Getting cozy this morning with some peppermint tea and my MSG back issues that I ordered!
I feel like there isn’t a ton of specific Argy care out there so this is useful! I know for sure I’ve been feeling like mine aren’t 100% thriving so I’ve been searching for some more info.
This article is referencing another article by John Watmough (RIP, passed away in January or February this year I believe), but I think that was from the volume before this one, which I don’t think I have yet. I’ve been working my way back through the older issues in batches whenever I have 70$ to put towards something like that. I’m going to get my hands on that because the article is pretty humorously poking fun at Watmough’s suggested care routine. It’s reassuring how contradictory even the experts can be 😂
by CarneyBus
2 Comments
Assuming parity of expertise between those two authors is a mistake.
Russel is one of the best growers in the world of finnicky little nuggets of all kinds, and you can generally take his advice to the bank.
The thing I’ve noticed about the very best growers of these kinds of plants (Marx, Hammer, etc) is that, in addition to being erudite and highly intelligent, they are exceptionally observant. And that is something we can all strive to be better at, regardless of what cultural practices we find to work best in our individual conditions.
I’m loving the posts with scholarly articles. I would very much be in favor of a series called something like “posting scholarly works until we all become botanists”.
It can be frustrating and/or expensive, like you mention, if you don’t have the right database access or if the journal doesn’t participate in any of them. Lots of running into abstract-only walls. But that’s OK there are still plenty of great authors who focus on mesembs and a group like MSG to support. Not every plant family has such a robust community of researchers and hobbyists I imagine.
Also, the author of the article in your post, Russell Wagner, was a guest in a long form video on the Crime Pays But Botany Doesnt youtube channel where he gives a [tour of his greenhouse](https://youtu.be/j51lLIacG1M?si=S4XPI7e9fGLDOK0m). Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already seen it.