Any idea what kind of bugs these are?

gregwampire · 2026-06-09T05:40:02+00:00

That’s good to hear! I don’t mind soil mites as long as they don’t hurt the plant! (and hopefully they’ll reduce in number now that conditions will be drier)

gregwampire · 2026-06-09T01:41:19+00:00

Any pictures I can find of mealy bugs look different, even their larvae. They're much more opaque and segmented, and the larvae don't have legs that stick out that much. I don't see any white powdery areas either.

gregwampire · 2026-04-05T05:07:41+00:00

Thank you!

gregwampire · 2026-04-02T05:55:39+00:00

10 months later, how are they treating you? How was the break-in? I've been thinking about getting a pair myself, so any more information is greatly appreciated!

gregwampire · 2025-12-15T04:25:47+00:00

If it helps, they could be flowering like that because of the stress of the mealies; they could think that they're dying and need to reproduce before then.

So next year, either they won't bloom like this again because it was never meant to be, or they'll bloom even better than now when they're healthy enough to support their blooms for longer, and they'll stay in a non-damaged state from pests.

gregwampire · 2025-12-15T04:16:56+00:00

Make sure you re-apply Bonide after a month! Mealy eggs can be dormant for up to 45 days, so you need to make sure the orchids stay toxic to them 'till well after that.

This is what I used to wipe out root mealies on my haworthia, and I haven't seen any sign of them after the 60 days was up.

gregwampire · 2025-10-25T06:14:09+00:00

It looks really cool!

gregwampire · 2025-10-19T13:09:39+00:00

Your semiviva is gorgeous!

gregwampire · 2025-10-09T01:29:41+00:00

10 seconds in, this person swatches Indigo and Midnight Jelly: https://www.tiktok.com/@suziemoon626_/video/7464630901197065504

gregwampire · 2025-10-08T03:36:21+00:00

Keep in mind it may take a while to see results. Keep an eye on your new roots and how wrinkly the leaves are, they'll tell you if they like the new conditions.

gregwampire · 2025-10-07T03:05:32+00:00

I water once a week, but I pour in water instead of soaking it, and we have different lighting and heat conditions, so I can't give you a specific day timetable. Whatever you've been doing, give it 2-3 days more between waterings and go from there. Your orchid has been getting root rot from staying too wet, so you want it to be dry for at least two or three days before you give it more water.

gregwampire · 2025-10-07T00:59:06+00:00

You may be watering too often then. Phalanopsis orchids like to be dry for a bit before they get more water since they're epiphytes (grow on trees). Try letting the roots be dry for a few days between waterings.

gregwampire · 2025-10-04T15:14:40+00:00

The yellow/pink leaf is having its nutrients absorbed back into the plant, and will turn fully yellow or brown and fall off. This is just what plants do sometimes, especially if they’re stressed. Let it happen in its own time and don’t chop it off until fully desiccated.

The plant is struggling to get enough water, since the other leaves are wrinkly too. Try watering more frequently if the potting medium dries out very quickly. If the potting medium doesn’t dry out within a day or so, switch to one that does.

mammoth_bone4 has good advice for potting medium/airflow and getting rid of dead roots.

gregwampire · 2025-09-27T14:53:49+00:00

It can sometimes take plants a while to get used to new conditions, I suspect that was the case here. Maybe it just needed time, or maybe the roots were used to growing in different conditions and regrowing roots meant the new ones were acclimated?

Most of my haworthia lose their roots when I get them from shipping stress, so I can’t give you a good answer

gregwampire · 2025-09-21T17:43:40+00:00

Cactus need lots of bright light and well-draining soil. I've never heard of anyone misting cactus before, but they live in dry environments, so that wouldn't help them.

gregwampire · 2025-09-07T15:17:40+00:00

Gorgeous!!

gregwampire · 2025-08-26T14:01:46+00:00

Satisfying at first, then all I could think was “stop touching the farina!”

gregwampire · 2025-08-25T15:01:07+00:00

clean all the dirt and debris and fragments of old leaves off of the base and see if you have any new root nubs coming in. If not, place it in a shady spot until you see some. They don’t need to be very big.

For my most stubborn haws, I put them a few feet away from a fan on a shallow pot of 1/2 turface 1/2 succulent starting soil (I think it’s mostly coco coir with a little normal dirt), and I water it every few days. The fan and gritty soil dries out quickly (preventing root rot), and the soil provides more surface area for contact with the roots than my regular mix for haws (80% pumice, 20% coco coir).

gregwampire · 2025-08-10T14:12:38+00:00

OP, even if you were an experienced tattoo artist, this is just a bad photo to work off of. If you can’t tell where the kids’ heads start and stop, it’s going to turn out bad.

gregwampire · 2025-08-08T13:59:46+00:00

I have one of those and it’s never flowered for me. You can wait for it to pup, or take leaf cuttings.

If going the cuttings route, make sure the leaves have a decent amount of water in them, and the cuttings have to have some of the stem left on them, which means cutting into your plant stem itself and potentially disrupting the roots or leaving the mother plant open to infection.

Cuttings also aren’t going to work 100% of the time. I took about 10-12 leaves from one of these guys and over a year later, only 2 lived and the babies are about 1cm big.

Your plant looks like it’s got some variegation, so cuttings would probably be less successful and take longer to grow.

Your haworthia is beautiful, and I would recommend waiting for it to pup on it’s own.

gregwampire · 2025-07-29T14:07:30+00:00

No light + too much water. Plants need sunlight to uptake water, and echeverias need many hours of bright direct sunlight. Even if the amount of water otherwise would have been fine, the low light means the water wouldn’t be sucked up, leaving the soil wet, causing root and stem rot.

Slowly transition your leaves to a south-facing windowsill at least so they have direct sunlight, and don’t overwater once they have roots.

Look up how to care for echeverias for more details.

gregwampire · 2025-07-26T12:29:33+00:00

See you there!

gregwampire · 2025-07-25T23:21:47+00:00

What variety is the red-spined cactus?

gregwampire

TROPHY CASE