The following is an in-depth article on the Echinocactus texensis species that I wrote some time ago and which, with my great pleasure, was published in the Cactus World magazine, published by the British Cactus & Succulents Society (BCSS). My thanks to editor Al Laius for the publication in the prestigious magazine. (…)
Continue reading “Echinocactus texensis, an in-depth study of the “horse crippler””
Given that it is possible to repot cacti and succulent plants in almost all months of the year, for more than fifteen years I have been carrying out this operation during the winter, between December and February. If necessary, for example in the case of a suffering plant or a new purchase, I repot even in spring or in the middle of summer. I almost never repot in autumn, because in this period the plants begin to slow down their growth to start the winter stasis and I prefer to avoid “disturbing” this natural process, since repotting is always a small trauma for a plant.
We look at the benefits of repotting cacti and succulents over the winter in the article that follows. (…)
Continue reading “Repotting cacti in winter: here’s why and what are the advantages of this choice”
Yes, it can be grown but not sold… no, it cannot be cultivated nor sold… Yes and no at the same time: only young specimens can be raised because, after seven or eight years, the plant produces the notorious mescaline, and it becomes illegal (therefore, it must be incinerated???). Yes, you can keep it, but only if purchased before 2006, because it’s from that year that the plant was included in the “Testo Unico sulle Droghe” (Law-framework on drugs). In Italy and in many other European countries, about the cultivation of Lophophora williamsii (a Cactaceae also known as “peyote” or “peyotl”), people have been said everything and its opposite. This is because in Italy and in some other European countries, the possession and the sale of this cactus have been the subject of normative interventions, but, as it often happens, laws are muddled, lacunose, obscure and, from a logical point of view, sometimes not very coherent. For example: in the tables attached to the Italian law on drugs, it is mentioned only Lophophora williamsii, when cactus experts know very well that of Lophophora, besides williamsii, there are several other species: decipiens, diffusa, fricii, koehresii, alberto-vojtechii.
In this article, relying on official sources, we will know better this particular kind of cactus and see in detail what the Italian law exactly says. Please remember that this plant is illegal in Italy as well as in other states, so you better check the legislation of your country to avoid taking risks! (…)
Temperatures are still above the seasonal averages, but summer has faded and autumn is on its way. Like every year, at the end of September I started preparing my greenhouse for the cold months. Nothing major, just some cleaning work, moving plants from outside to inside, a check on the heating system and two coats of copper oxychloride on plants a preventive measure. The plants themselves will do the rest, dehydrating following the suspension of watering from mid-September (from now on I will water just a few leafy succulents and, sporadically, Copiapoa and Eriosyce until the end of October) and starting to produce their natural “antifreeze” within the plant tissue of stems.
This is a good time to check the state of health of the plants and, in my case, to “draw some sums” on the results of the Spartan cultivation to which I subjected several specimens, as I explain in the following article. (…)
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Giving a succulent plant a scientific name, in other words correctly identifying a succulent plant, is far from simple. The classification, in general, the so-called taxonomy, is the prerogative of researchers, scholars, true enthusiasts and, in some cases, real maniacs of order. In that boundless land that is the classification of plants – and in the specific case of succulents – there is often great confusion, to the point that it is not uncommon to see the continuous re-denomination of the same plant, first included in one genus, then placed in another, then moved to another one. Some plants are classified in one way by some researchers and differently by others; some tend to simplify and reduce the number of genera, while others are inclined to divide plants as much as possible, according to their peculiarities, into several genera, species, subspecies, forms and varieties. Diatribes between authors and researchers about the classification of this or that plant are the order of the day. Thus, the common grower and the ‘collector’ of succulents are forced to rely on plant tags or try to classify them by comparing the specimen with pictures found on the Internet or in books.
In the following article, we see how to find your way and what you need to know to begin to identify and classify succulent plants. We also learn how to distinguish a cactus from any other succulent plant and how to identify the best-known succulent families. (…)
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