Wow, nice rack!! I think it'll work well for your cactus seedlings and cuttings until they're ready to go outdoors. I'm currently using a small spiral-type CFL for my grafting area and four 4' T5s in my grow chamber, but none of them give me a headache. I've definitely been in places where the frequency of the fluorescent lighting affected my brain, so I know where you're coming from.

I suggest picking up some 'panda plastic' from the local hydro shop to contain some of the light. It's basically just plastic sheeting that's black on one side and white on the other. If you look closely, you can see some in the pics I posted of the grafting chamber. That area was once used for growing other plants but now it's dedicated to experiments with my slower-growing friends. You may need to set up some fans/ventilation so that your little guys don't get too hot because panda plastic doesn't breathe.

-JM

thats why i asked.. i was going to mention those issues

if you have fungus gnats:
1. the soil is too moist
2. too much decaying plant matter, etc in soil
a surface treatment of de, and letting the soil dry out is a good fix

Sorry, what's de?

Sulphur seems to take care of most surface molds that I've encountered, for whatever that's worth. I think the gnats like to eat molds and such.

You're right though- the solution that seemed to work best for me was less watering and using better-draining soil, i.e. more sand in the mix. Thanks yet again for all your help. You're a great resource and a generous person!

Nevermind- found it on the Googles! Diatomaceous earth is made of sharp particles and evidently it cuts the larvae to shreds before they can mature and form their little exoskeletons. I also used those mosquito dunks when I had gnats in my hydro systems years ago. They contain a bacteria or small critter of some sort that feeds on the gnat eggs or larvae. I can't remember if that actually helped or if I just learned to live with them. I guess my hydro setup caused temporary memory loss for some reason!

Pereskiopsis is super easy to grow. It's like a cactus (well, it IS a cactus) in terms of its water and light requirements, but it can also take lots of water without rotting. It can survive in a humid climate, which is part of what makes it good for grafting because the new grafts need some humidity to heal together with the pereskiopsis stock properly. It'll do well in cactus soil or even plain potting soil. I've never seen it in a nursery, probably because it's not very attractive when it's not flowering and it has annoying needles.

If you're interested and live in the US, I can send you a few cuttings. You can just plant them in the soil of your choice an inch or so deep deep and in about 10 days they'll root and start to grow. As soon as they're established and have put on a few new leaves, you can cut the top off and drop half a cactus seedling on there (read some guides here- this is a bit of an oversimplification). If all goes well the scion (the top part) will fuse with the peres stock and it'll start to grow. If it's a few inches long, you can also use the top of the peres you cut off to make a new plant. I started with three cuttings and I've multiplied those into at least 30 by taking cuttings every few weeks after they've grown a few inches. It's literally a difficult plant to kill unless you really try hard. There are plenty of grafting guides out there and I suggest that you check a few out. Pereskiopsis is preferred for grafting cactus seedlings, while myrtillocactus, trichocereus, etc. are preferred for more mature scions because of the size of the stock. It took a little practice for me, but you can see from my pics that I have some growing like crazy and I'm a complete amateur at grafting. PM me with your mailing address if you want a few cuttings to play with. I may even have some rooted plants I can spare.

If you're not in the US, I think you could probably find some cutting on eBay or through a cactus grower (Kada's Garden or Sacred Succulents, maybe?).

Beautiful Lophs, by the way. Some day I hope to be a proud parent myself! And I'm sorry to hear about your loss on the previous grafting attempts. My efforts at perfecting this grafting thing are all aimed at some juicy little Willies, but so far it's been a lot of fun to see how other cacti grow as grafts too- like perfect little Frankenstein popsicles. So freaky it's beautiful. I'll keep you posted on my progress if you're interested!

-JM

DE is great to have around, its a cheap, great organic pest barrier. but it must be kept dry to be effective.
it can form a solid crust on soil surface over time, but mixes with your top soil well and offers very, very slow release calcium and other minerals

warning:non toxic or Organic doesn't mean safe, its a major lung irritant. dont let your kids play in it, and wear a particle mask when applying

used around livestock alot, even as foor additive if i recall

use to repel, ants to snails/slugs and about every insect in between that crawls

edit, i uploaded the pdf, AWESOME site Travler

nice pron, thank you --i need to start snapping!


read this, if you still have questions, ask away..

Lorax from sab is a graft pro, read this pdf, here are links
links to...
TeossmallbookofgraftingcactiROUGHCOPY.pd.pdf 5.79 MB some killer RRON here too!!

http://filekeeper.org/do...ingcactiROUGHCOPY.pd.pdf

Lorax/ teonanacatl (from sab not teo US cacti lady)
awesome work bro!!

wow, that sledge full of cactus is mind blowing. They really get fat over there in hot climates don't they!

notice:

i guess no mods saw this until now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry all, i made a bad offer, not allowes here
thanks for the heads up Fractal_
agian, i apologize to mods/members, i just wanted to share

Does anyone care to explain why this is not allowed? I've read through the Attitude, Health/Safety and FAQ sections a few times and I'm having a hard time lining this activity up with any discouraged or prohibited behaviors described therein. Not trying to argue with the mods here, just not clear on the reasoning behind the objections. For instance, was it against the rules for me to offer a fellow Nexian free Pereskiopsis to experiment with? Where is the line I should avoid crossing here? If someone can point me to the relevant rules I looked for and evidently missed, that would be great. Thanks!

-JM

Cool thread dg! I've only been growing these guys for a season, but I'm loving it more and more all the time. Watching the plants that I care for grow is so rewarding. Here is my humble contribution... T. pach (at least according to the local nursery) and a nice little rooting house.

necroposting to add some new pron, and better quality older pron too
first pic is on a 9" plate

not sure if you can zoom in on these crystals still partially in solution or not....
these are much finer quality than the last ones pictured, but are 1/4" long vs 1/4" thick.

I am absolutely irreversibly gobsmacked!

I want to share my proud moments. Mescaline extractions are my new favorite!

looks very nice!
sulphate i assume?

Yes sir sulphate rocks

just re-potted 130-200 cacti, boy are my fingers sore!

fresh cuttings

Beautiful dg this thread is awesome. I have one bridgesii and can't wait to propagate it to many others. I need to take some cuttings tomorrow and repot it I can't wait to have as many as you. I love cacti and everything else seems to die on me lol so I'm going to gain in my collection of all kinds till I can figure out this normal plant thing lol