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Nice looking cacti! I've always been happy with the quality of the plants from Mesa. Mine should be arriving today or tomorrow.

The plants are always interesting and healthy and grown hard. They transition easily to the way I grow (except last shipment which arrived in mid summer, right before I left for Baja...sunburn galore.)

peterb

peterb wrote:The plants are always interesting and healthy and grown hard. They transition easily to the way I grow (except last shipment which arrived in mid summer, right before I left for Baja...sunburn galore.)

peterb

That's one of the most valuable characteristics of MGs plants: the fact they are grown hard.
That's the way I like 'em.
I only lost one plant from MG from my 3 orders in 2011 - no other source comes close to that survival rate!

Nice looking plants, peterb! That Mamm sure looks to be worth another shot!

Cheers,
Tristan

Yes, Mammillaria albicans is a great one, from a very beautiful area of BCS. I think I will spend some time in San Juan de la Costa this summer. The flowers of albicans are stunning. here's a pic of one of Tony's plants in flower: http://cactiguide.com/graphics/m_albicans_b_600.jpg

anyone know anything more about vivipara bisbeeana sonorensis?

peterb

peterb wrote:The plants are always interesting and healthy and grown hard.
peterb

Peter, can you elaborate on "Grown hard?" I've heard that expression a lot but not sure what it entails.

RichR wrote:

peterb wrote:The plants are always interesting and healthy and grown hard.
peterb

Peter, can you elaborate on "Grown hard?" I've heard that expression a lot but not sure what it entails.

High heat, max sun ... Min fertilizer, min water.
In a way, it could equate to cultivation by neglect

Just curious about how these new plants are grown as far as how much sun they get.
Arnt they all grown in a green house or are some of them adapted already to grow in full sun?
If they are all grown under shade cloth, does anyone know what percentage shade they are grown in at Mesa garden.

Yes, they are grown in greenhouses for the most part. I haven't visited Mesa Garden in a long while, but very little was being grown outdoors when I was there back in the 90s. No shade cloth in sight when I was there, perhaps a bit of whitewashing on some of the houses. Not glass, but plastic coverings.

In addition to what Darryl said about "grown hard," I would add any regimen that keeps the plants compact, focuses their development on the roots and maximum spine cover.

peterb

finally sowed yesterday. I was home sick with a slight cold, not bad enough to keep me from using the unexpected free few hours to get the flat started.

sandy, gritty, desert loamy seed mix with about 5 different particle sizes. Trying it without any vermiculite or peat at all this year. This is post microwaving until hot, about 5 minutes in small batches, just to kill the nasty stuff, not to really sterilize.


Didn't actually include any half and half or coffee. The kitchen just ends up being the plant work space.


ready to go. about 30 packets from MG and about 10 from my own old stock.


Listed in a grid on a piece of paper, abbreviated notations directly on the pot with sharpie. Sown and under lights. It took about two hours altogether.


This is exactly what I'm looking for the first two weeks or so, a nice coating of droplets on the dome.


crossing my fingers, looking forward to having a bunch of new stuff.

peterb

Big day Sunday-- put all the plants outside already. I decided to chance some cool temps to see if I could extend the growing season here before it just gets too hot. One short string of days in the high 90s and a lot of the Escobaria and Pedios/Scleros (ss) go dormant for the rest of the season, no matter how much it cools again. So I'm gambling a bit. It has been very nice here. The pedio winkleri shown here on the right has a pup that was already etiolating a bit and is ready to go:



more pics:

Open pollinated Echinocereus seedling, the mother was E. russanthus. The offspring sure isn't.









Echinomastus erectocentrus acunensis with some nice roots:


Already some seed action after about 3.5 days, always so cool to see the tiny plants sprout.

Peniocereus cuixmalensis this morning:


this afternoon:



A bunch of other seedling pics:












I might add another lamp or two if some of them don't color up more. Sometimes they are pale at the very start and green/pink up in a day or two and it's a mistake to up the light. But I want to see good color in the seedlings, even tending toward a nice rose blush. Not too red, but strong color nonetheless, That is usually a sign that the light is okay for the next month or so and they can usually then be gradually moved into natural sun, here in AZ, under window screen.

peterb

I don't think you're gambling too much with the Pediocactus. Noon today, 34F in the greenhouse, light snow, and all the Pediocactus are wet. Tonight it will freeze, but tomorrow it should be sunny again.

The others it is hard to tell, I don't know what your weather could get like.

here's that table I posted in another thread, with widely divergent dates for Phoenix/Sky Harbor Airport (2/7) and Tempe (3/2), a mere 6 miles apart. http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/h ... /frost.htm So it's interesting. But even so, the frosts are usually very mild in Feb. Record lows have been in the mid 20s, but this seems like a warm winter. Anyway, I can always just haul everyone in for the night or a few days if necessary. The averages are 70s during the day and 40s overnight, a nice Santa Fe summer.

peterb

and to think, what the chances are up where I live. We have had light frost in the middle of October, and in the middle of March. It;s been in the 70s everyday tho. I am not sure if I should put any of my plants out. I think maybe next week baring anything major coming in like a huge winter storm, with freezing temps...
It's always dicey here in the desert.
I need to make a list of the cold tolerances of all my plants.

Awesome!
Low tech approach with high tech results

I gotta get going man, its almost February!!!

I bet you'll be warmer outside than it will be in my greenhouse, but then I have the fallback of turning on a heater if we get a sudden exceptionally cold night.