I received my BCSS seeds today, alongside deliveries from Jan Novak and Ian Young (a Lithops seed seller on eBay). Jan labels his seed packs with the catalogue number. Ian has a mix of styles, ranging from a paper slip insert to handwriting on the pack. All of their packs matched the description of ...

I find the Soparco octagonal pots perfect for my plants. They are not easy to find so I have had to buy them by the case. I’ve got 12, 16 and 18cm pots ( I think those sizes are correct). The picture shows 16cm pots. The 12cm ones have a similar aspect ratio. The 18cm pots are a little deeper, but s...

I grow them in my coldest greenhouse and am experimenting with some in a completely unheated cold frame. There is no need to remove top growth, especially not on younger plants. I prune my mature plants every couple of years, cutting the stems to about 1cm above the tuber. This makes the plants look...

My Cintia seeds from ADBLPS are germinating nicely.
Any tips out there regarding any special treatment needed in the first 12 months?

I’m sad to see another specialist grower wanting to sell up, I hope someone can take it on, but the business case will surely be difficult without a major increase in takings. For that, I suspect the new owner will have to diversify. I fear the days of the specialist nursery are limited.

I use a different product with the same active. It is highly effective against red spider.
Be careful with dogs around this. The product I use carries a warning about toxicity to dogs, so ours are always kept inside the house when I’m using this.

I've been very reserved so far (for me!) Just one order (so far) from Rare Palm Seeds, (and no more planned but plenty of saved seed from various Echinopsis, Hildewintera and Chamaelobivia crosses) Screenshot_20231114-192100.png I’m jealous. I didn’t spot Rare Palms had pintilla back in stock and t...

Are you trying to manage bugs in the soil, or bugs on the upper growth? If the latter, just take a minute to work out whether your plants will be taking up enough moisture, and hence possibly insecticide, for a soil drench to have any effect, even if the active ingredient is systemically active. I s...

SimonT wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2023 9:13 am ADBLPS, https://adblps-graines-cactus.com/index_EN.html, have now updated their seed lists.

My order placed.
Not so many as recent years as I’m growing a lot of Lithops from seed at the moment, but hoping my early order catches the Pterocacti I’m after, and maybe the Cintia.

I use desiccant dehumidifiers to aid drying out, but not usually until the temperatures drop a bit. The dehumidifiers put out a few hundred watts worth of heat and, on a cold night, they effectively take over from the heaters, so cost very little to run. If your heater isn’t needed, the heat is effe...