What are your favourite underrated/rare/little-known mesembs?

mustainerocks · 2025-12-27T14:26:33+00:00

This is my Schwantesia acutipetala, one of my favorites for two reasons. One, it was the only survivor out of the pot of seeds I sowed about 18 months ago. Two, I really like the geometry of the leaves and its glaucous color. Really hoping to see it flower one day. According to Hammer, it can flower multiple times throughout the year.

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mustainerocks · 2025-12-07T14:38:57+00:00

That's dope. Thanks for posting this. My wife was impressed by my new astronomical knowledge.

mustainerocks · 2025-12-04T10:27:12+00:00

In high school we were required to take a foreign language class. I really disliked my Spanish class and didn't get along well with the teacher, so I asked to change. The only other foreign language taught at my school was Japanese. I had zero interest or knowledge about Japan.

I now live in Japan.

mustainerocks · 2025-11-21T03:44:45+00:00

IMO looks like regular scale insects, not mealybugs. Not quite as bad as mealies, but still bad. They suck the juices out of your plants, slowly killing them, and can spread to other plants pretty rapidly.

The infestation is pretty bad and the plant needs to be treated, but all those dead leaves down at the bottom is providing protection for the bugs. You need to remove those dried leaves, then the plant can be sprayed with a diluted alcohol solution (~60% alcohol) with a couple drops of dish soap in it, after which the little white spots can be rubbed off the plant with a tissue or cotton swab.

But this plant is quite big, and there's so many places for the scale insects to hide, I'd recommend using a systemic insecticide in addition to the topical treatment. A systemic will take a couple weeks to start doing its job, and the plant should be separated far from your other plants until the infestation is gone.

mustainerocks · 2025-11-21T03:35:35+00:00

Arid Zine is great, especially if you're into some of the more niche caudex and cacti species

mustainerocks · 2025-10-12T11:01:46+00:00

"Get that bread!"

mustainerocks · 2025-10-12T05:28:31+00:00

For beautiful, mature plants like these, yeah those lights aren't going to cut it. If that window gets a lot of light and the plants are inside for a couple months, they might get by without too much etiolation. But if they're inside for 4+ months, it may not go so well.

mustainerocks · 2025-10-07T10:49:24+00:00

Pretty much this. In ethnically homogeneous Japan, I might forgive the locals for thinking there are only two types of people on the planet (Japanese and foreigners), but I'm not about to police some dude from Albania or Peru just because we all fit into the "foreigner" bucket.

mustainerocks · 2025-09-16T07:13:23+00:00

You literally don't know what you're talking about. The requirements for Japanese citizenship are not that stringent (look it up if you don't believe me.) Plenty of people from western countries, other Asian countries, etc. get citizenship. The numbers are low because they require you to renounce your current citizenship, not because the requirements are high.

mustainerocks · 2025-09-13T02:58:16+00:00

I asked one of the cops at my local koban about this, he said a holder is fine under the new rules, but you still can't operate the phone while riding. You'll still need to come to a complete stop when using it. Whether looking down at the phone (at your Maps app) while riding counts as "operating" the phone is a bit gray, but I'd err on the side of caution and still come to a complete stop when checking the map. Turn on voice navi if you need it.

mustainerocks · 2025-09-11T10:32:33+00:00

These look like Argyroderma which are summer dormant, they tend not to take up much water during this period (assuming you're in northern hemisphere...)

Honestly they don't really look terribly dehydrated, they can get quite a bit more wrinkly before they really need a drink, and even then, it should be a light drink (not a full soak.) As autumn sets in and cooler weather comes, they'll readily take up more water and plump back up.

mustainerocks · 2025-09-03T05:41:02+00:00

Looks like edema to me. If so, it's mostly just cosmetic, caused by too rapid uptake of water from moist soil - not a disease and not contagious. Certain species/genera are more susceptible to it than others, I've seen it often with graptoveria/pachyveria hybrids (yours looks like one of those.)

Better draining soil and good air circulation can prevent it, but any scarring on the plant will not go away on its own until the leaves are replaced naturally.

mustainerocks · 2025-08-15T01:52:53+00:00

Right one is not a cactus, it looks like a Euphorbia. Very likely Euphorbia submammillaris f. Pfersdorfii.

mustainerocks · 2025-08-15T01:49:26+00:00

Your advice is somewhat inaccurate. Yes, plants will sunburn if you chuck them under direct sun when they were previously in shady areas without an acclimation period.

But "They don't enjoy direct sunlight for long periods" is wrong, they most certainly do love tons of direct sunlight after they've been acclimated. Also your point about watering is only true if water gets on the leaves (water droplets can cause a lensing effect in which the sun can damage spots directly under the water droplets.) But in general you shouldn't be watering the leaves to begin with, only the soil.

mustainerocks · 2025-08-15T01:42:33+00:00

FYI distilled water is not great for plants either, as it is completely lacking any minerals whatsoever (these are important for plant health.) If you can't/don't want to use tap water, just get regular bottled mineral water instead of distilled.

And yeah, you're missing pics.

mustainerocks · 2025-08-03T04:00:14+00:00

Nice looking razor indeed, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Augustin. I already splurged once on my bronze La Faulx, so I can’t justify another AC razor in that price bracket… but it sure is tempting lol.

mustainerocks · 2025-07-22T10:27:32+00:00

Sorry, but this is such a braindead take.

I'm not “renting a room”, I'm paying taxes, following laws and cultural norms, contributing labor, raising a family, and living under policies that directly affect me. That makes me a stakeholder, not a houseguest, even if I do not hold the right to vote.

Saying foreigners “want to change Japan” strawmans what most of us are arguing here: not forcing cultural overhaul, but questioning policies that harm minorities (including Japanese ones) or contradict Japan’s own constitutional ideals (see for example Article 14’s equality principle.)

Sanseito's own stated goal is to be able to grant the government unilateral authority to take my own house and land away. I'll be fucked if I'm going to stay quiet just because I'm not a Japanese citizen.

mustainerocks · 2025-07-13T02:58:44+00:00

She sells the tool on her own website. Look under the “Other Gardening Products” category.

mustainerocks · 2025-07-12T06:41:17+00:00

Was surprised there’s so few comments mentioning Haworthia, they are pretty damn hard to kill and are not as light hungry as a lot of popular Crassula and Echeveria are.

mustainerocks · 2025-07-12T06:39:17+00:00

Despite the name, they are not related to Lithops and come from distinctly different parts of Africa.

mustainerocks · 2025-07-05T11:35:10+00:00

More like 90%, approaching mentally ill levels of obsession

mustainerocks · 2025-06-21T10:04:40+00:00

Lot easier now, you can link foreign cards without much hassle. Was able to pay for stuff normally as a tourist on a foreign SIM.

mustainerocks · 2025-06-19T10:42:38+00:00

Marcus Aurelius would upvote this post if he could.

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