Interesting, thanks for the post. My plan this year was to use a chamois leather, but I will have a think about some of these. So I did a search on Amazon UK for this glove: £45! This was mentioned as an alternative at £25: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002PHX7PG/ref=asc_df_B002PHX7PG58205582/?tag=go...

That's a very striking-looking plant. Can I ask how big it is? I thought Ferocacti had to be quite large to bloom.

Dave, "bent nose pliers" on Amazon and eBay are similar. I've seen them up to 11inches.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/bent-nose-pliers

Do you think I should separate the N. buiningii? Lilife says that plant does not clump, so that is probably two plants in one pot.

Hi DaveW, yes I went and read the lilife page on M. zeilmanniana more closely and it does mention the white flowered form. I use that site to hunt down all my new plants, and as you mention I think the M. bombycina is actually M. perezdelarosae. After posting, I noticed in the large pic the label ha...

ElieEstephane wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:28 pm Very nice additions. Congratulations! Trichocereus chiloensis will turn in an amazing plant in full sun

Thanks Elie. Yes, I traced it to http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... chiloensis when I got home. Eek, formidable!

A few closeups (right click and view image for hi-res version) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1SLKbHg64j2nLrDsrlCbxDAW7U9RL9Urj9vzvYZS_pWQeglwnWDOA2khXvm0-9UeS-DqC8qUbiwUKAy3oU8XmQI48F9Q3AqkjEgTN2QZOHvnwd-WaGnzRvBBe2XhgjLJVh9bUDmXvXCtUvLi9F5TxXPQ1u4fbd6tGl4z7f36Ypxvb3DsnMXn2o6jSSORX3lY5fttCAIUGdt...

Apparently one of the largest cacti nurseries in the UK. It is perilous to visit such places, I tell you: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MqMocusog7sW4YQJo_l4RiLAdpPx8y5Dm48hhtkXJQGL6PPp29Fj4bHw7eW_XsW4qMTrCqtcJE0jeV6L29O8pd2RDtNQxGXYUM3YbWAXe3xPisgyqq-yppYX5wqRLrIai-hZJ1t2zT4xgMjjOedDFdm2tWt_WyvN...

Thanks kevofski. I recently acquired a young G. baldianum but it has purple flowers (and only 3 of them). White seems unusual (I should have read from the beginning of the thread) but definitely spectacular! I hope mine puts on as good a show when it grows up. *Adds white-flowering G. baldianum to w...

also, what is the species? tia.

I took a picture. The blurb for Bug Clear Ultra 2 says: "An insecticide for ornamental plants that is effective against a range of common insects including: aphids, whitefly, scale insects, spider mites, caterpillars, lily beetles, leaf beetles and mealy bugs (useful control). Contains rapeseed...