I bought a spool of 6" wide tule, which is a fine plastic mesh used for wedding bows and stuff. I cut it into squares and put that in the bottoms of my pots to prevent the 'hourglass effect'. It's inexpensive and available at craft stores. I have some tree pots that citrus trees came in, they'r...

I love dudleyas too. This time of year I crush up the dried seed pods from last year over flats of empty pots in the GH and I'll get a crop of new seedlings by spring. Seedlings don't handle the frost I get as well as the adults, but after a few years they can usually take it. To get them through ho...

I have L. optica rubra among my other lithops and haven't had a problem with them. I think they did shed their old leaves either a month earlier or later than the other lithops, but they're doing okay in a common pot with other 2yo seedlings. Lithops meyerii 'hammer ruby' is similarly red (at least ...

I'm one of those guys with blossfeldia still in the bag from 2/4/2011. The biggest is the size of a dime and has an offset. They have not flowered, but I think that's because the artificial lights in my propagator don't trigger their seasonal flowering response. Blossfeldia likes it fairly moist (co...

If it has chlorophyll it will probably survive, if it's one of the pink, red or yellow ones it will die. I believe the purple has chlorophyll, so give it a try.

Blossfeldia seedlings are tiny and grow very slowly, perhaps aztekium is the only thing slower. I get about 2 or 3 mm per year if everything is going well. They like humidity and living in the bag. I have some adult size plants still in the bag after 4 or 5 years. Imo, 2 years is the minimum bag tim...

That's how my cintia seedlings look too. They're fine.

Could try unscented kitty litter, depending on the quality of the diatomaceous earth at the local quarry it may work well. Sometimes it breaKS down into mud though. I find sandy subsoil works well too. Try a bunch of easily available promising looking stuff until you find something the plants like. ...

I've found that it grows best for me in my propagator, I think because the temperatures don't fluctuate as much and the light level is lower, which causes etoliation. Pereskiopsis in my greenhouse generally grows fatter with the leaves closer together, smaller yet thicker leaves, and much slower.

It's difficult to over-water harrisia in cactus mix, doubly so in a clay pot. It's more of a tropical cactus like pereskiopsis and hylocereus. Water it a lot and if it responds favorably give it a larger plastic pot with slightly richer mix (more soil/compost, less grit) so it is happy getting water...

I've found that they grow better in plastic pots than clay, however CA summers are among the most arid on the planet. Probably clay pots are okay in cooler, more humid climates where things don't dry out so quickly. Square plastic pots are by far the most space (and water) efficient, and when they'r...

Looks like aporocactus to me...

Once they're ripe, they're ripe and just waiting for a bird to eat them and deposit the seed somewhere else. Usually I slice them open with a razor blade and pick out the seed (easier than with a dry fruit), and then you can try tasting the fruit too - some are quite good.

I got a 500 pack of razor blades at harbor freight for $5. Between each cut I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in alcohol, and throw away the blade after each session.

They seem to die back when exposed to frost and come back from the roots (after looking like they died), so I keep them in GH where they are more or less evergreen. If they get through your z8 winters I should try them in the ground in my xeric beds.