Jump to content
The Corroboree
grantoss

Best option for cacti potting mix

Recommended Posts

Hi all, I have just pulled my cacti collection out of the ground as it was not doing very well at all. I am in Nth NSW and I think the rain fall mixed with the soil of the Burringbar Ranges is not fast draining enough for them even though they were planted in the same mass of potting mix they had previously thrived in. Any way I was hoping to get the best recipe for them now that they are to be put back into pots.

Can someone please describe opinions on which is the best formula for them to be potted in. I have easy access to a fresh water creek for river sand and stones etc have some gypsum and pots just waiting for the right recipe. Cheers and hi to all after a decent lay off from the forums. Much Love

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd love to know this as well.

I got my first two cactus cuttings a week ago (still letting them heal), and not sure how to pot them.

I ended up getting some river sand from the local landscaping place. Other than that, I have perlite and potting mix (I have both seed raising & cutting mix, and some other el-cheapo generic potting mix).

I was just going to go with some mix of river sand, perlite and potting mix...

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thats pretty much what I do syner and my cacti seem happy. I use 2 parts soil to 1 part river sand and 1 part perlite.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I also mix coco peat, blood and bone and organic lifter and dry manure..I been using sheep poo.

I have had super massive growth . One pach has grown a metre of growth In year after planting u rooted 30cm cutting. That be orginal cut growth plus Pups. Insane. Hit it with seasol they love it.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh also I sift as much bark as I can out of soil mix.

Plus diatomite is great for use as grit

Edited by trichoshaman
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Really? Take Bark Pieces out??? I thought the size of them would make for good drainage?

I was using the packages of cacti and succulent mix and it seemed to be mainly chunks of bark, it is very expensive for the amount I need and my financial circumstances have changed since then. Thanks for the replies and keep em coming!

Cheers

Edited by grantoss

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Iv tried a few different soil mixes out and i have come up with one that is far superior to any of the others.

I transplanted a rooted 80cm PsychoO into this soil mix in September, and so far it has shot up to 160cm and shot out a 40cm pup that is fat as! Of course I Fertilize it regularly with a 20-20-20 organic liquid fertilizer, water it once a week and it gets full sun for half the day and then full shade for the afternoon

Anyhow the soil mix is as follows:

  • 6 parts high grade organic compost (Sifted to take out the larger chunks of bark)
  • 4 parts Regular W.A. dirt as filler (For those who don't know, this stuff is completely deprived of any nutrients, enzymes and it contains next to no minerals. Its basically quartz and limestone...the worst of the worst). If you can get river sand, then that's a big plus.
  • 4 parts coarse perlite.
  • 1 part charcoal and ash from the bottom of my Webber (This helps with drainage and gives the cactus a nice burst of potassium)
  • 1 part Organic Dynamic lifter ( I'm sure any Pelleted organic animal fertilizer will do) Many people disagree with giving cacti high amounts of nitrogen, but i have only had good results as long as i don't over water.

Hope this helped. Ill upload some pictures of my cacti collection soon.

Peace!

Edited by Alienteaparty
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i've been using the only cactus mix I have found around here so far which is peat based on alot of my triches and going about 1/3 to 1/2 perlite... its been mostly good, just had a couple issues with the perlite floating up and on some more sensitive types im switching to avoid the issue... It hasn't been more than a year and a half yet so I do worry about the soil breaking down to an acidic soil but from what I understand they're very adaptive... definitely for temporary that type of soil is not an issue... the floating perlite has been a limited problem though I just want to avoid it altogether... it may have just been a batch of soil that wasn't draining well enough without enough perlite but since I had base rot a couple times im definitley avoiding it for those particular plants...

