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Many thanks for your reply - it sapped my enthusiasm for a few weeks, but I think I'm over it now. I still have loads of cacti out the front where they are vulnerable, but have been fairly careful to remove all the ones that are most valuable to me and put them somewhere more secure. The main problem is that the front is the sunny side of the house, and I don't have a lot of spare space. I made some wooden shelving to grow and display my cacti and that of necessity is at the front. However, I did think I should propagate my Opuntia Microdaysis and make a glochid-filled fence around them all! Or maybe a cholla or, as @ZiggySearchfieldCactus suggests Opuntia Stricta - I don't have any of those yet but it sounds awesome.

Thanks for your comment. It really depends on your climate, the species of cactus and even factors such as the soil type they are growing in. As a general rule for desert cacti you should keep the roots dry in winter when the cacti go dormant, and only water once it's warm enough for active growth. Even then, most cacti like to dry out completely between waterings. I also apply fertiliser, at half the norrmal strength, roughly one in four waterings. But others may have different thoughts on this.

Yes it is rather depressing, I don't feel I can leave anything in my prime sunny location now as a result of this. Many thanks for commenting Daz! 🙂🌵💚

Thanks Ziggy for the identification of this plant, I've compared it with photos from the internet and it definitely has the correct spine pattern and general form - I'd never even thought to look through Parodia photos to identify it. The thefts are infuriating - if someone had knocked at the door and asked for a cactus I'd happily have given them a very fine plant or two, just not the one I gave my wife as a present for a big birthday. I've subsequently removed most of the larger/better plants and put them indoors, although I don't have room for them all. No doubt their prime position against a south-west facing wall led to them growing so large in the first place.

@@DFJA01 I'll try to put a pic up when one of mine flowers 🙂 Put a sign in an empty flower pot outside telling whoever nicked it to seek medical attention because the spines are possibly lethal 😮😁😁🌵🌵

​@ZiggySearchfieldCactus I actually thought about surrounding them all with a fence of Opuntia Microdasys plants, which were briefly my favourite Opuntia until I met one in the flesh, literally 😂😡🌵

@@DFJA01 Opuntia stricta would be even better, I'm thinking about discontinuing it in the shop as it even gets people driving past on the A2 😁😁🌵🌵

Many thanks! I've done a load more but most of them failed, I'll try again in a few weeks and make another video about it.

Many thanks for your comment. It sounds like they might have got sunburnt or damaged by being moved to the sun too quickly. In my experience, tissue damaged in this way doesn't really recover but the plant can still give very healthy new growth. I'm glad to hear that they recovered, it sounds like you've got things under control.

Thanks for your comment - I've heard others recommend cutting off the roots and allowing new ones to form, but I'm not totally convinced about it if the existing roots are healthy as the plant will need to expend energy growing them. I'm open to being convinced otherwise - these ones have done very well but I have a few other plants that seem to be struggling due to poor roots, notable my Parodia Magnifica. I've not heard about dipping them in Aloe juice before, but I might give that a try.

@@DFJA01 I used to feel the same way about cutting the roots, but when I tried it, I had much faster recovery times after re-potting... I have only been at it for 5 years, but when I find these hacks, I try to share them... With or without cutting the roots, Aloe is the best for healing roots and getting them started or restarted! Can't wait to see your next video!

@@cactuscapacity I still have a small number of Trichocereus seedlings that need repotting, so when I do I'll give the roots a trim. I've only been at it 2 years so happy to learn from the experience of others!

Many thanks for your comment - I'm pleased with these results, but I've had many failed grafts and I don't always understand why. I'm hoping to do another video soon with another batch of attempted grafts. We've had such little sunshine the last month that a number of my plants are etiolating so I'm waiting for better growing conditions before I do any more.

@@DFJA01 one more thing about grafts is that some cacti have anti microbial activity, especially Trichocereus and Lophophora, so I find alcohol to be a waste of time for sterilization, considering the plant kills even more bacteria than alcohol. I had one graft failure and it was due to spidermite infection shortly after grafting... I have never used alcohol, but would consider it if I were grafting plants with no anti microbial traits.

