my collection so far....

[cactidan]

Once the lobivia gets some proper sun and good care the spines will get really long. It will look like a different plant once summer rolls around!!

[adetheproducer]

Once the lobivia gets some proper sun and good care the spines will get really long. It will look like a different plant once summer rolls around!!

Yeah it still looks like a little pampered seedling. Got it in better soil now as well. They all came from local garden centres and are spplied by pughs cacti so always trapped in peat. The parodia dint have the best roots either so keeping that indoors in with my seedlings give it a head startready for spring.

Got a few more on the way mnow. I placed an order with croston cacti for a few special ones including lophophora, copiapoa and turbinicarpus. Think that will be me done for a while. Also John and Norma of croston cactus are going in to retirement so they are scalling back loads if you want to get any thing be quick they wont be re-stocking.

[adetheproducer]

My order from croston cactus came in today. Thats a good few off my want list. The Echinocereus triglochidiatus inermis was a freebee, its a rooted cutting. I did want to pay for obe but as they are getting readyfor retirement stock is not being replaced and that was the last one so John popped it in for free. Very nice guys at croston cactus.

Also bought a bag of pumice for my soil mixes so used some of that when potting them up see how it goes used it 50/50 with my normal limestone free mix for the south america ones. Just a copiapoa hypogaea any day now from e bay to come the I think I will have run out of space.

Roll on spring when I can move some back outside. Gonna see if a few can be left to the elements over the growing season just a bit worried the very welsh weather might be a bit too much.

[adetheproducer]

Things are waking up already!

My opuntia ficus-indica is starting to grow again, its currently residing on my kitchen windowsill so gets a few hours of direct light a day. I was looking very shrivelled after several months with out water so have given it a drink too. Its got 3 areoles pushing out new growth on the tips of the largest pads so hopefully it can be put back outside in the next few weeks once the frosts stop. Also a lot of the ones in my green house are looking very thirsty now so with any luck I will be able to start watering those soon too.

[adetheproducer]

Forgot to upload a picture of my last cactus I got from my birthday money it arived on Monday. Also my matucana madisoniorum is growing. You can see the darker growth from last year and the bright green from this year with the nasty looking scars from when I froze it last winter.

[KittieKAT]

Very nice copia i been saving up to get some in the summer to try and re grow my collection that is slowly disappearing along with all the kids from the programs plants after all the destruction and vandalism and my roommates stupidity ...grrr
But the kids come first so until i can figure out purchasing or getting plants donated to the children i refuse to buy anything for myself ...yet

[adetheproducer]

Couple of pictures while I was bringing most of my plants back outside. The weather is starting to break and we are getting some good sun so out they came. Still got my matucana madisoniorum and uebelmannia pectinifera in my light box with all my seedlings. They can go out once the nights warm up enough.
my stenocereus pruinosus looks a bit worse for where got a bit frost bitten and my astrophytum ornatum back when we had that nasty freeze the last few weeks. They might be ok just a few if the extremities got frozen by the looks of it But we will see.

[luigonz]

Have you watered these at all during the winter?

thanks,
lui

[adetheproducer]

Have you watered these at all during the winter?

thanks,
lui

No, most are now in their 5 month ish without water, there are few I brought in to my light box for the worst of winter by they have only had light waterings and a good week or so dry before being put out on the weekend

[cactidan]

I thought my madisoniorum was marked! Very satisfying seeing them grow it out though.

[adetheproducer]

I thought my madisoniorum was marked! Very satisfying seeing them grow it out though.

Yeah it did get very ill

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 24&t=32115" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it got worse than the last picture on that thread, it collapsed right down to virtually nothing and lost more roots . I thought it was a gonna but a full growing season seems to have fixed it, although it was slow filling back up with water and turning firm again. Just looks horrid now but that should grow out over time. And I know now not to leave it out in the greenhouse in the winter.

[cactidan]

Congratulations! That's an impressive recovery. Half a day of weak sunshine last week and my ferocactus latispinus has bleached out marks everything else was fine though. Hopefully that'll grow out quite quickly.

[adetheproducer]

Congratulations! That's an impressive recovery. Half a day of weak sunshine last week and my ferocactus latispinus has bleached out marks everything else was fine though. Hopefully that'll grow out quite quickly.

My ferocactus latispinus is in a nice shady spot at the bottom of my greenhouse, its behind the sick stenocereus so I have not yet scorched it with the early spring sun we been getting. It will be one of the few I am leaving out this summer to face the elements so I will start introducing it to more direct sun as the next few weeks progress once I'm sure the frosty nights are over then its going on my wall in the back garden with the rest in that pot. All in all I will aim to have stenocereus pruinosus(if it does not rot away), mammilaria polythele, ferocatus latispinus, rebutia heliosa, echinocatus gusonii, ferocatus pilosus outside from the end of march. More may follow in the future when I have enough confidence with the more specialist species I have.

[Onzuka]

You must be in a favoured location regarding frost, Ade, we don't put anything tender out until May has gone.

Steve

[adetheproducer]

You must be in a favoured location regarding frost, Ade, we don't put anything tender out until May has gone.

Steve

Yeah it is pretty good for frost, I think being almost to the top of the mountain helps the cold air has further to sink down the valley and we get surprisingly a good amount of sun with less shadows cast by the mountains the other side of the valley. In fact the amount of direct light on my back garden is noticeably increasing each day now. The garden could do with maybe a few more degree's rotation to the south but is pretty good.