Stunted growth, what to do

[wizard]

Hi everyone,

 

I've had a P. Pringlei for several years now and it hasn't really put on any growth.

Its had a bit of rough treatment at one point, being out of soil for a several months during a house move.

All the others recovered fine except the Stetsonia coryne which also hasn't put on growth in the few years since the move.

They've were all moved to a more permanent position last winter so I've been hoping to see some results.

 

The plants are in the ground with standard Perth soil/sand.

They  are 30cm height and look reasonably healthy except for slight yellowing.

I feel like the roots may be the problem but I was hoping they would recover after a year or two.

The only thing I could think of is to take a cutting at the base and re-root the cutting, but this seems very drastic.

Should I just wait and see or is there anything else I could try?

 

Thanks for your help.

[bardo]

Not to sure but prob stunted from stress, if its yellowing that sounds like a lack of nutrients maybe ?

[Sallubrious]

Were the stunted plants in pots before they were planted in the ground ?

 

Sometimes potted plants get rootbound and they just stagnate when planted out if you don't loosen up the roots before re-planting.

 

If that's the case then you could dig them up & remove about 1/3 of the roots before replanting. It's a good idea not to water them for a few days after trimming the roots so the damaged roots can heal up. Damaged roots are more susceptible to rot than normal.

 

If that's not the case check all the usual things like soil PH and look for ant nests in & around the roots.  I'd give them a big drink and after about an hour go back and stick your finger in the soil to see if it is actually getting wet, sometimes the sandy soil can become very repellent and can need a wetting agent or some organic matter mixed in so it will take up water.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Sallubrious

[Drildo]

3 hours ago, Sallubrious said:

look for ant nests in & around the roots.

 

Damn Sal - two of my tricho pot plants (that i know about) have good solid ants nests where the hole is in the bottom of the pot.

Are ants bad news for the root systems of trichos/cacti in general?  I thought I saw a thread started by Horus theorizing that his exotic local ants are causing his cacti to thrive in ground... Hmmmm

[Gimli]

2 minutes ago, Skellum said:

 

Damn Sal - two of my tricho pot plants (that i know about) have good solid ants nests where the hole is in the bottom of the pot.

Are ants bad news for the root systems of trichos/cacti in general?  I thought I saw a thread started by Horus theorizing that his exotic local ants are causing his cacti to thrive in ground... Hmmmm

 

I've always been under the impression that ant colonies help by aerating the soil around the roots?

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Matt1208]

shit I was under the same assumption, quiet a few of my potted up cacti are infested with ants

[nrivers]

I have found my pringlei to be very sensitive. Had great growth the first three years then stalled for the next two. I took it out of its pot and found the roots were not doing real well with only the odd healthy root so have repotted in a very mineral mix and will see how that goes this year.

[Sallubrious]

41 minutes ago, Skellum said:

Are ants bad news for the root systems of trichos/cacti in general?

 

It depends on the species of ants, as @Gimlil & @Horus have noted sometimes they can be beneficial. If you get the little brown fuckers in a pot they exude a waxy coating that makes the soil impervious to water. I've had them move in and you can soak the pot in water for 3 days or more and the soil still won't get wet.

 

In a sandy soil green ants can do the same thing. It affects smaller plants with a small root ball mostly, once the plants get a bit bigger they send feeder roots out over a wider area and it's not so much of a problem.

[Drildo]

8 minutes ago, Sallubrious said:

If you get the little brown fuckers in a pot they exude a waxy coating that makes the soil impervious to water. I've had them move in and you can soak the pot in water for 3 days or more and the soil still won't get wet.

 

Dirty fuckers, its the little brown bastards that get into your honey pot type...

What to do Sal? Depot, fuck the ants up/off then repot with some fresh soil?

[Crop]

Ants often farm scale and mealybugs. The worst I've had to deal with is root mealybugs. The ants build a waterproof chamber around part of the roots, in which they run their farm. Even totaly submerging the pots in a drum of water didn't help. over the years I've had 2 differant species of ant do this.

[Sallubrious]

9 hours ago, Skellum said:

 

Dirty fuckers, its the little brown bastards that get into your honey pot type...

What to do Sal? Depot, fuck the ants up/off then repot with some fresh soil?

 

I'm not sure if they are same species that get into honey, they look very similar though. They tend to invade any fallen timber and any wood that's in contact with soil. Unlike other ants they don't seem to have any central home base, they can establish new colonies independent to each all over the place.

 

Re-potting solves the problem for a while but they are hard to keep out long term. Not much short of moat will stop the bastards getting back in.

[Drildo]

The pots are just a temporary home for 6-12 months while the cuts establish themselves a decent root system. I'm hoping when the cacti are planted in-ground that these same undesirable ants don't go and invade in-ground specimens, like they do with pot-plant specimens. You mentioned these invader ants going for dead fallen wood & tricho pots, both similar habitats I guess.  Do you think these mongrels (ants) will fuck with the root systems of newly-planted-in-ground, established plants, as your waiting for them to settle in? 

Maybe the ants are more after dead wood or terracotta (pots), in contact with soil, as apposed something lush and very much alive planted in-ground/deep-earth.

[Sallubrious]

They should be fine when they go in the ground @Skellum , the ants will fuck off and find some other habit that's raised or partially raised above ground level (if they are the same species that causes me problems) They do live in soil but they prefer to use an above ground hatchery for their eggs and that's when they waterproof the nest with some sort of waxy shit which causes the problems in pots.

[Crop]

1 hour ago, Skellum said:

Do you think these mongrels (ants) will fuck with the root systems of newly-planted-in-ground

The ants where I am now are little brown ants, don't know the species but like Sall said

 

13 minutes ago, Sallubrious said:

they prefer to use an above ground hatchery for their eggs

But where I lived before we had the introduced Coastal Brown Ants (Pheidole megacephala) their pretty obvious because the soldiers have massive heads. These thing are an an agricultural nightmare. Not just farming root mealy bugs in pots and even on in ground established fruit trees, they also eat seed before it can germinate and attack flowers, preventing fruit set. I absolutly hate the fucken things!

[-RC-]

Some well composted manure like sheep or cow, with a good hit of powerfeed/seasol combo. Don't forget the worm juice for that soil health homie.