The one right behind is a Astrophytum myriostigma var. nudum - no flecks - and is the biggest plant I have grown from seed myself to date. Thanks for the kind words on my mega ugly !!

@SLD:

Braaiiiinnsss!

That minus the graft is what you should plant in the skull. :-)

lol, at that point it was about 1.5" wide... I think a tad small for the skull :-) When it was a bit smaller than it is now, it reminded me of Audrey II in the Little Shop of Horrors.

Spanishfly, both of those are beautiful. What is the understock of the Aztekium? And how old is that Astro?

Here are my Astrophytum myriostigma from seed.

I think that the largest one is about .5". I guess it's going to be a while!

Dog, how old are the Astrophytums? Mine are at least 2 years + old and are barely bigger than those. Do you start seeds in supermarket chicken roasters too?

Aloebot - leaves, as well! LOL

Dog, the Aztekium is grafted onto a Myrtillocactus geometrizans. And the Astrophytum myriostigma is about 6 years old now - but Astros are probably the fastest growing genus in my little collection.

Aloebot, my Astros are just a year old. I used microwave safe food containers I got from Costco and punched holes in the bottom of them. They come with clear plastic lids, so work perfectly for seeds.

SpanishFly, I can't imagine that any of my little ones will be that large in 5 years. Tell me your secrets!

I would suspect that one of the secrets to Fly's success lies in the first half of his username. I'd like to hear any others.

sld

Just get whole bunch of those slow growing 'brains and skull will be just big enough :)

Jeff, I am beginning to think that Spanish sun is the secret to growing such great looking cacti. And can't discount his (SF) help - substrate, exposure, overwintering and so on...

Absolutely , Jeff and rina - it is the Spanish Mediterranean sun that does it for me. But winters are wet - for 3 months they go in cold frames where they are kept totally dry. Now they are outside - let it sun, let it sun. With gritty, limey substrate.

What I am most jealous of is the mild winters - I wish I could keep my succulents in something like a cold frame. But I would have to get a heated GH to overwinter them outside and to keep temps at least around 5*C or so (or heated cold frames).

I wonder how hot/warm your cold frames get on sunny days? Do you have to open them at all to ventilate? Or cover with a shade cloth? That is generally problem with good GH - they can get really hot on sunny days, even in winter. Without automatic window opener, they may cook.

rina, lovely to talk with you. In deepest winter - January, my plants get to about 0 or 1 C at night in their coldframes- at noon they can still get to 22 or 23 C - we can sit outside in shirtsleeves. I keep the flaps open all the time, but don´t use shade cloth. Now they are out on their tables soaking up the rays, and will be until 1 November.

As I said before, I am very jealous!

I'd love to see the coldframes in the winter.

Fly, Are your plants able to take the full force of the sun because you are at a relatively high latitude? If I were to put my cacti in full sun (which they would love) I believe they would get totally sunburned. I am maybe 100 to 120 miles north of Mexico.

These were on sale.

A friend found the one on the left at a thrift store. I've been wanting to use the one on the right for outside for a long time. I finally got drill bits for holes.

Just to avoid the inevitable question.

I had to drill all the way through some built in feet because that's where the lowest points are on the inside. The middle is raised up.

aloebot - I am 38 deg North - a few degrees more N than the most northerly part of their habitat in Mexico - but they take the full sun there, of course. I am a little puzzled by people who say their Mexican cacti get burnt when they are further north, and so their plants receive less sun - than they do in habitat.

First I'll apologize to Jeff for going off topic. Fly, this has always been hard for me to figure out. Many of the rarer cacti are growing sideways in crevices on short cliff like positions. They are not directly in the sun. My small Aztekium has always been in a very sunny position although next to taller pots for some protection. It looked half-dead for a couple years but now is starting to thrive. My Ferocacti in ground and in pots are in full sun. I would think Mammillaria are generally in exposed positions. My Mammillaria tend to fry if I don't give some protection. My conclusion is that generally any Mexican cactus will take full sun if it is brought into full sun at an early age. It will get the skin defense built in to tolerate the maximum sun. If that plant is moved and its' North/South orientation is changed too much it can again get scorched. This may be why some of my Ariocarpus are getting scorched leaves. I moved them from too much shade to a more exposed position and they are having to adjust. Some will survive and others may not.

