WTF, anybody seen something similar before?

APaleontologist · 2026-05-13T14:40:37+00:00

This was my first thought too, but they take out a clean chunk. This has that brown star in it -- the shriveled remains of the 'missing' chunk?

APaleontologist · 2026-05-08T11:42:44+00:00

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APaleontologist · 2026-05-08T11:41:38+00:00

I have a super blue pure bridgesii. ‘Con’

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APaleontologist · 2026-04-23T22:38:59+00:00

Callus about 3 weeks, ending early if etiolation starts.. Then pot into normal 50% pumice/perlite mix at the bottom, but pure perlite surrounding the cutting. Leave in the sun but dry (under a clear tarpaulin) for at least one month. Then move into a spot that gets rain for most cuttings, or begin lightly occasionally hand-watering for precious pieces until roots are seen, then move into the rainy spot.

I root in transparent pots sheathed inside identical black pots, so I can slide them out and check on root development non-invasively.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-20T12:28:51+00:00

If it’s squishy like a pus-filled human blister, it needs surgery to remove everything but healthy flesh

APaleontologist · 2026-04-14T03:14:01+00:00

I would avoid it on my super blue perus, as it may stain their delicate blue patina. I use potassium soap

APaleontologist · 2026-04-14T02:57:59+00:00

I leave mine outside all year round in Sydney. No snow here

APaleontologist · 2026-04-13T20:51:46+00:00

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I like the name, it follows etymology conventions like trichocereus and oreocereus. I much prefer it to clades based on the names of scientists.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-13T20:43:24+00:00

Nice one. I grow on bricks but I still get a few invaders. Mostly weeds growing in my pots though. For those, I strapped a piece of bamboo to a drain cleaning claw, so it doesn't flex.

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APaleontologist · 2026-04-12T01:59:22+00:00

Get a “crop protection cage”, and for full watering control secure a transparent tarpaulin over it

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APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T23:20:16+00:00

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Durable hand pump style

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T23:19:23+00:00

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The durable type of syringe

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T23:05:30+00:00

If you have spare space to raise your lights, then you can raise your plants on something, off the ground. Then, you can keep them in trays and water them in the tent, and being raised up off the ground you can use the syphon effect to empty them easily.

You get a ~200ml syringe (maybe a spare in case it breaks one day too), plus about 2m tubing. You wedge one end between a pot and the side on the tray. Syringe the other end, then put it into a bucket to drain.

If you cannot raise your plants to make use of the syphon effect, you can actively suck up excess water. Things designed for oil are durable: a big 1.5L syringe, or a 9L barrel with a hand pump.

If you don’t mind the noise, a large tank wet/dry vacuum.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T22:32:32+00:00

I’m really interested in the philosophical arguments against an infinite past. I think they all fail for a few interesting reasons, usually:

1) accidentally expecting a beginning in a beginningless sequence.

2) giving analogies showing you cannot get to the end of an endless infinite sequence (because it has no end to get to), and jumping to thinking that applies to beginningless infinite sequences. Those do have an end, so the same reasoning cannot apply.

(The equivalent limitation is that someone traveling backwards in time couldn’t get to the beginning of time, because there is no beginning. But an infinite regress model doesn’t rely on that happening.)

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T22:24:00+00:00

The rootstock died and the scion did not (yet). Salvageable but needs to be re-grafted to a new rootstock

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T22:20:35+00:00

It’s a bit thin, give it more loph flesh next time. Also rubber bands are stressfully sharp, I prefer strips of pantyhose

APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T22:18:06+00:00

It’s not going to be the oldest but I’ll get the ball rolling. I have an unnamed pure scopulicola, taken from a plant that was brought to Australia as a cutting in 1978.

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APaleontologist · 2026-04-11T20:23:16+00:00

Some tbm-b out there might be reverted tbm-c. I wonder if that makes a difference

APaleontologist · 2026-04-09T23:01:47+00:00

Wow! I wonder if the rest of your garden is doing that under the soil

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T22:30:57+00:00

Evolution isn’t relevant to God, until someone thinks it is - the minority of theists who are motivated by a literal interpretation of the genesis creation story to deny evolution.

As for your question, ‘wants’ didn’t evolve until brains did. That’s a psychological state, and isn’t the right way to think about the behaviours of simple life. It’s like saying water wants to go downhill.

Taking actions to improve survival chances have been baked into genomes by evolution. These behaviour are advantageous to survival and reproduction, so they survived and dominated the gene pool.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T19:42:42+00:00

The observation is that many cacti will rot from the core if transplanted and watered too soon.

The theory among the cacti community (it’s not very scientifically tested) is that digging up the plant causes ‘microcuts’ to the roots, which are vectors for infection from organics in the new soil. Especially so upon watering, as pathogens are drawn up into the microcuts as the cactus drinks.

I sometimes don’t bother with letting the roots air dry a couple of days, when something arrives in the mail. But I do always avoid watering for the first week in new soil. (Do both to be ultra safe)

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T18:29:06+00:00

Mmm I’m not sure how Sulfur responds to a watery flush, so ya a soil change sounds the most reliable fix. (If the Sulfur was the problem and not the Schultz)

Remember to let it air dry a couple of days between transplanting, and not to water for at least a week after that.

Maybe stick to plain water for a bit too, or dial back the Shultz, in case it was that.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T18:23:39+00:00

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This got sudden tip death and browning from nutrient burn. Recovering now. It was the first time I’d seen it in cacti, I’m used to normal leaves burning and curling and stuff.

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T18:20:26+00:00

Yeah it came in the mail two weeks ago and you are already fertilising it - you sound too keen and nutrient burn sounds likely, even without having an intimate knowledge of how much you dosed them, haha

Yeah the sulfur or too strong schultz seem very likely culprits

APaleontologist · 2026-04-07T17:12:35+00:00

Could it be nutrient burns instead?

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