The cactus is Gymnocalycium mihanovichi (sp?). It is a variegated form that should be kept away from too much sun. Unless there is green chorophyll producing tissue, those offsets should remain attached. As for the 2nd plant - a "few cloudy days lately" does not result in severe etiolation. There is not nearly enough light for your plants. No matter what else you do, if you can't find good, bright light then it will never look the way it should. You can snip off the stem tips and root them easily but you need a sunnier spot to get compact growth. x

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina

Thank you Nancy! =) I thought I posted last night I guess it didn't show up lol I wanted to thank everyone for participating. Great people coming together to swap plants makes this forum awesome. Look forward to more swaps with everyone.

Sinningia! Whuddathot. I've sworn off gesneriads so that's kind of a relief. I'll just ogle yours from here on, Kara. Here are some of mine (fall and spring growers) finally out of the basement. Aloinopsis schooneesii; I'm showing you guys the ugly side because this is the spot I've had to remove pieces from to stop a spreading rot. That gave me two smaller clumps and it did stop the rot. No guts no glory, I guess. Here is one clump, now two years old and still buried. I think I may have given the other one away, or it fell into a corner somewhere, never to be found. And from left, Othonna euphorbiodes, Othonna clavifolia and Tylecodon ventricos (this one needs a butt-load of sun in winter). And, below---really not fat yet, but it will be someday! I really like starting small. This one used to be taller but a Catzilla incident cut down the main trunk. Fortunately, it's crazy easy to root. Tylecodon buchholzianus My summer growers are still indoors.