I think you can make up for soil defiicency by just making sure its well draining and using organic stuff like worm castings and kelp... maybe a few cactus drops... but well broken down compost is always good for them and loamy soils are an excellent choice as well

I am about to order some zeolite next check and I wonder if anyone has used it for trichos or any other cacti?

also I started foliar feeding with kelp and its had noticable effects on seedlings so im gonna do that on all my larger triches this season

Edited by Spine Collector
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A few questions to the OP

1) What is the site you planted them like? It would be great to have some photos of the site and the plants. :)
Are you sure that they're not just focusing on roots? (I find that if they have ample soil, they will prioritize root expansion over growing the column, for sometimes a year they won't appear to grow, but will be spreading roots).

2) How thick is the top-soil, and what's under it? Is it clay? (I mean real clay - not clayey loam) Real clay is compacted, very hard, extremely hard to dig into, and when you dig out chunks they will usually be flat and shiny where they've pressed against the shovel blade. Clayey loam is usually brown, while clay is orange or grey or white-ish usually.



I had issues with the soil being too full of clay, and the hole I dug and filled with good mix essentially didn't drain well, and the plant hated it, and decided to rot at the base (good decision mate). So I'm going to dig drainage tunnels (will fill with scoria hopefully) for the next bed, so that there's no water basin where the good soil meets the clay.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We use commercial potting mix that is made from pine bark from our local landscaping supplies places. Actually we usually get rainforest mix as it is a bit more nutritious. But then we add about 30% coarse river sand into the mix at potting time. Bit more for arid cacti, bit less for pachanoi etc.

Using DE keeps root mealies at bay, esp for arid ones.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@ CBL... I have black clay here.. its an oil rich soil... though its very rich its exactly as you described, hard, shiny difficult to dig... sugar cain, tomatoes and alot of plants won't do well here without amendments or raised beds... it makes me wonder how the hell the earthworms get through it but they do... but aside from its clayness its very rich I think... some plants surprise me, like a volunteer or two will come up and do like 20x better than the fancy soil I potted them in the previous season... and so Im pretty much trying just about everything in the ground just to see.. but for cacti one has to really give the roots a chance to breathe

I used some clay here, mixed with about half sand, and then I mixed that with about 1/3 cactus mix and added even more sand ane even some perlite I recall... and well, I choked off some of my prized sansevierias with it... the clay just holds too much damn water lol
I saved a few by using my normal cactus mix and then added a bunch of granite grit.... but sansy's are probably alot pickier than trichos.. they mostly can't stand any cool weather, especially the variegates...

The problem here with digging a hole in the clay to amend, is that you get the "pooling effect" where the water will literally sit, even if you made a hole full of sand, the water would just pool up in the sand box...( I guess you alluded to that) so raised beds and "mounds' are often recommended.. .PPL use mounds here alot for trees... I am going to try some PC's this year in raised beds that are not too deep, but im going for the higher part of the slope where the rain water doesn't sit to see if it might work out... I think it just might workout ... so location might be a factor as well, I am going to find out anyhow..

Hopefully they can dig it

what i really want to do is make really tall raised beds for cacti.. but this is a project that will take alot of investment

Edited by Spine Collector
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

50% quality potting mix + 25% coco coir + 25% perlite works perfect for me.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Last season and also this one I have been using just a premium potting mix for all my Trichocereus sp. except for my TBMs. Seems to work really well for me. Had no losses or rot or anything like that. Plenty of pupping and good growth and health in general. I plan to keep doing this as it seem good and is a bit simpler (and a little bit cheaper than say cacti mix). I do amend the potting media for other cacti, also have made my own mineral based mixes for Mexican cacti etc. but that's a whole other story.

It's pretty humid here and fairly high rainfall etc. coastal. To give an idea on my growing climate.

It's always good to experiment though. You will always find things that work and things that work not so well and many variables in between. There's always that perfect mix, is just a matter of finding/making it (or in my case with Tricho's, not :) ).

EDIT: Just noticed that I have reached my 1337 post count. I'm a bit of a geek, so that's pretty impressive to me. Don't know if I can bear to make another post as I will become un-1337...

Edited by tonic
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just realised I have a big bag of coco coir here..

I'll try potting these cuttings with a combination of potting mix, coir, perlite and river sand

To see how they go.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Edit: double post.. Damn phone.

Edited by SYNeR

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×