Regarding insecticides. Most (at least in Britain and the EU?) are not ovicides (ones that kill the eggs) since most of these were banned for amateur use. Maybe they are still available in the US? However that means most insecticides we use do not kill the mealies eggs. If you read the directions on...

I'm not a botanist Mrs Green so somebody more scientific will probably correct me. As far as I understand it each pollen grain that lands on the stigma and germinates produces its own pollen tube down to an unfertilised seed, Therefore in theory every seed in that fruit could have a different "...

As others have said it depends on winter temperature and light in your basement. Cacti will stand cool and dry with no light if they are dried off and dormant. However if too warm and lacking light they will etiolate. I don't know about American basements, do they have any windows, if not you may ha...

Interesting! Hard to tell without a side shot of the flower to see if it has spiny tips on the scales, but almost looks like a tall Acanthocvalycium, illustrating how hard it is to tell from pictures rather than having a plant in front of you! That's my excuse for misidentification anyway LOL Note t...

As MrXeric says all the "Code" asks for is a name to be validly published then you can use it. The "Code" in only concerned with nomenclature (legal naming of plants) not classification. Classifications are optional, you can adopt or reject any you want. When "Lumping" ...

A good video on the ev0lution of cacti here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EUsB2leQoc Also other CSSA lectures, though sometimes quality is not great as they are videoed directly off the projection screen rather than images taken off the speakers computer. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...

Looks a bit like the stem of a Selenicereus to me? Selenicereus are no problem in cultivation apart from growing long like vines therefore can be a bit rambling if you are short of room.

Probably a case of video enthusiasts being largely beginners when growing cacti and the cactus growers are amateurs when it comes to making videos? Both have specialised in the different hobbies. Never done a video, only travelogue. Even the BCSS Forum only has travelogues not videos. I'm not on Fac...

Something in between hard grown and over bloated show specimens. Reasonably hard grown but to look as though they are actually growing.

Looking at Llifle's synonymy under Notocactus mammulosus (You need to click on "see all synonyms") the combination for P. submammulosus does not seem to have ever been made under Parodia if his synonymy is correct? http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/20042/Notocactus_...

There are devices to collect it from your house or outhouse rainwater guttering and downpipe. The water fills the water but until it gets to overflow level then the water overflows down the bottom of the downpipe as it did previously, meaning you don't waste any rainwater until the butt is full. The...

I can't find any reference to Mammillaria's, but Coryphantyha's which may be mistaken for Mammillarias often have. However they are increasingly being found in other genera too like some Opuntia's. https://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/CORYPHANTHA/Coryphantha_echinoidea/Coryphantha_echinoidea/Coryphanth...

The problem with all show plants Mrs Green is they tend to go around the show circuit and people remember them. Therefore what difference Social Media would make I fail to see since its not the public that votes for them but a qualified judge, supposedly working to a set of rules on how the plants s...

Afraid I can't help you being in the UK as we cannot send cuttings of Pterocactus abroad. I have plants of almost all the various species, but if you are growing them from seed you may find this free to download book on Pterocactus by Norbert Sarnes, who is the current expert on the genus, of use. h...

In Britain you can grow most things as long as you don't misuse them, apart from things like Cannabis which is I suppose our equivalent of your Lophophora ban where possession not only use in banned. Many grow Opium Poppies in their gardens as ornamentals. Though some claim our climate is not hot en...