Return of a former member!

[mdpillet]

Hi all,

As a teenager (2006-2008) in Belgium I was a member of this forum (even moderated some of the early photo competitions), under the nickname DieTer-Xz (kids...). I was forced to give up my collection and I stopped participating here. At 18, I moved to Montana for college - not a conducive environment for a new collection. I graduated with a degree in ecology, and currently my job involves tropical tree demography. Last week, I moved to Tucson, AZ with my wife, in preparation for the start of my Ph.D. in August (working on conservation of pinon pine, saguaro, and a few endangered cacti taxa). I am now a permanent resident, and as we will be buying a house here I have decided to start my collection again. My wife has fallen in love with succulents as well, so she will be collecting too! Seems she particularly likes columnars, Euphorbia, and anything that looks like Echeveria. My specialty was the Opuntia complex, particularly Tephrocactus, Grusonia, Cylindropuntia... However, I will be branching out extensively!

While my wife has already bought a few plants, I have been working on the practical needs of the hobby. Today we went out to buy soil components. My base mix will be 70% pumice, 20% sandy topsoil (excellent drainage), and 10% low-fertility compost with a pH of 6.5. I will be using limestone gravel for species with alkaline preferences. Next up will be an incubator, as I would like to start most of my collection from seed, and a reverse osmosis setup to deal with our hard water here.

Looking forward to getting to know all of you. If anyone is in Tucson or close, I'd love to meet you (and will gladly act as a garbage disposal for your spare cuttings)! Also very interested in knowing more about regional shows, nurseries, seed lists, and growth recommendations! If there are any conservation biologists on here, I'd love to collaborate with you, so please reach out.

Best,
Michiel

[gemhunter178]

Welcome back!

[Aiko]

Welkom terug.

[adetheproducer]

Hello.