I love all of the canna posts and pics. So nice! I see so many around the Valley with browned leaf edges--it's nice to see some that look so perfect! You're giving me a craving, hah! Beautiful echinopsis bloom, dusti, thanks for posting it. So nice! I'm getting an occasional off-season flower these days and hope for some more this autumn. Just for fun here's a passionflower I grew from seed (sown indoors in January), Passiflora foetida 'Belem' making its very first bloom this morning. Pretty little flower with a nice floral scent. Full hot sun and water 3x a week this time of year. Enjoy these gorgeous mornings! Happy gardening, Grant

Came here during some research I'm trying to do on this subject because of some potential plans I have on planting one of a few eucalyptus species, and while there's a lot of good information/discourse here on variables concerning affected plants, mulch quality, effect on soil, and other factors that may affect plants such as water and root competition, I'm kind of noticing a pattern here and elsewhere: There's a lot of lumping eucalyptus into one umbrella category...Guys, there's like 700 something species in this genus; they are not all created equal. I think that also may be partially why there seems to be so much debate over the subject, two different people could be very well talking about two different species. I'm not saying everyone has to be a friggin botanist over it, but it really is helpful to know what species any given person is talking about. Maybe then we can start to notice a pattern with one given variety or another. Just my two cents. As an aside, I kind of think climate may have a non negligible part to play. I could definitely see these chemicals hanging around in the soil a lot differently in a more arid environment with lots of organic matter build up versus a wet rainy tropical environment where everything either leaches away or decays as fast as you can blink at it.

Hi Baldric, I live in Victoria too, Melbourne. I too am wanting to build a hot house for my ever increasing collection of cacti. I already ahve a hot house (1.5 x 1 meters) which is built on a steel frame. This eables me to sit down at the table and do my propagation, maintenance etc.. This house has now become full and I am in the process of drawing out some plans. I must confess that I have'nt thought of dimension like 10x6 meters. I was htinking more on 4x6 meters, which should be sufficient. I keep most of my big cacti outside and they do not get affected by frosts for the past 3 years.(fingers crossed). I use a hot house only for cacti like lophophora, gymnocalycium, lithops, cereus, notocactus etc which need to be kept dry during winter.

1. Sterilize substrate (3+ minutes in microwave or 50 mins in oven) 2. Planters should be about 1.5 inches deep. Fill a container with good draining soil. Good drainage is important, 50% regular potting soil with 50% coarse sand, perlite or pebbles (~0.15 inch) 3. Echeverias have tiny seeds which should not be covered with soil. They germinate best at 18-20 °C temperatures. 4. Equally Water the substrate with water - placie a piece of a napkin on top of the substrate and slowly pour the water over it. 5. Let the container soak up water for 5 minutes. Leave the container to drain out the water surplus. 6. Spread the seeds over the substrate, leave some space between them. 7. Put the whole container into a zip bag to keep humidity 8. Avoid exposing to direct sunlight, but provide them light on some bright place. 9. The germination process usually starts within 4 days – 2 weeks 10. Start opening the container gradually so that the seedlings can get used to the new air conditions. Seedlings need some moisture, substrate shouldn’t be dry, but don’t overwater. and they need an ample amount of light – but not direct sunlight 11. Repot them when you notice that seedlings are space-limited 12. Examine pots daily for fungus infection. Treat with fungicide if appears 13. Buy only fresh echeveria seeds, and only from reputable sources, like www.rareplant.me