This is labelled as pterocactus megliollii-australis KP170
I’m not sure myself of that name, I’m thinking more like fischeri.
But it’s a lovely rich red bloom, or would be if only the sun came out here in Lincolnshire.

Ribs.
I don’t think I need to say it, but I will. Echinocactus grusonii.

Thanks both. So the name and collection number go together.
But does anyone else feel that the plant doesn’t look like a megliolii? It’s nothing like any of the other megliolii plants in my collection.

I have this Pterocactus, labelled as P megliolii KP187. I cannot find this field number on Ralph’s database. I suspect that it is not megliolii, but more likely australis or fischeri. Looking at Sarnes’ online book the habitats of these do not overlap, so a natural hybrid appears unlikely. An hortic...

Again mathematically you can show that it takes more energy (and cost) to raise the temperature back from a lower temperature than to maintain it at a steady value. Erm….no. That is a myth. Heat loss is proportional to the differential between the warm part and the cold part. The warmer the house, ...

I have four greenhouses, combined total around 370 sq.ft. Each has a 1kW electric fan heater, controlled by an external digital thermostat. Each is insulated with twin wall polycarbonate. The coldest is set to 1.5c and the warmest to 4.5c. The electricity bill for our whole home over the last three ...

I think the references to plants growing in and alongside moss in habitat are somewhat out of context when being compared to seedlings grown in a permanently humid propagator in the UK. I think it’s pretty clear why moss might help seedlings establish in a habitat situation and how it might protect ...

We’ve probably all had this problem, moss colonising seed pots and swamping the seedlings, especially the slow growers which stay in the pot for a long time. I’m not aware of any product licensed for preventative or curative treatment. What we do know is that the main actives used for moss treatment...

I gave up on bubble wrap insulation years ago. I now use twin wall polycarbonate which I fit once and leave for years and years, and it insulates better as it’s so much easier to get a tight fit at joins. But, if you really want bubble wrap, the bigger bubble stuff will, usually, be thicker and so s...

It’s in your profile, top right of the screen.
Mine is, at least