@@cactuscapacity I'm mostly following what others do in their videos, but there is much to learn. I think the most important thing is to have both stock and scion actively growing - it's hard to tell from people's videos what the temperature, humidity and light conditions are for the plants they are grafting. But I had some seedlings that weren't doing well so I repotted them (not grafted) in lighter soil and put them in exactly the same place and suddenly they are growing again. If I'd grafted these seedlings instead, they probably wouldn't have taken.

@@DFJA01 I have had the most issues when using any top dressing,... it looks pretty but when I remove the top dressing the cactus grow and look more healthy. I am in the high desert so the conditions are 14% himidity right now and 90F. in the greenhouse 100F. I would think that more humidity, the less top dressing is needed... Great chatting with you, and I will be interested to see what you have next so please, keep sharing! Thanks again!

Thanks for commenting - it may not have been well enough calloused, but now I have more experience I don't attempt this technique at all. I allow to callous very well then put in dry well-draining soil, forget about it for a while then lighly moisten occasionally, pulling gently to see if roots are forming. Only then do I start watering more heavily. So far I've not had a single failure of a large cutting doing this.

@@DFJA01 Great :) I do the same but I don't check the roots... I water my well calloused cuttings the same as rooted growing cacti. Same schedule and everything just no fertilizer. After 2-4 weeks callousing I place on top of the substrate and just water as normal. I've yet to lose one this way but everyone's climate is a little different.

I think temperature might be important - it's pretty cold here in winter (even indoors!) so I keep them pretty dry, but rooting in summer (or in my heated grow tent) is a lot quicker and less risky. I've seen people root in one substrate then transplant, but I've not found this to be necessary.

I've had great success with Trichocereus in bought potting compost, but Astrophytum seedlings ended up rotting. This might have more to do with moisture retention than nutrients though, as there was no air in the mixture when I investigated. A sure recipe for root rot in sensitive species.

Many thanks for your feedback, I'd never thought of pre-cutting and allowing to callous before doing a final cut, but that would minimise the problem I had with this batch, namely that the exposed surfaces started to rot. I spotted it before it set in too deep, but I lost most of the scions. I'm waiting for a few more Trichos to be a bit larger but plan another batch very soon - just coming into the season here so plenty of time to experiment!

Many thanks for your comment Lyn - I just love the golden barrels and have 7 that are doing really well, but I wanted to grow a load more. I really don't know why as I won't have space for them when they are bigger, but they are just very satisfying! Wishing you and Hans all the best from a very rainy Northern Spain! 🙂

Thanks for your comment Ziggy. I've seen conflicting opinions on what the best germination substrate is, so wanted to try for myself. But I'm concluding that it's not that important as long as the moisture and temperature levels are suitable. Far more important is avoiding early death by mould or insect larvae, both of which I've had problems with.

Sorry about that, and many thanks for your feedback - yes I realised the sound had come out very quiet. I think it's because I used my phone in 'selfie' mode which is designed to pick up your voice from right in front of the screen, whereas I was a bit further away. I'm going to see if I can get an external microphone for the next video to improve things. The ones I filmed using the back camera on the phone came out better, but it's useful to be able to see the screen when filming - especially when I hold things up to the camera for a close-up.

Thanks Lyn, it's been a while since I've grafted anything and it took me days or even weeks to pluck up the courage - I hate the inevitable plant mutilation that it involves! The grafting tape has worked well for me on Pereskiopsis so I'm hoping it will be OK here but it's definitely a bit tricky to attach to a leaning root stock like this one. I'll know soon enough how it's worked out! :-)

Many thanks for your comment, and I'm glad it's inspired you to give grafting a try. They don't always succeed for me but it's been so satisfying when they do. And Pereskiopsis is so easy to propagate that if you get lots of small seedlings to practice with, you don't get too upset about the failures! :-) 🌵🌵

@@DFJA01 Yeah, I don't expect them all to succeed on the first try, but it will be fun nonetheless!

It was a complete bonus plant which came as a small pup next to a larger plant from a market stall. Mostly ignored by me for the last year, all the new pups appeared without me noticing as it was hidden behind a much larger plant. I'll probably repot it soon. Thanks for watching and commenting Ziggy, I'll do an update of the grafting in a few weeks :-) 🌵🌵

Many thanks Joe for your comment and for subscribing, and I'm glad you liked the video. I hope to do another grafting video in the next week or two as I have some seedlings and grafting stock ready to be united, and the weather is now quite warm. I'm still very much a beginner though. I've been subscribed to your videos for a few months now and they have taught me loads - I aspire to have a collection like yours but as I don't have a greenhouse, I'm limited by how much indoor space I have! Very warm greetings from Asturias, northern Spain. :-)

Thanks for your comment - it's actually pretty easy and I recommend giving it a try, worth practising on scions you can afford to lose until you've mastered it as not all will succeed.

