Cactuses

[mysnakesau]

Hi.

Does anyone here know much about keeping cactuses? I bought one today and have researched the web a little but can't seem to find anything particularly on the one that I bought - Golden Torch Cactus Eriocatus lenninghausii.

All I really want to know is how do I know when it needs to be re-potted? I am planning a potted cactus garden, so will be putting it into a larger pot eventually but I don't know how long it can stay in the little pot it came in, or how to tell if it needs new dirt or upsize pot.

On the tag it says it is slow growing with numerous offsets. Does this mean it will produce new "shoots" that can be separated into a new little plant?

 

[Bluetongue1]

First and foremost with cacti, is do not overwater when it is cold i.e. in winter. The mix it came in will no doubt be extremely free draining. Depending upon the mix, if it is primarily organic in origin, such as pine fines, it may decompose over time. Depending upon the size of the plant and its capacity and need to absorb moisture from the mix, this may not present any problems. However, you may find that the mix, over time, becomes too moisture retentive. An easy way to determine how much moisture is present is to accustom yourself with the weight of the pot before and after watering. The danger of a mix retaining too much moisture is that the roots will rots. If left unchecked, this can result in the planted section of the plant developing rot as well. Should this happen, remove the affected pant stems, cut off the rotting section plus one centimetre of what you consider unaffected stem, and place in a perlite mix. Water daily until roots develop and are a centimetre or more long. Then pant into pots using new xerophytic potting mix.

So long as the potting mix is OK, repotting will not be required until the plant basically starts to push itself out of the pot it is in due to the number of offsets produced. Offsets means that it will send out shorts stems underground and a new baby plant grows from that. Initially it will depend on the mother plant for its nutrients etc but as time goes by, it will develop its own roots and can be severed from the parent plant and potted up on its own. You can pot them up before roots develop in a free draining mix such as perlite. Once they develop roots they should then be repotted into a standard mix for xerophytes.

They are dormant through the winter and begin to actively grow again come spring. Fertilise once every two weeks with a soluble all-purpose fertiliser, such as Aquasol, Nitrosol or the like.

Should you have any other specific questions, I may be able to help. No guarantees are offered but 30+ years of dabbling in propagating and growing plants is at your service. The reality is, it is such a wide field that no one individual knows it all.

Blue

 

[mysnakesau]

Thank you for that Bluey. So it is safe to leave the little cactus alone for some time yet. Its only about 6-8cm high and 4-5cm round, and plenty of room around the sides of the pot yet. I just wasn't sure how long it could stay there, considering most plants bought from nurseries usually need re-potting soon after getting them home. Have plenty of perlite and aquasol on hand. Thanks again.

 

[Bluetongue1]

One thing you just reminded me of. If you bought it from Bunnings, you may need to re-pot in a decent mix. Bunnings water all their plants daily. So those that do not like much water are put in a mix that does not retain any moisture whatsoever. If you have bought plants from there and wondered why they died because you were watering them once a week, you now know why. Most commercial nurseries section off their plants and have a watering regime that is appropriate for the different plants.

Give it plenty of light through winter but not too much water, depending on the mix.

In summer, allow it to dry out between waterings. If kept constantly moist, the roots and planted part of the stem will rot.

Definitely would not worry about re-potting until there are so many offsets growing out of the pot that it is almost pushing itself out of the pot. When you do repot you can break off the offsets if you want or just keep the plant as one. I usually cut off about the bottom 2cm of potting mix to get rid of coiled roots. I also score down the sides of the mix with a harp knife in about 1 cm, around the pot in half a dozen places. That stops roots from curling around on themselves. Then when you are re-potting, you can fan out the bottom of the soil base of the plant so that the new roots will grow outwards rather than just down. I build a little mound of new potting mix in the middle of the new pot the plant is going into. That way the flared base of the root system stays in place while you add the required extra potting mix.

Hope that helps.
Mike

 

[JUNGLE-JAK]

little known fact, im the youngest member of the cairns garden club.bluey, thats perfect info, i dont have much to add to that exept, if you would like to propogate them, basically cut a stalk off and plant it in a seed raising mix with the potting mix you plan to use mixed in, doesnt apply to all cacti. great green thumb skills bluey, is there anything you dont know?

