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Repotting Cactus

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  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    pash2,yes, I did,that's why I now have a dozen of these pots😂
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    "Not MPC" I read as not my personal choice.  I agreed.  I prefer to keep plants in separate pots,  1.  so that you can control watering especially, 2.  because they will grow at different rate and soon look unbalanced, 3. other microclimate reasions.

    Cacti don't need a food-rich compost.  Just fast draining.  JINo1 certainly  strong enough with an equal qhantity of hoticultural grit (sand is OK but must be horticultural grade too).  I prsume cat liitter could be anything.

    Drainage after repotting needs special care.  More compost, damaged roots.
     
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • John Innes No.2 mixed with Hort grit. Don't put sand in.
    Some people add a dash of very basic, cheap cat litter in the mix.

    It has to be molar clay cat litter, that's why I stick with grit mixed 50:50 with Hohn Innes No. 2 or 3 depending what I have to hand.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited June 2023
    Steve ...  Mike ...  It's not worth trying too hard to save money.  I'm not a cat fan, I don't understand the word "molar".  To me it means teeth or related to the chemical unit a mole.

    Does "very basic" mean high pH; it might be.   I use horticultural hydroleca in my bonsai mix.  Builders' LECA is high pH.

    The label John Innes does not mean what it once did.  I have a bag that is some 90% organic.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    I use a soil less mix (in the link below) that i also use on a couple of bonsai trees i have. As there is no soil, i add half strength ferts with every watering April - September.
    https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/premium-bonsai-compost-no3-superior-drainage-mix-with-biochar
    Sunny Dundee
  • pash2pash2 Posts: 95
    Do you have a pot with drainage holes inside your decorative pot? Your mix seems very wet.
    Hi
     No but i had just recently watered them as i do this once a month except winter when i don't water them.

  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    pash2 said:
    Do you have a pot with drainage holes inside your decorative pot? Your mix seems very wet.
    Hi
     No but i had just recently watered them as i do this once a month except winter when i don't water them.

    You will be lucky to avoid root rot in a pot with no drainage holes, especially with a wet mix.
    Sunny Dundee
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited June 2023
    Water them with the cache-pot off.  For my orchids, I leave for no more than one hour before draining.  But that would be excessive for a cactus.

    Adding just the right amount of water to pots without drainage would work with care and experience, but would be dodgy at repotting time.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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