Interesting and relevant to me none the less.

Interesting, aloebot, but in habitat often some Ariocarpus are the only plants that can tolerate the heat - I have a pic of a location where A. kotschoubeyanus is the only species surviving the harsh conditions. One genus that I find do not tolerate the sun too well is Obregonia - mine I have to put in the shade of other plants. Certainly some cacti like to start off in the shade of nurse plants, that they then outgrow - a well known one is Carnegia gigantea. Nice to share ideas with you.

I managed to fry an Obregonia. Even here in Connecticut they don't take full sun (as I discovered to my dismay).

Would it be fair to say that those that have extra protection are likely to be ones that do well? Two of mine I've had in full sun that tolerated it well:

Mammillaria bocasana which get more hairy in sun. This is an old photo of one that was more green and etiolated.

Rainbow Cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus?)

Jeff, yes and no. These are probably better adapted to sun. You would still need to acclimate them though. It seems strange but succulents (non-cacti) seem to be able to adjust to changes in light better. Most of the cacti I've had needed to slowly adjust to the light and build up a suntan for lack of a better term. If I moved one that was bullet-proof in one location but changed its' orientation to the sun, it would get some damage.

Almost all of the cacti I buy come from nurseries in Northern Europe - Germany, Holland, the UK. I gradually acclimate them to the Spanish sun, takes a month or so. (Also quarantines them against any pests)

Here are two of my recent favorites.

Those are some great pots.

This is my new favorite round pot!

That's a beauty!

Some of the pots I printed with iron filament are now rusting.

I kind of like them :-)

Those are great. You could go into business.

SLD - I really like the way they are rusting! Those are nice pots.

The E. millotii and pot go well together!

Really simple but really soothing...

Here's another printed pot I just finished. I formed it using Sculptris, put drainage holes, and made the bottom level, in Meshmixer, and printed it on my son's 3d printer.

Now to decide what to plant in them :-)

I made these last year.

I started running out of window space for all my leaf props, so I started beading hanging planters for my tiny pots. I have other pots with different beaded patterns, but these are my favorites.

I almost forgot about this one. I sculpted it by hand with polymer clay.

Lars! I love, love, love your cherub pot and frieze planter. Where did you get them?

And Stuplazydog, your leaf people pots are beautiful. You have me wanting a 3D printer now.

Just potted this Stephania venosa. I'm not good at matching. You think this will work?

stupidlazy - I just love those 3D printed pots - but I know NOTHING about 3D printers - otherwise I might consider buying one - I have some cash saved just for this sort of thing.

SpanishFly, it's my son's printer, and he's the wiz at all things computer related. At first, I needed him to get the print going, but now I've learned to do it myself (getting the model set up on my computer, slicing it and sending it to the printer, loading filament and doing some adjustments to the z height, temp, and adjusting speed if need). At first it all seemed monumentally complicated and confusing. If the nozzle gets clogged or other problems arise I yell for him :-)

Ubiquitous square plastic.

jp, the square pots really offset the round cacti. That's all I could think of.

Here is one I got on Ebay from China for less than $2 total.

I knew the dimensions before I bought it, but it's even smaller than I thought, especially the depth/height. But I like it.

Wow, so many lovely pots and plants. Nanzjade those are awesome, I would love to see them planted. Jeff that is very cute, i might have to get myself some.

A pot my mum gave me, planted with mint that I have since moved elsewhere. Recently planted with kalanchoe rotundifolia:

I have this aloe for a while and it has grown, many pups around the mother plant. And started to bloom.

Ycloh, nice pots. You asked about the Stephania venosa. I don't grow those types of plants, but to me it appears that the plant is too big for the pot, from a purely aesthetic point of view, not as a grower. I wonder if a shorter wider pot might look better. But of course, whatever looks good to you is what's important. The Aloe pot seems to fit really well. I hope mine bloom this summer.

Thank Jeff , I also thought so. Only pot in hand with design. Will be going to Bangkok soon, hope to find a few handmade matching pots.

Combing my two hobbies of plants and 3d printing =)

Love those!