Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

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DrKrettin
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Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by DrKrettin »

Hello everyone, I wonder whether I should say "again" because I might just have been a member here before anybody else. I joimed a cactus society in 1958 or 1959 and it might have been here, or a precursor of here, or just the Huddersfield branch of here or elsewhere. In those days I was the least cool teenager around and had a tiny indoor greenhouse with some tiny cacti which were plagued with mealy bugs and never flowered. Not many photons reached our house under the Huddersfield fog in those days, so it was not an ideal environment for cacti.

This is in marked contrast to where I live now in the mountains in Tenerife, where the climate is similar to the Chilean desert and, as far as I can tell, ideal for cacti. The landscape is full of rather unattractive prickly pear cacti, opuntia ficus indica(?) which were imported around 150 years ago to farm the cochineal beetle. This was profitable until synthetic dyes undermined the market, and the plants were abandoned but proliferated.

My main task at the moment is to find a source of cactus seeds, given that garden centres here are very expensive with very limited number of species on offer. I have never tried growing from seed, so it might be an interesting challenge. Apart from the prickly pear, nobody here seems interested in naming the different species, so identification is also a challenge, especially since everything which appears in Borg's book (a treasured possession from 60 years ago) now seems to have been re-classified, so it's all rather bewildering.
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Pattock
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Pattock »

Welcome back!

Personally, I think your local succulents are far more interesting than any cacti.

My favourite seed supplier is in the Canaries: rareplants.de/.es/.eu http://www.rareplants.de/shop/default.asp? Their selection of cacti is very, very limited and they are running down their native Canary seeds due to a new law there, despite all their seed coming from cultivated plants. They may be able to point you in the direction of other trustworthy local sources of cactus seed. I am sure the more cactus-oriented members will have suggestions of seed-suppliers, perhaps Köhres in Germany?

All the seed I have had from rareplants has germinated well and appeared to be as named, as far as I can tell.
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DrKrettin
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by DrKrettin »

Thanks for the reply, I had no idea that there was a supplier of seeds in the Canary Islands, and I'll investigate. Presumably the issue with limited seed supply is an EU regulation which Brexit has triggered for customers in the UK, but we'll avoid that topic.
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Pattock
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

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DrKrettin wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:00 am Presumably the issue with limited seed supply is an EU regulation which Brexit has triggered for customers in the UK, but we'll avoid that topic.
No, this is a new law brought in by the Canary government to prevent people selling native seeds. Until the end of this year we can still buy seeds from the EU and rareplants is happy to send them. Due to weird VAT regulations rareplants does not send to mainland Spain, the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla. So the UK government are not the only [fill here with your own adjective depending on how you feel about international trade barriers] ones.

I have just checked their shipping page and now they have even stopped shipping within the Canaries due to their proposed new biodiversity law. So your best bet is probably to look at the German and French suppliers of seed, though rareplants may still be able to put you in touch with local amateur growers or nurseries.

https://www.uhlig-kakteen.de/

https://www.kaktus-koehres.de/

https://www.adblps-graines-cactus.com/commander.html

Come on folks, where's the usual welcome committee?
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Pattock
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Pattock »

I forgot to add this. There are a few more invasive cacti that have naturalised in the Canaries, not just one boring Opuntia. There are some good photos and descriptions in this paper, free to download (the big blue Download button):

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ands_Spain
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edds
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by edds »

Pattock wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:32 pm Come on folks, where's the usual welcome committee?
You were doing such a good job!

Welcome back! Looking forward to some pictures and you might want to look at Agave utahensis to plant out too - sounds like your climate might be perfect for it!
Ed

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Paul in Essex
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Paul in Essex »

Tenerife is probably my favourite place to be. Love the island and am a little bit jealous that you are settling there. I considered it seriously. Where 'in the mountains' are you?

One of the biggest cactus nurseries in Europe - UBINK - has a concern in Tenerife where they grow the specimen plants in all that lovely sunshine. Might be worth seeking them out - somewhere in the northeast I believe.
www.oasisdesigns.co.uk

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Pattock
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Pattock »

Paul in Essex wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 4:36 pm Might be worth seeking them out - somewhere in the northeast I believe.
Looks to be almost as southern as possible.

https://succulentvalley.nl/en/contact-us/

"We can help you to build your cactus garden, set up a theme park or part of your botanical garden. We are happy to advise you with various varieties in large pot sizes. For this we request you to contact us via this link."
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Paul in Essex
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Paul in Essex »

Hah. False memory. I remember looking for a nursery in the northeast but clearly not that one. 😊
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Pattock
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Re: Hello from a volcano in the Atlantic

Post by Pattock »

Paul in Essex wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:41 pm Hah. False memory. I remember looking for a nursery in the northeast but clearly not that one. 😊
Did you find it? :grin:
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