h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank's WS, chat ashta ne

*See* you when you surface Moonraker

Websailor

Games over, I figure until I answer them the post's will stay down

Sorry just remember I am 8 hrs in front of youie i posted my time this morning
for me i think you posted tomorrow12 houres , give up

Don't worry about it. I must dig out my world clock web site again. I haven't used it for ages.

As a matter of interest which city could I use to get your Time Zone?

Take care,

Websailor

Not sure what I was trying to say in post 64 I do know it was about 3:30 in the am and by that time I could type any sort of rubbish , so I try not to post then

Time zone, all of Japan is on the same time which in summer is eight hours ahead of England and winter is nine hours ahead , not sure what time zone Willem is in

Hello folks! I think the time zone I'm in is central European time ... at least, it's central African time. I think it's at least an hour ahead of Britain, maybe two. We don't have daylight savings time here, the time is the time, winter or summer. There's not much difference between the two here.

How are things going with you two?

Today I again did my general plant inspection plus watering a few that needed water. Then I planted cuttings I made of a little aloe. One plant is now twenty! I also planted out a few Kalanchoe paniculata plants that had spontaneously germinated in bags containing other plants. Tomorrow I will do some more watering, make more cuttings, and probably spray a few more plants with soap mix to discourage scale bugs.

WS Willem check what I did todayhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/go/dna/h2g2/brunel/F1694533/ext/_auto/-/http://www.flickr.com/photos/21128589@N02/

Any advice Nigel?

that rice looks nice and healthy! And the cactus is the same one as Nigel has I think. It is on his page anyway.

Websailor

Willem,

You certainly seem to grow an enormous amount of plants successfully. It must feel very rewarding.

Websailor

Hello Websailor and Anoldgreymoonraker! Moonraker, thanks, that's a pretty cactus! It looks much like Nigel's, yes ... it's bigger though and has made lots of little'uns I see. I don't grow 'true' cacti since those are not indigenous to South Africa ... I'm first focusing on the botanic diversity of my own country ... my goal is to try and learn how to cultivate as many different species of South Africa's native plants as possible. It would be great if one day I can have a fair-sized bit of land and a botanic garden. I'd do what I can to help propagate and conserve rare SA species. And also, secondarily, plants from elsewhere in Africa, and Magagascar as well.

At any rate ...yes it is very rewarding to successfully grow plants, especially rare species!

There's still time Willem, you never know how life is going to turn out. In the meantime enjoy every day.

Re. Cacti, Moonraker lives in a climate more suited I would think. Nigel's cactus would not survive in our climate outside of a greenhouse. It is very precious to him and we were so pleased it flowered.

Websailor

That cactus is the same as Nigel's and yes a bit bigger ,It lives just outside the front door their is a darkened plastic canopy above it so it basically stays dry except for the runoff from some ivy above it ,it has flowered three times this year so it really did want to grow young, I want to take some babies off of it but not sure about the planting medium.
I have read up a bit about this new camera and it is very good, I am lucky

Get this ,I just put a on the news story thread now I have a whole line of on my space

Hello Websailor and Anoldgreymoonraker! Moonraker, I think cacti will do well in loose, well-draining soil with a bit of compost - not too much. Over here I grow most of my succulents in a mix of topsoil, river sand and organic compost, with topsoil and sand about equal, and compost a bit less.

Over here cacti can and do grow outdoors and actually it's a bit of a problem! Like I said cacti are not native to South Africa (except for a single species) but many people grow them in private collections. A number of species have 'escaped' and now grow in the wild ... sometimes in such numbers that they displace our indigenous plant species. In the Eastern Cape there are now vast areas covered with prickly-pear cacti and not much else. Several other cactus species have also invaded the countryside, like the large 'Queen of the Night' cactus, and also smaller ones we call 'jointed' cacti. I remember once when I was in the 'veld' and got into a tangle of jointed cacti! They are much more aggressively thorny than any of our local succulent species. Those cacti thorns penetrated deep into my flesh and had barbs making them very hard to dislodge! Was a painful experience.

I've also seen a place where apparently someone had a cactus collection in the vicinity. There were several different species of cactus growing in the hills; they must have been 'escapees' ... seeds transported there by birds or animals and freely germinating ... potential ecological problems.

But in Britain and I suppose in Japan as well, the outside climate is not very favourable ... too cold, too wet ... so 'escaping' ought not to be a problem! Also ... I think the local flora of Japan and Britain is less vulnerable than that of South Africa. Over here we have an extreme level of local plant endemism: species that only occur in certain places and nowhere else. So if one such 'place' is destroyed or overrun, an entire species could be wiped out.

OK ... today I didn't do much ... just watered some plants, and treated others with a soapy mixture against bugs. I will still make some cuttings later today ...

See the both of you elsewhere on h2g2, probably!

Hey Moonraker you might enjoy this photo I snapped of a couple of our local Grey Herons greeting each other:

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2142594980103203115ftaSOA

that does look good what pretty birds

I'm happy you like them! Herons are very graceful and elegant birds.

We've had great weather today ... in my plant house it reached 30 degrees today, but not humid, it's a very comfortable temperature for me.

Hello All ,

Moonraker, I will give you some advice about your cacti shortly . I am just off down for my tea.

Hope everyone is well.

Nigel

Thank's Nigel enjoy your tea , me in about 10 min's time I'm going to watch Celtic play game 3 (mondays game I think) by the time it finishes it will be 3:00 am