After looking at a bunch of the photos on mammillarias.net, I think it's more likely a compressa. The colour, spines at the growing point, and shape of the tubercles all seem to match compressa better. But I wouldn't put money on it, since they're very similar looking.

I might try spiralling mine up a moss pole (or a cat litter pole, since it's easier to see the moisture level and doesn't decompose). They won't want to go anywhere after they're dug in, but once the stems are grown they're resistant to changes in position anyway.

nachtkrabb wrote:Why are those so difficult to keep alive? What is the trick?
Ruth

I don't think it is, particularly. It's just the double negative. 'Just because it's x, doesn't mean it's y' can get tricky to read when 'x' also has a negative in it.

More Selenicereus roots! I've been keeping mine lying flat, to take advantage of the aerial roots. The grandiflora struck pretty quickly, since it had a bunch of long ones.


They're all in a humid growbox.

One of the germinated seedlings died -- I think it was in too snug and simply got too wet and turned to blancmange. No grey mould moving in to take advantage, which was something of a surprise, and I only picked up on it because it hadn't grown for a couple of days. http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/u...

They look like they had a change in conditions and then started growing comfortably. I have a Euphorbia with a narrow band from earlier on in the year before I was giving it enough water for the amount of heat and light it was getting, so maybe things were a little rough on them for a while? Looking...

I bought this from B&Q even though it was a mess because I liked the spination and thought I could have a go at fixing it up. Unfortunately the greenhouse door was closed during a sunny day (it's being fixed up for the winter, so nothing else in there), and it probably cooked. Or it could have r...

*scratches head* Don't they have to be 3 or 4 years old to flower? Anyway, I did tip out the Glandulicactus, and while it's expanded its roots there was still a core of fine material that had to be removed by spray. http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/userpix/2873_g_matthsoni_unpotted_1.jpg http://www.c...

Nooo! http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/userpix/2873_cactus_casualty_1.jpg It turned to water. :( Since it was mild and wet yesterday and they were due for a watering, I thought I'd leave them outdoors for a bit to get their first taste of fresh air and rainwater. Then I forgot to bring them in, so in...

bovis wrote:The ferocacti also grew pretty well. I gave two away. The other two are here:

Bit of a waistline on those. Have they shrunk down, or did they grow like that?

Could be the graft, could be the plants. I have a pair of M. elongatas, possibly from the same seed batch, who have spent the whole summer maliciously taking it in precise turns to flower. So far the only thing I've gotten to use my paintbrush on is a lone E. crispa, and I don't know if the pods wil...

The Gymno might like less sun and more heat. Depends where you've got it now and how much water it's getting.

After reading dvg's topic on germinating M. theresae more-or-less out in the open under lights, I thought I'd try it with another tough nut to crack, Echinocactus horizonthalonius. Documentation is a little hazy at this point, but there are still several fresh seeds in the packet. Here are the first...

How much per pound for those baby onions in the last pic?

If there are any builder's yards nearby, you can try them for inorganic ingredients. I can't really advise you on exact composition because our climates are so different, but whatever you use needs to needs to stay open and breathable even when wet. Fill up some pots with your mix and treat them as ...