Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

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K.W.
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by K.W. »

Good morning Paul,

very nice, new family members!
I like the Frailea asteroides especially.

And - not blame - the Discocactus subviridigriseus is written differently.
Discocactus subviridis griseus, then the name is much easier to pronounce. :wink:

I wish now not a nice Christmas. . .
Write again in January. . . Image


Best wishes

K.W.
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

K.W., I like the frailea also. A even decided to buy some more and arrange them together in a micro-cactus-gargen :)

Thanks for the latin lesson! It really easier to remember this way.
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CactusFanDan
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by CactusFanDan »

You might want to note that 2-word species names are invalid, as are ones with hypens. :P The name D. subviridigriseus is out of date anyway, so you might like to call it Discocactus bahiensis ssp. gracilis, which is a bit easier to remember I'd say.
-Dan
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

A significant change happened in my cacti collection. I've changed my light sources. Instead of 2x32w power saving spiral lamps, I am going to use 2x54w LED grow lights. Theoretically this should give rather good results. But it looks weird.

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Each lamp has 12 red 3w LEDs and 6 blue 3w leds, theoretically giving the most effective light for plants to consume. The light itself looks not that strong but actually it is an optical illusion, as my photo camera says that the light is rather strong. Well, let's see how my cacti will behave...
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sabotenmen
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by sabotenmen »

Your plants look like UFOs here :lol: I hope it'll work for you. Your big Melo looks fantastic. If you ever grow tired of it, shoot it to Japan (with the roots and in its pot!!!! :D
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

Yeah now they look a bit like a fairy tale plants. I only need some fog to turn my windowsill into complete fairy tale (I will not di this of course) :) I will closely monitor my seedlings to see if this light is actually better then the previous one. If it is not - I'll switch back.

BTW both adult melos keep giving me fruits. Curvispinus now has 2 (one is visible here and the second grew during this night), and Matanzanus has 5, all the flowers that it gave to me in November are now turning into fruits. I really don't think I'll ever be tired of them, sabotenmen :)
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

I've found a way to measure the light with a photo camera. And I've measured how much light are getting my cacti with this new grow lights.

Today we have a partially sunny day and streets are covered with snow. The sun was NOT shining directly into my room. That gave my cacti 6500 lux of light.

Then I turned on my lights. That gave them 19600 lux totally. I think this is not bad at all!
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

Some fresh photos...

As I told in another theme, I was in Hong Kong after New Year. I wanted to bring something as a living souvenir, a cactus or even several cacti. I knew that there could be a problem passing the border, but actually it all went ok. I places three small gymnos in a tube from Pringles chips, packed them with soft paper and placed the tube into the bag. Noone said a word against it. I also bought couple of Chinese style beautiful pots. One of them was used from these gymnos. So here they are - my Hong Kong souvenir :)

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Looks good among other cacti, right?
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Later I bought here a nice looking Notocactus Ubelmannianus. A lovely plant.
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And my new melo... Almost rootless unfortunately but I hope it will survive.
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sabotenmen
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by sabotenmen »

Okay, Snowcat, now you’re the only member on this forum who has some Gymnos that smell like cheddar cheese /onion potato chips! Your Chinese pot looks quite nice. I can read a couple hundreds of kanji but I can make neither head nor tail of what’s written on the pot. But it’s really a nice original souvenir. Did you check if there’s a hole in the bottom? I’m blown away by your Uebelmannianus, a fantastic specimen. How big is this one? Do you know anything about the color of its flowers?
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

Okay, Snowcat, now you’re the only member on this forum who has some Gymnos that smell like cheddar cheese /onion potato chips!
Hehee, right! I am thinking of breeding a gymno hybrid wih cheese/onion aroma! :D :lol: :mrgreen:
Your Chinese pot looks quite nice. I can read a couple hundreds of kanji but I can make neither head nor tail of what’s written on the pot. But it’s really a nice original souvenir. Did you check if there’s a hole in the bottom?
I have no idea about what is written there also. I hope nothing bad :) It is a flower pot, it has three holes in it's bottom...
I’m blown away by your Uebelmannianus, a fantastic specimen. How big is this one? Do you know anything about the color of its flowers?
Thanks! It is rather big, like 9cm in diameter. And it looks like it began to sprout several flowers. So I hope to see them in some time. Not very soon though, they are tiny...
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

My new melo planted. It's neigbour cheers the newcomer with fruits and a flower!

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Curvispinus' flower. Small wonder of nature :)

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sabotenmen
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by sabotenmen »

Beautiful.You're on your way of getting a quite nice collection. I hope the plant will root quickly. :D
Eutow_Intermedium
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Eutow_Intermedium »

Your new Melo looks like it could be the same species as mine.

Melocactus Amoenus. There seems to be a lot of those plants in China . .
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Snowcat
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by Snowcat »

Thanks, sabotenmen! I am cannot have too many of cacti but I am trying yo arrange a beautiful small collection :)

Eutow, yes, this was labeled as Amoenus in the shop. Shop labels are nor reliable, I know, but it looks as Amoenus too. So it's Amoenus until proven otherwise!
kpj35
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Re: Snowcat's dark window cacti collection

Post by kpj35 »

Great plants, and you'll have to update about how your lighting situation is working. I also have limited natural light, but have found some interesting ways to make it work. And somehow I seem to keep finding new places to put plants, all in my tiny bedroom. Believe me, when properly motivated you'd be amazed at how many plants you will end up fitting into a small space ;)

I love your melos by the way - absolutely stunning! And the pots you have chosen make your collection quite aesthetically pleasing :)
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