My San Pedro

[Lion]

This is my San Pedro. Currently 42 cm.
I've put a pic about the soil as well with it.
I'm wondering what i can do better? Use other soil? Now i use cactisoil. They sell this in agriculture shops.
Should i use other soil? For instance loam? Or mix the loam with something etc?
More drainage?, ...





and another pic of where i keep it:




peace

 

[Lion]

oh btw, is it safe to start cutting at this point?

 

[GOD]

What / why do you want to cut it ?

It needs repotting , and i would get rid of the soil and do it hydrophonicly .

 

[Lion]

I want to make cuttings. So "babies".
Can u explain me what you mean with the hydrothing? You said something in another post about grind 2 mm thick.

 

[GOD]

Hydrophonic means without soil , just with something like sand and / or small stones and water . It is less prone to over watering and contamination . You can buy the stones you need from a garden center or a terarium section in a pet shop . You need sand from at least 2 mm thick plus stones from 3- 5 mm thick and mix them both together . Dont buy seramis . You can find good books about cacti and hydrophonic gardening in librarys .

You could cut the top off your cacti with a VERY sharp knife , wrap it in news paper and keep it away from light and let the wound dry . When the wound is dry re-pot it and roots will grow . Sometimes roots start to grow as soon as the wound is dry before you re-pot it . The wound on the bottom part will dry out and at least one side arm should grow , sometimes 3 grow . They can be twisted off when they get bigger and rooted and planted . This takes ages to produce big cacti .

Explaining is hard , reading a good book is best . But ask questions and i will try to answer them .

 

[druglessdouglas]

if you are going to take cuttings first let the whole thing dry out, soil and cactus. let the cactus dry till it just starts to shrink a little, but not dry. make your cuttings as thick as possible for best results. put them somewhere to dry more. the cuts should have a dry skin, not wet and weeping. a week is good. then put them on top of compost fresh from the bag. dont add water. roots will grow down into the compost. dont water for 2 weeks. the roots will sense the little moisture in the compost and grow towards it. water from the bottom after 2 or 3 weeks.
if you put them wet onto compost they will rot

 

[tryptonaut]

I'd suggest give it a much bigger pot! The more and longer roots it can grow, the bigger and stronger it gets. That pot you are using is almost like you're trying to make a bonsai out of it (although I don't know nothing about bonsai trees, I know that you need to keep their roots as small as possible so they will keep their miniature size)

 

[whiskey.rock.and.roller]

wow nice! thats a big fucker

 

[jj]

That pot is very narrow, which is all wrong for cactus. I suggest one about that tall (or a little taller), but much wider, maybe 25 cm or so across the top. Be sure to loosen and spread the roots when you repot, or they'll stay all tangled up in the same shape as that too small pot.

When you re-pot, be sure to examine the roots to see if you have been keeping them healthy, or whether it has been too wet and funky in there, breeding root rot. When I dig up my cacti, I find virtually no dead roots, nothing but healthy roots well-distributed through the soil.

I like a terra cotta (red clay) pot. They are porous, unlike plastic. You can use plastic, but it won't breathe as well.

The soil should be about 50% perlite, to keep it light and fluffy, for good aeration.

Most commercial potting soil tends to be a little acidic. A bit of gardener's lime adresses that.

20 cm of growth a year is easily attainable from a potted San Pedro grown in sunlight. Easily.

 

[jj]

That pot is very narrow, which is all wrong for cactus. I suggest one about that tall (or a little taller), but much wider, maybe 25 cm or so across the top. Be sure to loosen and spread the roots when you repot, or they'll stay all tangled up in the same shape as that too small pot.

When you re-pot, be sure to examine the roots to see if you have been keeping them healthy, or whether it has been too wet and funky in there, breeding root rot. When I dig up my cacti, I find virtually no dead roots, nothing but healthy roots well-distributed through the soil.

I like a terra cotta (red clay) pot. They are porous, unlike plastic. You can use plastic, but it won't breathe as well.

The soil should be about 50% perlite, to keep it light and fluffy, for good aeration.

Most commercial potting soil tends to be a little acidic. A bit of gardener's lime adresses that.

20 cm of growth a year is easily attainable from a potted San Pedro grown in sunlight. Easily.

 

[0macatl]

yeah the pot is definately too small, its got to go.


has anyone else noticed how long those spines are? it looks like it may be a hybrid, a brigesii/pedro. if so thats really lucky, as the bridgesii/pedro hybrids can be vigorious growers.