One man went to sow ......my diary

[Wilk]

The M. Candida is not grafted. I have never grafted a plant in my life. It was sown in Dec 2013 and its diameter is maybe 1.5 inches. The other heads are from smaller seedlings in the same pot, some of which have offset and others not.

I tend to water the more difficult species quite sparingly and I have not noticed any adverse effects and probably saved a few lives.

[Wilk]

One of a number I repotted today:


From 2 inch into 3 inch pots. No individual pricking out just put the whole root ball into the new pot and pull them apart slightly;


Finished:


Close up:

[Vipassana]

I am envious of your collection and it just gets better every time you post. Your successes are one of the main reasons I've chosen to try growing from seed.

[Wilk]

You only get to see the good ones ! , though I'm glad to have inspired others.

A friend bought me two mature plants for my birthday. Whilst the gesture was well intentioned they will never be loved like the ones I have grown from seed.

[Wilk]

I was shocked to see this when inspecting my herd the other day:


Mammillaria Crinita, sown 27 December 2015, in bud and less than 1cm in diameter. Here's a better shot of the Escobaria Vivipara they are grazing with:

[Wilk]

Titanopsis



Mammillaria Candida


Gymno' Bruchii

[Wilk]

I had forgotten about these which are in one of my three humidity boxes. They are generally one which have struggled a bit or are more difficult. I watered them and gave them fresh air for the first time this year with a view to acclimatising them to the real world.


Here's a general shot following a bit of shuffling and watering today


I counted 13 flower buds on this pot of M Guelzowiana so I am hoping for a good show. How many can you see?


You would scarcely believe these were in a 2 inch pot about 2/3 weeks ago and yet they are now bursting out of their 3 inch pot


Here are a few more of the same

[Robb]

Your seedlings look fantastic! How many holes are on the underside of the plastic containers? I am using similar ones for my seedlings, and I'm not sure if I have made enough (4).
Cheers!

[Wilk]

Hi Robb

If you mean the clear plastic containers, I drilled about 6 holes around the outer sides of them and maybe 2 or 3 nearer the centre. Whilst the sides are opaque, I don't think it makes a great deal of difference and you have the benefit of being able to see the roots.

Here's something in a different type of pot. Escobaria Missouriensis. The flowers have lasted for ages but they have scarcely fully opened despite the warm weather. They are beginning to grow on me.

[Wilk]

Here's the pot of M. Guelzowiana I posted a short time ago. However nice they might look, they look far more vivid in real life. My camera cannot capture how intense the flower colour is:


M. Tezontle


Another I pictured earlier in bud, E. Fendleri. I have not seen the flower open due to holidays/work:


E. Metornii which I pictured last year. This year 3 are in bud:


Here's the flower:


And finally, those seedlings I potted on a few weeks ago, growing like mad:

[mmcavall]

very good looking seedlings and plants, especially the E. metornii, congratulations!

[Wilk]

If you cannot see the images any more the explanation lies in this link from Stampboards:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=77822

Who do you chaps use to host pictures? I can see a change being necessary when Photobucket goes bust.

[Wilk]

I have decided that rather than bow to the extortionate demands of Photobucket that I pay $400 for the privilege of releasing my images which they agreed to host for free, I should change provider. I would not mind paying a small annual sum but PB have got to be joking. I hope they rot in hell. I have changed to another host and will try to replace all my images over the next few weeks. A bit of a chore but so be it. As you can see from the above, I have begun the task already. 3 down, hundreds to go.

The next pic is a fraud as I did not grow it from seed but it made me happy nonetheless and I hope you like it:

[Wilk]

A few pictures from earlier today:

Coryphantha retusa


Mixed Sulco's - I wondered why they were so different


Mammillaria eriacantha


Echinocereus palmeri


Escobaria sandbergii

[Wilk]

More from last weekend.These were all sown Dec 2015 to Jan 2016 and are in 2 inch pots
Echinocereus viridiflorus


Coryphantha greenwoodii


Escobaria vivipara neomexicana


Mammillaria fraileana


Coryphantha esmereldana