Sorry for the not completely on topic post. I am new to posting and simply cannot work out how to post a new topic (sigh!), so replying to this one seems the least bad thing to do. I am looking for suggestions as to what these black bugs are on some of my cacti? They are particularly bad on this Ma...

Takes a year or two to hope you might have eradicated them. They're much more active later in the year. I've got my fingers crossed that I've at least got them under control. Haven't seen one so far this year, but I'm trying not to let my guard down. Thanks Iann, fingers crossed you’ve got rid of t...

I agree, easy from seed. Not so easy as adults though. They can take five or more years to reach flowering size, but good displays once they get going. Pediocactus except for P. simpsonii are much more tricky, but they flower younger. indraianus-0405.jpgknowltonii-0412.jpg Lovely plants Iann (tu) I...

habanerocat wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 10:46 am An X10 eye loupe and eye-loupe holder work well for me.
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I like it!

Very nice!

Mine is way behind in the greenhouse.

Thank you both for the tips, appreciated. Fingers crossed they don’t reappear anytime soon. In the meantime I’m there like Inspector Clouseau with my magnifier trying to spot any signs

They are pernicious little things and quite hard to get rid of so be vigilant. They are very slow to reproduce compared with two spotted mites so can take a long time to reappear in large enough numbers to be detectable. Insecticide based on rape seed oil works too if you repeat spray. I frequently...

It took me a while to realise what was going on with my plants and what was causing the red spider like damage. I could never see any sign of tiny webs or any minute spider mite looking bugs on my plants. It turns out it wasn’t spider mite at all….they were flat mites! These little b*ggers.. IMG_943...

They look great, so interesting to see the variation, thanks for sharing (tu) Thanks Juster, the main bulk are mixed simpsonii seeds but even the ones with the same locality appear to have quite wide variation. The flower colour variations will be interesting to see. I believe certain yellow flower...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on the forums. But the growing season is upon us and things are springing to life in the greenhouse 😊. These have a reputation for being tricky to grow but I’ve honestly found P. simpsonii to be one of the easiest to grow from seed. Mine are now 2 years old and do...