I've been battling Helix aspersa for many years now. I use Sluggo, a non-toxic snail bait. Snails eat a pellet of corn meal and iron phosphate, and go away to die. The bulk of it is corn meal. The active ingredient is iron phosphate, or fertilizer. There is no chemical residue. It dehydrates snails because they would need to drink a lot of water to dilute the iron phosphate they ate. Since snails get all of their water from their food, and can not drink, they just stop eating and walk away, never to be seen again. The stuff is non-toxic to dogs, birds, etc since the overall amount of iron phosphate is low, and they can drink water. I don't how this product would be considered outside the bounds of 'organic' gardening. Yes, copper strips will stop snails in their tracks. The only problem is that you may need of lot of it, and you may only be trapping the snails inside the bounds of your metallic pen. Beer in pie plants will attract them. You can squish them, drown them. or eat them, your choice. Nightly patrols about an hour of two after dark with a flashlight can help. Handpicking each night can help reduce the population of hidden snails. You can find them coming out to feed, and can destroy them any way you choose. All snail baits except Sluggo (or equivalent) rely on a same nasty chemical, metaldehyde. It is the number one cause of premature dog deaths in California, and probably kills a lot of wild life as well. It really is a toxin. Small amounts of iron phosphate are not. Try it. You will like it. Brad

Sun damage will happen like that, yes. :/ It's a bummer. I envy those cristatas! The Haworthia cymbiformis 'variegata' is absolutely gorgeous. I have debated about ordering that very plant off ebay, but I have ebay seller fear and haven't; that and shipping costs just kill me. But finding it locally probably isn't in the cards, so I may break down and do it pre-Christmas. The Haworthia limifolia var. ubomboensis, which I too have, is really nice as well. My Haworthia are the only succulents I have in the house, and they're nice company at the window in light shade. Haworthia are generally not full-sun-lovers and are pleased in shade/light shade. Graptopetalum paraguayense is an awesome plant. :) And the Dudleya candida is gorgeous. Doing individual searches of each plant will result in a lot of great advice. Your collection's great!

Well, I did think the pot looked a bit too big, although I was wondering if I could get away with it with a really gritty mix. The cactus in question is Mammillaria pilcayensis cristata. The inside bottom of the pot is somewhat uneven, higher in the front and lower in the back, so there is a rock in the back to make the plant sit level. I think there's enough depth over all. It does have plenty of drainage holes. I guess I think I should put something else in it, but a little voice in the back of my head say, meh, go for it! I probably should listen to reason. I could put something else in it temporarily and hope that cactus grows larger somewhat quickly. Well, quicker than Aztekium, say! Most of my other plants are either too small or too large or wouldn't look right in it. Guess I'll just have to buy another plant, oh no :-) Any ideas for what to look for?

I low key collect crested succulents. I love how unpredictable they are. Here are a few of them. A tabuliforme Echie hybrid ‘Surf’. I think the crested form actually looks like the surf. They say you should cut off the normal rosettes, but I like the combo look. Forgot what this one is. Euphorbia hybrid And this giant noid medusa octopus echeveria with one big crest in the middle, and arms going off in all directions containing either normal rosettes or flowers at the ends. It’s so big and wild it doesn’t photograph well, but I love it.