Carol Hague writes

I remember reading somewhere that cacti should be left to dry out
between October and March and watered like any other plant the rest of
the time (which in my case means roughly whenever I remember...).

They can tolerate cold when bone dry, which means that if they're in a
greenhouse they need to be dry between October and March (or even
later). In a centrally heated home they can have a bit of water in the
winter (but not much as the light level means they won't be growing
much)

But some dim corner of my brain is trying to tell me that
Christmas/Easter cacti are different in some way googles

They're different in that they are not cacti ;-)

--
Kay

K wrote:

Carol Hague writes

I remember reading somewhere that cacti should be left to dry out
between October and March and watered like any other plant the rest of
the time (which in my case means roughly whenever I remember...).

They can tolerate cold when bone dry, which means that if they're in a
greenhouse they need to be dry between October and March (or even
later). In a centrally heated home they can have a bit of water in the
winter (but not much as the light level means they won't be growing
much)

Oh I see - thanks. Either the book I read didn't explain that, or I'd
forgotten, probably the latter....


But some dim corner of my brain is trying to tell me that
Christmas/Easter cacti are different in some way googles

They're different in that they are not cacti ;-)

Sneaky! :-)
--
Carol
"Never trust a man wearing leather shorts and a plastic dressing gown"
- Spray, "The Dangerous Sports Club"

In article , Tim
writes
Is there
anything I can squirt along there that'll kill em and deter any from
venturing in?

When camping, we used to squirt a line of washing up liquid around the
edge of the groundsheet - it always seemed to keep them out. It
probably wouldn't persuade them to leave your wall, but it might be a
non-lethal way of stopping them coming into the room - and if that is
where they're looking for food, they might just leave.

--
regards andyw

In article , newsb
writes

When camping, we used to squirt a line of washing up liquid around the
edge of the groundsheet - it always seemed to keep them out. It
probably wouldn't persuade them to leave your wall, but it might be a
non-lethal way of stopping them coming into the room - and if that is
where they're looking for food, they might just leave.



I think that clove oil will also work a treat at discouraging them.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Sacha wrote:

On 24/3/07 20:22, in article , "Carol
Hague" wrote:

ants did once build a nest in one of my (indoor) plant
pots, pushing the incumbent several inches upward in the process!

I think I'd have had to build a glass wall around that and observed it! I
have never heard of them doing that but was it in UK?

I discovered an ants' nest in the bottom of an old pot plant a couple of
years ago. I wouldn't have minded too much, but the enterprising souls
were farming greenfly on another houseplant. Fascinating, but not so
good for the plants (well, the one with the greenfly at least).

Peter