 

[Fantazmic]

I looove cactus and they are highly addictive.

There are Cacti and succulent societies in every state and are heaps of fun.

The flowers are simply wonderful. I love rebutias

If you are interested PM me and I will point you in the direction of a club you could join.

Elizabeth

 

[Bluetongue1]

little known fact, im the youngest member of the cairns garden club.bluey, thats perfect info, i dont have much to add to that exept, if you would like to propogate them, basically cut a stalk off and plant it in a seed raising mix with the potting mix you plan to use mixed in, doesnt apply to all cacti. great green thumb skills bluey, is there anything you dont know?

Thank you for your kind words. I think the phrase attributed to Socrates best sums it up. “The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know.”
I have been around the traps a while. I have an interest in all things biological and a particular passion for reptiles – from which my other interests stem. I have been blessed with a retentive memory for such things and have worked at an education that allows me a good level of understanding. Essentially a mixture of good fortune through god-given talents and hard yakka despite my basic inclination to be a slacker. I know I could have done better given my potential. However, that is no longer important.

I see no value in having a head full of information and understanding if you make no use of it. It seems only natural to share it with others that will hopefully benefit from it. There is much I don not know. So I am selective in which threads I respond to. If I have no real knowledge or understanding of an issue and my information is casually acquired or hearsay, them I see no benefit to the OP in opening my mouth”.

When I do respond I prefer to provide an understanding that accompanies the “what to do”. If people understand why they are doing certain things, then it is more likely they will actually do them. It also allows them the opportunity to adapt whatever to differing situations as they understand what the desired outcome is. The downside is that conveying understanding takes a hell of a lot longer than simply saying “do this”. There are clearly a percentage of forum users that are not comfortable with this approach. This is often evident in the brevity of there own responses. So I often feel I am walking a tightrope.

That, I guess, is reason that really appreciate your comment. My heartfelt thanks!


Blue

 

[moussaka]

Wow Blue, you're quite the botanist! I've learned a lot from your responses which I should be able to apply to my own cactus, so thank you.

I've experienced the overwatering thing first-hand already: in high school I once had a cactus die in just a few weeks, because unbeknown to me my mother and sister were both watering it too...it rotted.

 

[Smithers]

Onya Blue I came down to ACT with around 40 pots of succulents and cactus and some nice cycads and lost 80% to frost the first yr I got surprised early and payed dearly. Some cultivars and pretty funky too

Here's a few shots of my old house in Penrith I had....


I tried to shuffle in order and get large images again but it's not play nice tonight :/

Here's before during and after at my old place,..was very hard to leave this behind I tell ya....and to see it today it has nothing in it all ripped out and a couple left with grass n weeds growing over it.

Oh well....

 

[moussaka]

Wow Smithers, that's an amazing collection! Such a shame about the frost.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Beautiful! That is an awesome job of garden-scaping, especially the last three photos.

I appreciate the skill, planning and on-going care that goes into creating a living sculpture like that. The very thoughtful placement, the pruning and the regular feeding are apparent. I love the way you have used contrasting shape and texture in conjunction with enough repetition to bind it together. Similarly, the colour highlights are not overdone and really accentuate the body of the garden bed as a result. You can be well and truly proud of that effort.

I must admit that frosts are not something I have had to worry about In WA. I really would not know what plants are affected and to what extent. I do know cold Canberra gets however. When I lived in Sydney I often made trips to snowy with my brothers or my mates. And I reckon the Monaro Plains region was colder than the snowy itself. They used to say that the wind in Canberra was lazy. It couldn’t be bothered going around you… it would blow straight through you.

Your loss would have been a bitter blow. I know what it is like just loosing one prized plant due to something unforseen. I guess it meant you had little choice but to choose from a different palette of plants for the exposed areas of the garden.

Thanks Smithers for sharing those photos with us.

 

[Smithers]

Thanks very much for those kind words Blue, it was a passion and still is to a certain extent....I only have a few echevaria's and bit's of this n that left now.

My aloe plicatilis is flowering in three places this yr,....new branches are formed when the flower stem comes out of the middle of the aloe hand.

image of an older one and my 7yr old plant.

 

[moussaka]

Your loss would have been a bitter blow.

Ahahaha I see what you did there!