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BryanT
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by BryanT »

C And D wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:21 pm Here is another of my Astrophytum hybrids

I call it "White Out"
It's an Onzuka V-Type cross
it's not that exciting for Mr. Jaded (me)
IMG_0506.JPG
Interesting white. Very similar to Astrophytum myriostigma cv. Abekobe.
Bryan
---------------------------------------------------
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Mammillaria bertholdii
first described as a new species in 2013

My plant is grafted and has never flowered yet
Hoping to buy a couple more clones so I can get seed
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It was really fat and happy (mid summer), so I decided to try and take some cuttings as an experiment
And half of them rooted and are still alive
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While I was at it, I made a bunch of Mammillaria theresae cuttings as well
all looking pretty good going into winter
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MrXeric
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by MrXeric »

I like the form on your M. bertholdii, very green yet compact. Neat spines too. My grafted plant stays red all year, but it started stretching when I put it under filtered light so I've been keeping it in the sun. Mine only flowered once, but this last spring it aborted all its buds for whatever reason.
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

It's been a long time
Just finished our club sale, so now have time to post

We had the worst spring and early summer, dank and cool, months on end
couldn't decide to water or not, it ended up mostly not
Things came around in July and finally, plants are growing!
From June

Gymoncalycium trifaria
The crest is uprooting itself
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Another G. trifaria
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Gymnocalycium buenekeri
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Lots of Aztekium hintonii flowers this year
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Echinopsis famatimensis
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Sulcorebutia langeri
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Sulcorebutia fiesta
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Close up of the S. rauschii, purple-green
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S. rauschii "Cherry Bomb"
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Rebutia heliosa varieties
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Mammillaria deherdtiana dodsonii
no centrals
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DrPlantDaddy
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by DrPlantDaddy »

Wow, a backyard super bloom! Looking great, Craig and Denise!
----
Kane
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

Some more good stuff

Escorbaria minima "Minima Maxima"
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Nice Opuntia action this summer
Tephrocactus geometricus
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Tephrocactus (Puna) bonniae, major
leaf like petals
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The night bloomers, if they are lucky
are rounded up and brought into my bathroom for the night
so when I visit my bathroom later in the night,
I pollenate them using a section of bailing wire, that has been roughed up
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Craig and Denise Fry
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C And D
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Re: Welcome Craig Fry!

Post by C And D »

I forgot what this one is called
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And I still haven't confirmed a name on this Rebutia
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Cleistocactus winteri subs. colademononis
Monkey Tails, more flowers than ever this year
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Craig and Denise Fry
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