I returned home from university last week and I think it's safe to say that my Melocactus curvispinus and Mammillaria (bocasana?) seedlings needed repotting! IMG_20160605_092644.jpg IMG_20160605_151105.jpg All of the seedlings I currently have were sown in February 2015 so they're all around 1.5 yea...

Thanks so much, I didn't realise 3) wasn't a cactus - it must have been in the wrong section at the garden centre! No problem :) unfortunately most garden centres don't seem too bothered about labelling cacti and succulents, so most of them just lump everything together under 'Cactus', especially E...

1: Looks like Austrocylindropuntia subulata
2: No idea I'm afraid, I don't have much experience with columnars
3: Euphorbia obesa, in which case it is not a cactus

Hope this helps!

I agree with E. subdenudata for No. 3, the first one looks like a Frailea to me, possibly F. grahliana? Not sure about the second I'm afraid!

Okay then, they'll be in more light from now on! If I try Adeniums again I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the help

Adenium is not a cactus ;) I am aware :lol: I just included mentioning them since they were sown at the same time, even if I have nothing to show for it ](*,) That T. valdezianus has considerable scarring. I would suspect mites, but there is an awful lot of deformity for not very much skin damage, ...

It is now just over 6 months since I sowed the seeds I had for this year, and I'm quite pleased with the progress! :D I've had the most success with Turbinicarpus valdezianus with 33 out of 50 seedlings still alive, the rest haven't had as good germination rates but I'm happy with what I've got, I p...

All species are now germinating, hopefully I should be able to get some more pictures soon. I have a slight problem with the Turbinicarpus, quite a few of them are turning red, is this from too much light or too much heat? I moved the pot further away from the light and covered it with a piece of pa...

Thanks for the advice Ian, I'll see if I can get more heat to the Melocactus pot, I'm not overly hopeful for them though, I sowed some of the same seeds last year and have some seedlings left, but the seeds aren't very fresh by now. A couple of the Turbs turned a little red but they don't look too b...

A couple of weeks ago I made a post asking for information on growing seeds, I had done it before but I just used a desk lamp and as a result germination results weren't particularly good. I decided I wanted to try again and improve the method that I used. Last week I made a propagator using a cardb...

Thinking about it, it's probably nearer 50:50 as the soil does fill the gaps between the grit. So hopefully it should be okay

My Dad needed to buy food for our fish so I went with him and got some aquatic grit (2-3mm), I mixed it at around 60-70% with John Innes No. 2. The mix looks good so I'll see if it works well for the seeds, I sowed them today

I have to say I've never actually found pumice anywhere near me, and I have heard bad things about perlite so I'd rather not use it. I do have some horticultural grit but I think the pieces might be too large, it's about 5-8mm pieces. I was going to go to an aquatics shop tomorrow and see if they ha...

Thanks Ian, I left the thermometer in it overnight and it looks like it stayed at around 18 degrees, unfortunately I have no idea where the nearest Tesco is to me, would it work well enough without it?

So I had a trip down to Homebase on Thursday and got a couple of bulbs, lamp holders, some wire and plugs. Wired it all together so now have two very nice and bright daylight bulbs (they are 1450 lumen and 23W each). I made a propagator using a good sturdy box and lined the inside with polystyrene a...