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Cactus Limon's Blog
Plant and Other News |
| We've tried some
new plants recently with nice results... Night Blooming Cereus, Plumeria Trees, some
additional recession-busting $5 specials. Keep watching, we have more coming. |

Evasive Dave the Blogger
Caught on Camera |
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We've spent some
time this summer upgrading our newsletter list, so, if you've not yet signed up now would
be a great time to do so (it's free and you can unsubscribe at any time). Many specials
that we offer sell out just to the newsletter list, they never make it onto the web site.
Here is a handy form, just fill in your e-mail address and go. Your e-mail is secure with
us, we don't sell, rent or in any other way use it.
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It is feeling
like Spring in our corner of the world. We're starting to see a few plants in early
flower. In Spring, most plants start coming out of their dormant period and start growing,
so their water and nutritional needs increase. We suggest a water-soluable plant food once
a month during the growing season.
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| Check our the Moisture Meters on our specials page. These handy little
devices poke deep into the container and help you know when to water (and, more
importantly, when not to water). They don't require a battery, either, so they are super
simple. |
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| We were reading a
recent article on the plundering of the Mexican deserts for cacti, some species have been
virtually wiped out in their habitat. All of our plants available for sale are nursery
grown in the U.S.A.. We've started a
recession-busting $5 plant special, featuring new plants, overstocks and others. You'll
find them on our specials page from time to time. |

Friedrichii for Five Bucks! |
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We always seem to have requests for Christmas Cactus plants in the new year, so this year
we saved a few to sell. They are the same plants that we sell as holiday gifts, except we
leave off the gift pot, holiday wrapping and decoration. We'll be shipping them bareroots,
as well, like we do our other plants. If you gave one for Christmas but were not on the
receiving end, here's your chance to treat yourself and also save on the cost. Click here to see. |
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One of our
all-time fun plant creations has been the Living Succulent
Wreath. These hand-made wreaths contain dozens and dozens of small succulent plants
growing in a straw wreath (and including a plastic dish to allow easy watering. They will
grow for years and can be trimmed periodically to keep their shape. (We planted one in a
hanging basket a few years ago and it is now huge!) They make an outstanding holiday
centerpiece... perfect for the holiday table or as a hostess gift.
We're thinking of making them available for weddings and summer events -- if you know that
you have an event coming and are interested, let us know. There is a three month lead time
to build and let them get rooted. |

