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netsuj

Repotting Trichocereus Bridgesii

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I have some 5 year old trichocereus bridgesii that I sadly haven't repotted in 4 years. The tallest ones in the picture are about 53cm. This year will be a good year for them because not only will they get a new large pot (or pots) but they get to leave the 4 year old store-bought cactus soil mix I used at the time! I'm thinking 1 part garden soil, 1 part pearlite (or pumace) and a small amount of sand for the new soil mix.

My question is this: I was thinking about burying them about 10cm deeper than they are now, which would put the thin 1st year of growth under the soil and hopefully make them more stable (see picture with drawn lines and text). Not only is the bottom of the cactus thinner than the top but a few of them are also leaning at the bottom then they curve up to vertical at the top. Is this a bad idea? Will I rot out the bottom? I live in the cold north of the US so they've been grown indoors and have a pretty controlled environment. I'm also hoping by mixing my own soil this time it will be better draining and not rot out the newly buried portion.

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Nice looking bridgesii! Bridgesii are notorious for throwing out roots from the stem above the soil, so I would definitely try potting them deeper. Keep an eye on them and if they do go soft/rot, then you can always just cut them near the base and re-root?

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What bit said! Nice looking seed grown bridgesii btw! :)

Also, what's the first picture? are they also 5 years old or new seedlings?

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Thanks for the advice! One of them is actually sending out a root about half way to the top and I wasn't sure what it was at first. The first picture are those same bridgesii when I first repotted them 4 years ago.

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Maybe split them up into 2 pots while you're at it. Use different layers in your pot. Bottom layer is gravel for drainage, then a thin layer of fine gravel, then soil up to about half way and the top half use a really sharp mix 70/30 organic and sand (add some perlite if U like but not too much. Then top it all off with some decorative pebbles or scoria.

Go easy on it for the first year and next year give it plenty of water, fertiliser, and sunshine.

Don't bury 'em too deep, they'll fatten up in time, especially if you prune them occasionally.

stake them if you have to.

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if it was me i'd cut them where you indicated and put them all in their own pots.

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Maybe split them up into 2 pots while you're at it. Use different layers in your pot. Bottom layer is gravel for drainage, then a thin layer of fine gravel, then soil up to about half way and the top half use a really sharp mix 70/30 organic and sand (add some perlite if U like but not too much. Then top it all off with some decorative pebbles or scoria.

Go easy on it for the first year and next year give it plenty of water, fertiliser, and sunshine.

Don't bury 'em too deep, they'll fatten up in time, especially if you prune them occasionally.

stake them if you have to.

Good advice, someone knows their shite! :)

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Or...plant them outside along your fence!

Bridgesii.jpg

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Bot6's idea seems pretty good too, but you may still get skinny pups, unless you provide better growing conditions for the stock plants. (better sun soil and ferts)

Ultimately the best thing is to get 'em into the ground like AZS said.

You really want to do everything possible to achieve thick/fat growth. Dealing with fat plants and cuttings is way better than dealing with skinny shit.

Edited by Halcyon Daze

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Halcyon is the "soil up to about half way" just straight potting soil?

I thought about cutting and rooting them but they just get so skinny without water.....I don't want to cut them until they outgrow my house!

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They'll never be planted in my yard here in Rhode Island!

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Halcyon is the "soil up to about half way" just straight potting soil?

I thought about cutting and rooting them but they just get so skinny without water.....I don't want to cut them until they outgrow my house!

without heat and light they'll get etiolated, as all cacti do, but i think in your current environment you don't have a choice unless you set up an artificial environment,

i would cut, callus and pot them, but make sure you callus them properly before you do that (i.e. wait at least 2-3 weeks) and if you do do that don't water them after you pot them until at least your next spring, probably 5+ weeks. cactus cuts are hardy they'll survive no worries without water.

if you're in north.us then it's winter at the moment? then don't do anything until it gets to your spring, cacti tend to go dormant during winter and disturbing them might not be the best course of action. especially planting cuttings in winter may be a recipe for rot. is it super cold where you are right now? if so just leave them be, they won't do anything until it gets warmer/lighter.

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They'll never be planted in my yard here in Rhode Island!

LOL - Touché

Send me a cutting and I'll fatten it up for you!

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Yeah it's winter right now and I want to repot in April when it starts warming up. The summer averages 28C for a high and the average low in winter is -7C at night. So they only actively grow for 5 months of the year. They don't get any taller from Oct-March/April.

I'd love to plant them outside.... actually this summer I want to bring them outside while it's warm enough which would probably help a lot!

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I planted half of them in November and the smaller one's in late January. They are growing fast - popping out thicker spines in the full sun.

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Hi, just wanted to share some photos of the cacti I repotted 4 years ago now. They are now 9 years old and the tallest is about 80cm and the fattest about 5cm at the widest. I ended up repotting them, burying the bottom 10cm of original growth. I went slow with the sunlight and water that first summer, then the next year moved them outside and they really took off and started springing out pups for the first time. What a pain to repot, especially having 5 cacti in one pot originally, having to untangle a big mess of roots! I squeezed the big one a little too hard when I was trying to hold it upright in the new pot and you can see the markings. They are just coming out of winter hibernation and the big one is still a bit droopy. 

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21 hours ago, Glaukus said:

The tall column in the big pot is very interesting.

Because the top half is fat and the bottom skinny? It's first 5 years were grown indoors and it's last 4 outdoors. I'm not sure if it wil ever recover......

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58 minutes ago, netsuj said:

Because the top half is fat and the bottom skinny? It's first 5 years were grown indoors and it's last 4 outdoors. I'm not sure if it wil ever recover......

It looks like its semi monstrose which is very cool.

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