Never disturb a lady until she has had her morning catnip! Not even for a belly tickle. Best wishes K.W. Bonus-Track "Frau Klein" in the mood for. . . 211829 https://i38.servimg.com/u/f38/16/32/30/73/bild1294.jpg 211831 https://i38.servimg.com/u/f38/16/32/30/73/bild1295.jpg 211833 https://...

The easy way to tell the difference is that Melos have very distinct ridges where the spines are. Harder to be sure when they are small. Here's one of mine that's big enough to be getting his ceph.

It's in an 8 inch pot. I've given up iding melos. Can say what it isn't, that's the easy part.

Wayne suggested I post this photo. No ID but it looks so cute with the little flowers in its new ceph. Had it for several years & it was cool to see the ceph begin.

Wayne - did you get the photos I sent?

Hi Wayne - 4:15 am; got up to take a pain pil,l so I can go back to sleep. You know the name of that song. I use a lot of glazed pots so the roots don't glue themselves to the sides. Just can't stand the look of plastic, they are my compromise. Cheap at IKEA. Wish I had a quick answer to the how big...

Just curious why you want to re pot in plastic. Weight? Ease of stepping up to a larger pot as the cactus grows? My azureus is about 8 inches high without a ceph. My ernesti is about 5inches and has a 1.5 inch ceph. You might also want a bit more heat for the melos. I have 2 greenhouses but the melo...

Stupid cat knocked over the arrojadoa & the top section broke off. Rooted easily, so now I have two!

Hi JP - the two you sent me are doing fine. In my office for the winter with the melos. Thanks, Sue

K.W. - Thanks for teasing me even more. There is a limited choice of hybrids in the states. What is the name of 169891? Love the almost pure yellow.

Half a world apart & we have much the same blooming. But this one is all your fault, you got me hooked. I love the two-toned color.

Be careful. Not too much sun. Evenly moist and they love gentle overhead watering.

They are such a PITA. Take up too much space, sending lanky shoots where you don't want them. Not much to look at most of the year. But when they bloom, you forgive them! Mine dominates "her side" of the GH, lives in a huge tree pot & is spoiled with fish emulsion & lots of misting.

Thanks for the Astro pix but it can't compare in beauty to Frau Klein's furry belly.

Thanks K.W. Yesterday was the first bloom since he was rescued last summer. We had heavy rain last night & haven't been outside to see if the bloom is still intact. When our club member Dr. Barad died there were a lot of plants no one wanted because they weren't perfect show quality. He had been...