Living Succulent Wreath with white candle
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To
make room for our holiday inventory, we are reducing the price of our Large Gibbiflora
Mauna Loa by 33% -- while supplies last. These red and green beauties are substantial and
sizeable. They are nicely colored red by the summer sum. Fall is a great time to plant, as
well. Click for details.
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Global
warming or whatever the cause, this is a very hot late summer period. Watch the water
level of your plants! Even cacti which rarely need water can dehydrate. Symptoms can be
shriveling of the skin, burning red tips of stems or leaves, purple coloration.
One thing to avoid
with cacti is misting the plant (succulents are not as sensitive). Many people are used to
tropical plants which actually like moisture on their leaves... cacti do not, they tend to
develop skin fungus, discolorations and other not-so-pretty problems. So, even if it is
hot and you wish you could mist yourself... spare your cactus. |
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The
euphorbia knuthii is a very interesting plant... it is one of the only euphorbia which
form a caudex. The stems grow and flow, and can be cut back periodically to shape the
plant. Stems are nicely varigated. We have these in 4 inch diamter pots, the plants
themselves are about 8+ inches tall. |
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Yikes!
Grabbed a cooking pot with the wrong side of the oven mitt and the only thing sizzling was
my hand. Immediately I applied ice (this stops the internal burning) and then cut an inch
long piece off the aloe vera plant that we keep in our kitchen. Aloe vera is one of the
strongest and best burn medicines in existence and the pure gel from the plant is not
diluted with any additives. I kept applying the aloe vera ever few minutes (it seemed to
soak in rapidly). I can definitely say that it did the job: next day the blisters were
gone, they redness was pretty much gone and ill effects minimal.
Keeping an aloe vera plant in your kitchen or other handy place is a good idea. Like a
fire extinguisher, you may not need it often but when you do need it, you do need it!
Aloe vera is also very good for skin irritations of
all types, including sunburn. This might be a good time to stock up for summer, we offer two plants for $13.25 plus shipping, single plants only
$6.95. |
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If
you haven't seen the beautiful flowers on the euphorbia milii
lutea, they are incredible. Cream colored, full and glorious. These milii, a
variation of the Crown of Thorns, are hardy and will grow well in a container or in the
ground.
We just came upon a
few large trichocereus peruvianus, the famed peruvian torch plant. Earlier this year we
had some two foot versions, which rapidly sold out, the new stock is 3-4 feet, branched
and beautiful. They are collectible and would make an excellent garden centerpiece. Also,
for interiorscaping, they'll grow well in a container provided that they light is bright
and that you don't overwater. We only have a few of these. |
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Unfortunately,
we have had to raise our shipping rates a little to accomodate the new USPS rates. We've
also switched some of our packages to FedEx Ground. Most of our increases were less than
$1. |
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Not
only did Daylight Savings Time arrive early -- so did our Spring sales rush. Seems like
everyone is thinking about the planting season a little early this year. If you are
thinking about it but it is still too cold in your region, you can buy your plants now but
set a future shipping date. This assures that you'll receive the plants you want when you
are ready for them. Right now, our Echiverria
Gibbiflora Mauna Loa's are back for the Spring... and selling briskly. These
incredible plants have very thick leaves which take on bubbles, twists and turns as they
grow, giving the plant exceptional character. Add that to the brilliant deep red
coloration and they are a winner for gifts or as the anchor for a patio or garden.
You'll notice that we
now sell Horticultural Perlite by the
one-gallon bag. A bag this size will augment a standard large bag of potting mix. Our
Perlite is $4.95... we just saw a smaller bag at the garden store for $14... yikes! Most
cactus blend specialty mixes that you buy at the store are basically a mixture of soil and
Perlite (or other inorganic materials). Perlite is a type of puffed glass. It helps keep
soil from compacting so that water drains away from the plant and the small bubbles on the
surface help retain nutrients. We suggest adding it to all of your soil mixes. |
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It
was one heck of a winter here in California (apologies to upstate New York!). A surprising
freeze in late January caused substantial damage to plants, some outdoor growers were
virtually wiped out. In the coming few months, this could cause shortages (or
non-availability) of several types of plants: agave attenuatas and echeverias in
particular were hard hit, but we've seen and heard of many other nurseries with severe
damage. Look for prices to rise this spring and summer (we'll do our best to hold the
line). But if you want echeverias, buy them early because supplies may run out later in
the year. |
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We've just
added the Agave Medio Pica Alba to our inventory. These are great looking
agaves, about 10+ inches in diameter. Agaves will grow rapidly in the spring and summer
months, so, get them in the ground asap. The white strip on these agaves is georgeous,
looks like it was painted on it is so perfectly imperfect. These look very nice in a
landscape setting, over time they will grow very full and about 4 feet tall.
The cardon cactus (pachycereus pringlii) is one of the classics that
we've often seen when driving through Baja California. The is the world's tallest cactus
of record -- can reach 60 feet, not that we are counting. We have some beautiful nursery
grown specimens that are about 10 inches tall. |

Agave Medio Picta Alba |
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We
just added two new dish garden gifts for spring and Mother's Day -- one
is a hanging cactus garden and the other is a bulb-type pot containing four succulent
plants.
They make nice self-contained, low maintenance gifts. The succulent garden would be nice
for recipients where cactus spines might create problems... such as kids, elderly, bridal
showers (yes, many people give cacti as a bridal shower gift!).
Since cacti grow slowly, this garden should last quite a while before the plants out grow
it. |

Hanging Cactus "Spoon" Dish Garden |
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If you
experienced freeze damage, best to not hack things up too soon. Pull off any wet, black or
mushy parts, so they won't spread the damage. But you can let the plants go for the rest
of the winter before cutting into the live part.
If you are expecting
additional snow or freezing, styrofoam cups placed over the tips of plants can save them
from freezing. |
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We have two
really excellent column cacti in stock right now: the Stetsonia Coryne and the
Pilosocereus Azureus.
Stetsonia is sometimes called the all-weather cactus because it has a
very wide range of temperature and moisture tolerance. The ones we have are about 7-9
inches tall, they grow relatively rapidly and once they reach 2-3 feet they branch out
arms. They are quite beautiful, somewhat like a saguaro but without the wide central
trunk.
The pilosocereus is amazing, a very pale shade of blue with yellow
spines. We have them in the 15-20 inch range, several years old. They would look great in
a container, will continue growing more tall and broad. This is a limited supply -- we
found them at a specialty grower who had forgotten about them, so we bought all the large
ones that were available. |

Pilosocereus Azureus |
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