Thanks for watching, I hope it's useful.

Many thanks for your comment. I've not had a great success rate with Pereskiopsis to be honest, but when it does work it works well. I've now got quite a lot of Pachanoi seedlings that are probably large enough to use as root stock. Planning to do a load of new grafts in the next couple of weeks. Also a couple of Myrtillocactus.

@@DFJA01 sounds good mate, plzz keep us updated, i would love to see it :)

@zhaezz84 I'll probably do a video of the grafting when I get round to it - I've got a load of Astrophytum Asterias seedlings which I've grown with that in mind, plus a few others.

@@DFJA01 that would be amazing mate :)

Thank you so much Lyn for your comment, I've been planning this video for a while and after I did it I realised I missed off one of the plants I meant to include, as it has a small story to tell. But I think it would have made the video a bit too long. Perhaps it can go in the next one! Wishing you both a wonderful sunny evening from Northern Spain 🌵🌵💚😀

That is absolutely the best reason ever! I've got a load of things I want to try over the coming weeks, now the weather is warmer I expect to have higher success rates as I've had quite a lot just not do anything. Thanks for watching and commenting! 🌵😀💚

@@DFJA01 I've got an Opuntia with 2 Austrocylindropuntias and a peanut cactus on it 😬

​@@ZiggySearchfieldCactusI've got both Rhipsalis Cereuscula which grows upwards, and Rhipsalis Baccifera which hangs down. My idea was to graft these onto the same rootstock next to each other, giving me something that grows both up and down from (nearly) the same point. If I get round to it and it works, I'll make a video of it!

Haha I'm not sure if you're taking about the Echinopsis Subdenudata on Schlumbergera Truncata, or the Rhipsalis (not sure which) on Pereskiopsis Spathulata. However I am tempted to do more of both of these, and may even do a "graft tree" with multiple grafts on different branches of the same root stock. ❤🌵🌴

💚🌵😍

Many thanks for the comment, I certainly hope so although I expect it will take a year or two. Keep a look out for the update video at the other end of this summer! 🌵

Many thanks Ziggy, I should probably try and find a copy. I didn't know the spines were acting as a water repellant, they are fascinating plants and this was among the first batch I bought that got me into cacti. Looking forward to seeing these (I suppose I now have to use the plural) grow. 😀💚🐐

@@DFJA01 I think membership is £30 for overseas, you get 4 mags a year and back copies are available 🙂🙂🌵🌵

@@ZiggySearchfieldCactus That's very good value, I'll look into that. Thanks again.🌵🙂

Many thanks Lyn, I did wonder if I'd cut the pieces too short but will see how quickly they root. Smaller pieces of Trichocereus and Myrtillocactus are rooting fine for me now things are warmer. If all goes wrong the original plant is still pretty healthy! 😀💚🌵

Haha, I know just the spot to find them as well! Many thanks for your comment Ziggy 😀💚🌵🐐

@@DFJA01 😁When I was working in Turkey, I had to stop my evening meal, go outside and inspect all the goats that one of the workers on the site had brought to the restaurant. Won't forget that evening in a hurry 😁😁🌵🌵

@ZiggySearchfieldCactus I had my meal interrupted to help a cow 🐂 give birth a few weeks back. Then back inside for dessert. These things certainly create good memories!

Thank you so much for your comment Lyn. There are quite a few nurseries around here but most don't really sell specialist plants, so when I find a beauty like this it's hard to let it pass by! Plenty to learn about it but looking forward to seeing it grow, will give it my best care. Now to find a blood spot Mangave to keep it company. Wishing you and Hans all the mangave happiness from northern Spain. 🌵💚😀

Thanks for the comment, they are just a convenient way of holding the cactus in place.

Thanks Ziggy, I was so pleased to find this having seen a number of mature specimens around. They were in flower last month. Right now I don't know how to care for it - but I'll figure it out!

