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Here are a few pics from the old greenhouse before beginning the construction of the new one. The old greenhouse is around 4ft x 4ft. New one will be 10ft x 12ft. Plenty of space for more cacti!
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. Yungasocereus inquisivensis, not one you see every day Eriosyce occulta (?) Obregonia denegrii Copiapoa tenuissima with 6 flowers! Echinofossulocactus xiphacanthus Astrophytum myriostigma Unknown melocactus hybrid. Patiently waiting for the cephalium to begin development Spiky Pilosocereus gounellei Puna (maihueniopsis) clavarioides. A weirdo Cleistocactus winteri flower Echinopsis subdenudata cv 'dominos' flowers

lovely collection. Ive always wanted a greenhouse but sadly i have no space for one.

Nice collection, Don! And if I was the jealous type, I might be a little bit jealous of your Puna clavarioides. I got an unrooted segment from C and D Plants back in December 2015 -- took forever to start rooting properly, and I don't think it'll ever grow enough to come anywhere close to the one you have.

By the way, I'm one of the moderators -- if you'd like to turn this thread into a blog of your ongoing experiences, let me know, and I'll move it into the Member Blogs forum.

Steve Johnson wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 4:57 pm Nice collection, Don! And if I was the jealous type, I might be a little bit jealous of your Puna clavarioides. I got an unrooted segment from C and D Plants back in December 2015 -- took forever to start rooting properly, and I don't think it'll ever grow enough to come anywhere close to the one you have.

By the way, I'm one of the moderators -- if you'd like to turn this thread into a blog of your ongoing experiences, let me know, and I'll move it into the Member Blogs forum.

Thanks! Seems odd to me that yours is slow growing. Mine doesn't seem too slow to me. The 3 segments around the base are all this summer's growth. I got mine from the annual show and sale in Sacramento. You'll always find some cool stuff there. They had some grafted multi-headed blossfeldia liliputana too.

Also, yea I was going to turn this into a blog of ongoing experiences.

Do you have picture of the old greenhouse?

theclosetguy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 5:58 pm Do you have picture of the old greenhouse?

All those pics are from the old greenhouse Since I'm in a drier part of California, the greenhouse doesn't really have anything special except shade cloth. I'll post full picture of it here.

Here ya go. It looks much smaller from the outside. There isn't very much room inside because I've also got 2 completely full round metal tables

Pretty Cool. Metal Framed. Shade Cloth covered.

Very nice! Do you get good air circulation in there? I take it you are with us Northern Californians. I also see a Poots tag. Look forward to your new digs as they grow. I'm over in San Ramon Valley area.

bartab wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 8:49 pm Very nice! Do you get good air circulation in there? I take it you are with us Northern Californians. I also see a Poots tag. Look forward to your new digs as they grow. I'm over in San Ramon Valley area.

Thanks! Yep I'm in northern cali. Northeast of Sacramento. We get almost no rain from late spring to November, making cactus cultivation pretty easy. Only day temps of 114 can fry a few species and the transition from spring to summer usually sunburns them if not under shade cloth. There aren't panels on the greenhouse, just cloth so air circulation isn't really an issue for me. Poot's is a really awesome nursery. I've only been there a few times. It's a relatively long drive.

Vegetable Don wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 5:32 pmSeems odd to me that yours is slow growing. Mine doesn't seem too slow to me. The 3 segments around the base are all this summer's growth.

I'm sure it has something to do with the microclimate in my part of L.A. To give you some geographical perspective, here's my National Weather Service forecast area:



Summertime highs are mostly in the 80s with low 90s here and there, plus the occasional heatwave. The problem is humidity ranging from 50% to 85%, about 70%-75% on average. When I got the clavarioides from C and D, Craig Fry told me that he was having a lot of trouble rooting his segments, his climate being pretty much the same as mine. I think Puna wants a hotter and drier climate like yours, so I'll consider myself lucky that I can grow one at all even if conditions here are keeping it slow.

Ah makes sense. I haven't tried rooting any segments yet so I can't really say if they'd root easier in my climate. It seems to prefer hotter and drier. Late spring and summer days where I'm at usually are 95°-115°, nights in the 60s, and the humidity usually below 20%.

Here's a few of my seedlings. I have these in a heated terrarium under lights. They seem to be doing well so far.
Melocactus conoideus Melocactus concinnus and azureus Some echinofossulocactus Pilosocereus leucocephalus Stenocereus thurberi with Echinopsis ancistrophora/Lobivia arachnacantha on the bottom Arrojadoa aurespina Haageocereus pseudomelanostele

Here's an update for the beginning of 2021. I've built the new greenhouse over winter, and here are a few pics. I've only built one bench so far. There's room for another two.

Hi Don
You going to only have a single layer or a double layer bench system.