Just tidying up my files.

2 comments

Found this note from Hywel. He keeps his Cacti collection
in a frame mounted on breeze blocks. Leaves the top open when it rains, so they get a wash !

He recommends John Innes No.2 as it contains the right amount of nutrients. If you have bought several baby Cactus plants it is cheaper to buy a bag of J.A. Bowers
Horticultural grit, and the J.I. No.2 potting compost then mix your own. Three parts compost to one part grit.

If you have Terra Cotta pots they are the best as they dry out quickly after watering, simulating conditions in the Deserts, where it is very hot in the daytime and very cold at night. This produces a heavy dew each morning, which the Cacti soak up every day.

Cacti dont like to stand in damp soil. Put several broken pieces of crock in the bottom of the pot before adding the compost.

Some Garden Centres have Terra Cotta pots, or will order them for you.

6 Apr, 2018
0 likes

Comments

Hywel

I remember writing a blog for you Diane, but it was a long time ago ... I put my cacti in the conservatory for winter. The cold weather we had this year would surely have killed them.

You have to mix grit with the compost for any succulent plant. They like a free draining medium to grow in.
In the olden days I used to fetch sand from the river bank and mix it with garden soil lol, and then add other nutrients as well. That was in the days before garden centres became popular.

I prefer terracotta pots, although they say cacti grow just as well in plastic ones. I think they look nicer in a terracotta pot :)
I get mine from a local garden centre.

6 Apr, 2018

Dianebulley

Mine are on the living room window sill Hywel.
Am thinking of leaving them permanently to see if they respond to my 6 week feeding programme by flowering.
Its a long way down to the greenhouse, and I am not well.

7 Apr, 2018

Add a comment

Just tidying up my files.

Comments

Recent posts by dianebulley