Thanks for asking a brilliant question, which I didn't cover in the video. When cactus seeds germinate they need a warm, humid environment, and a good way to do this is to put them in a bag on a heating mat (at least in Spanish winter). By using a sealable bag, the moisture stays in for the long term and also keeps things like fungus gnats out, as well as reducing the risk of contamination that could cause sensitive seedlings to rot. I've also tried "take away tech" which is another popular method.

That's interesting..... Love, love, love Cactus😊

@@vanessaamber2608 So glad that you love cactus ❤️❤️❤️

Thank you - I'm working on it and will get there, thanks for all the feedback! ❤️

Many thanks Ziggy. My cacti do tend to get rather over-checked, I have to confess. Especially now that some larger plants are growing very noticeably! Have a great Friday. 🙂💚🌵

Oh yes!

Thanks so much for your comment Lyn! I've been stuck with these seeds for a couple of months, waiting for warmer weather but also unable to decide what substrate to grow them on (analysis paralysis!) and doing both was my solution to getting them started - I use a similar technique when I can't decide between 2 flavours of ice cream hahaha :-) :-) :-). I'm really excited to get some more Astrophytums going, and the Gymnocalyciums are totally new to me so I don't know what to expect. The Echinocactus Grusonii I showed was overwintered in my grow tent so not allowed to go dormant, the other six are also doing very well but are a little bit smaller. I should have showed them side by side for comparison. Lots of cactus love to you and Hans from northern Spain! :-)

Many thanks for your comment. Seeds are very cheap compared to adult plants or even seedlings, and with luck you end up with a lot of plants. I can thoroughly recommend giving it a try. There's definitely something very satisfying about growing cacti from seeds, although expect to have some disappointments along the way. It's not hard to germinate cacti but it can be harder to keep the seedlings going until they reach a large enough size to be robust.

@@DFJA01So far I've gone the "natural" route and just sprinkled the needs from my Echinopsis in their seeds and I was able to grow surprisingly many that way. 😆 I guess it's time to do it the right way now.

@@UrbanHafner That will probably work quite well if you have the right climate. I still need to use a heating mat at this time of year, and have really just followed what many other videos show. But I couldn't find a huge amount of discussion about substrate type, so decided to do this experiment to find out for myself.

@DFJA01 nah. South of Germany doesn’t really help. Still expecting temperatures below zero here. ;) You just have to start late.

I don't remember exactly, but I think it would have been watered in the 2 or 3 days before filming this video. But please see the comment I'm about to add below too!

@@DFJA01 might have been too soon could be why it was so wet

Many thanks for watching and commenting! I'm very pleased the roots seem very healthy. 💚🌵

Many thanks Lyn! I'm so pleased with how my Trichocereus seedlings have fared, and these ones have done very well outside (but sheltered from rain) over the winter. Some of those I've already repotted have really started to take off now, hopefully these ones will follow suit in a couple of weeks when they get put into their new pots. Now to try and get some of my more difficult species to start growing in the same way - I know Trichos are relatively fast so my expectations are probably unrealistic hahaha :-) 🙂 Wishing you and Hans a great week from Northern Spain, and happy cactusing! 💚🌵

Thanks for your comment Ziggy, there's so much to learn and I wouldn't have had as much success without the expertise from you and others to draw on. 🌵💚

@@DFJA01 No worries Donald, always something new to learn, I'm still planting things upside down 😁🌵🌵

Many thanks Lyn for your comment, these seedlings spent much of their youth on a heating mat under GU10 LED lamps which make perfect grow lights for seedlings but are too feeble for adult cacti, as I discovered. A few started to show signs of mild etiolation, so I put them all outside in a warm, sunny spot. They've been well watered and fertilised until fairly late autumn (it's warm later in the year here) and I've been lucky to only have one larger plant suffer root rot. I put a tray of seedlings in compostable pots in my grow tent and ended up with a tangled mass of roots, substrate and disintegrated pots, so yes they aren't designed to last a cactus seedling lifecycle! Many thanks for the identification of the Echeveria plant, I inherited this plant along with a few others and don't really have a lot of knowledge about them yet. Happy Wednesday to you and Hans from Northern Spain! 🙂💚🌵