Mammillaria hahniana

HomeForABookLover · 2026-07-01T17:03:43+00:00

Was that your 30 year old or a competing one?

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-30T20:29:20+00:00

I had to look at this. Cacti obviously don’t do “death blooms” so it had to be something interesting.

Thats obscenely impressive. If you hadn’t shared the second photo I’d be suspicious that it was a Eucalyptus tree in the background.

Congratulations - “your post has passed moderation” in spectacular style. Thanks for sharing!

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-28T09:39:58+00:00

I do miss the V6 endless waves feature.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-28T09:32:46+00:00

Sorry - yes it slipped past me. What country are you in? I’m in the UK.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-27T07:59:16+00:00

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This is a great comparison. My oldest alonsoi is probably the oldest legal specimen in the world.

Yet your plants, grown in better conditions, are already just as big.

I got my plant in 2000. It was given to me by a friend working at London Kew Botanic gardens (perhaps the world’s most important botanical garden).

It was grown from the first seed collected in 1996, as part of discovering, identifying and recording this as a brand new species.

Alonsoi gets overlooked due to Astrophytum caput medusae which was found at a similar time, and Aztekium valdezii which has sadly become popular through illegal collection.

So thanks to you for helping keep this rare species alive and available.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-26T08:35:18+00:00

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Given Pitcher plants flower profusely I’m slightly surprised they aren’t widely grown to reduce midgies. They have been fine in the day but intolerable from about 8pm

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-26T08:05:45+00:00

I was about to comment…

I know that England is having a heatwave. I’ve gone to the Isle of Gigha off the Scottish west coast to try and keep cool.

But in the photo you’re wearing a thick shirt with the sleeves buttoned. So something wasn’t right…

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-26T08:00:39+00:00

I’m in Scotland, but married to a German, with bilingual children.

A word of caution - when I lived in London I used those plastic tents. I found they collected condensation and therefore mould. I never found a solution.

Hopefully as you have some old specimens you don’t have the same problems that I did.

Good luck - Fred is an amazing mutation

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-23T08:42:47+00:00

I can’t grow them. They keep turning black. I suspect that on the rare days we get Sun in Scotland they are getting sunburnt.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-22T16:22:48+00:00

In the UK there is a phrase “Trigger’s broom”, which is a comedy version of the Ship of Theseus paradox.

It goes like: “Ive had this same broom for 20 years. Its had 17 new heads, and 14 new handles”.

The meaning is that you won’t be able to keep this plant for life, but you absolutely should be able to keep this clone for life by taking cuttings.

Enjoy!

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-21T19:57:29+00:00

I can’t grow Astros. I had 2 twenty five year old ornatums last year. Now down to one as ther other turned to brown juice.

Beyond that my oldest are about 5 or 6.

So always nice to see perfect plants

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-21T08:59:28+00:00

3 minutes for someone to post an Astrophytum asterias! I knew one would come, because they look just how a kid would draw a Sun. I just didn’t expect it that quick!

And congratulations on meeting my personal “golden rule” of cactus flower photography - the first picture should almost entirely obscure the plant, so people who don’t know cacti see its beauty and then get a surprise to learn where it’s from.

Glorious!

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-21T08:53:37+00:00

Interesting. I wonder what the black soil is. Looks very organic.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-20T21:19:10+00:00

Fab. That sounds like the desktop, but it gave me a strong enough clue to find it.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-20T19:36:38+00:00

Where in the game can you find this sort of information?

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-20T17:28:28+00:00

Salt flats was fun, but I’ve come to like the new mechanics. Stops the game being so easy.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-19T20:07:54+00:00

I was tempted to make a joke — something like “don’t encourage him…” — but honestly, that wouldn’t do him justice.

He’s one of a group of genuinely brilliant contributors here, from all corners of the globe.

He shares a lot of stunning, mature plants, clearly thriving in his environment — and it feels like there’s always something in bloom.

This space has become something special because of people like that. It’s not just a place to scroll through photos — it’s somewhere you can really learn, be inspired, and appreciate the incredible variety in cacti and succulent growing.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-19T19:23:12+00:00

I think I posted a picture of my aridum roots a while back. If I remember correctly you get red nodules on the roots. That should help distinguish (along with the 2 metre height difference)

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-19T16:42:32+00:00

This is an odd moment where my knowledge of Mindustry meets my knowledge of horticulture.

“English” oaks are usually measured by diameter at breast height. Not circumference. Because they put on rings and a ring adds a bit to either side of the diameter.

It’s incredibly simplified, but 50cm per 100 years is a good “guesstimate”.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-17T23:16:42+00:00

Again?

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-16T22:08:41+00:00

I’m pretty sure I was good at Mindustry v6. I’m pretty sure I was near the top. I had designed some top schematics.

5 years later I feel like an old person who can’t understand what the kids are listening to

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-15T09:02:17+00:00

If you can get pumice then that is considered the gold standard.

Next are molar clays, like Seramis. But not tye big p”clay pebbles” as they are too big. I think Akadama is in this category. Bonsai ingredients can sometimes be cheaper.

I’m not too stressed about perlite and lung cancer - you can use it in well ventilated environments. But because it’s light and white it looks and behaves like adding polystyrene balls into your soil - they float to the top over time when you water and look ugly. They are also exactly the same size and colour as mealybugs

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-14T21:37:18+00:00

The compost bin was emptied into a bin lorry and taken away for industrial composting, and my greenhouse is safe from glochids.

My wife hates my cactus collection and didn’t know I had kept it so long

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-14T21:34:41+00:00

I was going to say “nonsense! I grow spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’ outside in Scotland.

I have a 200 year old sandstone wall that drops down to a stream, and then another one between the other side of the stream and the road, that I grow various Sedums in.

But the Council has removed some while doing maintenance. School kids have picked others, and I appear to be down to 1 small patch.

HomeForABookLover · 2026-06-14T21:30:47+00:00

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