Yes Chinese Hat was just the common name that I remember seeing on the label. I presume that they are cold hardy? As I think they are indigenous to Japan. The larger plants that I saw in the display were nice looking with a slightly metallic colour to the leaves, and they were very reasonably priced...

Are these known as Chinese Hat? If so I have noticed alot of these appearing in garden centres near me. I must admit they do look very nice in a display.

I was also using a mix of 2 parts horticultural grit to one part JI mainly. But now I can't find a good JI peat free replacement (run into many problems with the peat free JI). So I am now experimenting with a inorangic mix, which is showing very promising results at the moment.

All my conophytum that have dry sheaths i have already begun to water, and most have began to burst though their sheaths. I have some that are still in last years sheaths that are a green/yellow colour these just receive a light spray occasionally, but once they complete their drying out cycle i wil...

I was very sad to read this as I was only looking at the list a couple of days ago, putting together my wish list. I would just like to say thank you to Chris for his time and to the members that have donated seeds and taken the time to pollinate their plants to produce seed for the seed pool. The s...

Thanks for the tip. Maybe they also sell Citric Acid in the Chinese food wholesalers I frequent. Paul - have you tried citric acid yet? I would imagine that the Chinese food supplies would have it. I think I was lucky to find it at the price I paid, as last time I was in the Indian food supplies I ...

I have been using food grade critic acid for a pH of 5.5 - 6 for around a year now on my plants, and have seen a positive affect on them, they seem to have a more consistent growth pattern. Just one word of warning make sure you add any fertiliser in the water before you make adjustments to the wat...

I have been using food grade critic acid for a pH of 5.5 - 6 for around a year now on my plants, and have seen a positive affect on them, they seem to have a more consistent growth pattern. Just one word of warning make sure you add any fertiliser in the water before you make adjustments to the wate...

Looks really interesting. Where did you purchase the Helios from, and how many lumens are hitting the top of the plants?

Very interesting. Was it "coir-based" compost, or just "coir"? Coir bricks I've bought from various suppliers are just dumped in a bucket of water to rehydrate them, and it only takes a minute or two for them to be soaked through. When they are made up into compost, I've never h...