Long-form articles on legality, conservation, collecting, and rare cacti.
The best DIY cactus soil mix recipe for rare cacti and succulents. A five-mineral ratio (pumice, lava rock, zeolite, decomposed granite, limestone) plus per-genus tweaks for Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Aztekium, Astrophytum, and Copiapoa, the squeeze test, fertilizer schedule, and pest-prevention regime.
Ranked list of the 10 best U.S. universities for botany and plant biology, evaluated on herbarium depth, greenhouse facilities, faculty research in Cactaceae and desert ecology, and graduate career outcomes.
Lophophora williamsii biology, Chihuahuan Desert habitat, the geophyte taproot, CITES Appendix II status (not Appendix I), IUCN Vulnerable, and the conservation organizations working to keep wild populations alive.
The Huntington Library cactus garden, Desert Botanical Garden Phoenix, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and five more US institutions where serious rare-cactus collectors plan a weekend visit. Addresses, current admission, and what to look for as a collector.
San Pedro cactus is Trichocereus pachanoi, a fast-growing Andean columnar cactus from Ecuador and Peru at 2,000-3,300 m. Taxonomy, habitat, morphology, named clones, and collector cultivation.
Miracle-Gro Cactus, Palm and Citrus soil kills rare cacti because the bag is 70-80% peat moss, perlite, and bark fines. Here is the autopsy of what is in the bag, why those ingredients fail, and the five-mineral collector mix that replaces it.
Every cactus is a succulent, but most succulents are not cacti. The difference is one structure: the areole. Here’s how to spot it in 60 seconds.
From the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan biosphere reserve and the fog-fed Atacama to the Huntington Desert Garden and the Princess of Wales Conservatory, 12 ranked destinations where collectors and serious travelers can see the world’s rarest cacti in habitat and in cultivation.
Take this cactus personality quiz to find which of 12 rare genera, from Ariocarpus to Turbinicarpus, matches your collecting style. Ten questions, twelve possible matches, no email gate.
A comprehensive reference guide for the 2026 CITES Appendix I listed cacti, explaining the difference between Appendix I and II, and what that means for collectors.
