more faq-ing obvious questions

[The Dude]

how much watering can columnars sustain?

I've heard that it's best to leave to a minimum and then when they're watered to actually saturate them, mimicking natural cycles.

Then I've heard that during growing season it's ok to water them daily. is this the case? and should I still saturate them?

As it is now I water them pretty much every night (actual night time) and they sit in their wetness until morning when they're exposed to full light for almost the whole day. They seem to be doing pretty bloody well, could be my overwatering, could be the seasol or could just be this time of year. , some tiny black spots on my eileen but that's it. Only risk are snails at night, found 5 of the fuckers trying to eat my precious's last night but I was too quick!

Also on seasol, i give 1/4 recommendation once a week (twice as often as recomended but only 1/2 as much per fortnight), so far only applied twice, is that still overkill?

it's easier to measure 1/2dose so i'll probably just stick to fortnightly.

[edit] it might help to know that these are all in well draining pots. However the question applies to planted cacti too as I will begin transplanting them all soon.

Edited December 20, 2007 by El Duderino

[bit]

Generally speaking, try to maintain a wet - dry - wet - dry cycle with the soil. In winter you should make sure the soil is completely dry before watering, in summer they seem to be able to tolerate a bit more water.

[Hagakure]

i water em when they are dry

in this weather that means you can water them quite frequently

[XipeTotec]

i water mine as much as my other plants when warm... also... i prefer nitrogen based liquid ferts on my trichs,such as fish emulsion, once every few weeks... they dont seem to mind at all.(it is commonly thought that cacti dont care much for nitrogen though) from what I know about seasol... it doesnt seem to have much in it to promote growth as such... others may disagree with me on this though.

Edited December 20, 2007 by XipeTotec

[incognito]

i water most of my cacti all year round. lophs and arios r really the only ones i ensure dontget water over winter, and during spring summer autumn completely drench em every second day. trichs i water every second day spring summer autumn , pee on each one every 3rd week or so, and they get natural rain over winter. alot of trichs isee about the place and in peoples collections look very under-watered. but then again i like my cacti fat and pumping.

a side not, ive moved my lophs into full sun this year and they are CRANKING. seed yield is up by at least 3 seed per pod, sometimes up to 10.

myabee seed production could have to do with light availabitlity teo?

id argue from experience of growing trichs in a variety of climates that they can be wet over winter and have no adverse reactions. may have sumthin to do wit flowering, but trichs that have received rain /handwatering over winter in my collections and collections ive looked after 4 other people have shown no adverse signs.

this is in my own experience only.

Edited December 20, 2007 by jono

[chilli]

Only risk are snails at night, found 5 of the fuckers trying to eat my precious's last night but I was too quick!

You are quicker than snails?

[n00b]

You are quicker than snails?

Haha that was a joke waiting to happen. Maybe I was being ironic orignally....

...

smartarse

You gotta catch em in the act, they're slow but if they spend all night chewing, their pace matters fuck all. I was quicker and smarter than the snails, yes I am proud of that fact.

[The Dude]

Erm.. that guy is a n00b, he's got no idea what he's talking about, i think he was trying to steal my identity by replying to that post as if he were me.

Edited December 20, 2007 by El Duderino

[incognito]

good trick for sanails and slugs is to put a little beer (4 cms ) at the bottom of a marg container or the like, the snails and slugs go in after the yeast and drown. works.

i know this is not how u intended it duder,-Erm.. that guy is a n00b, he's got no idea what he's talking about,

bein a newb dont mean u dont know watcha talkin about. theres wisdom everywhere and from everyone.

but yeah nOOb, what the hell did u mean?? u r talkin bout ur experience with snails yeah? i just think theres confusion duder.

if u havent been on the intranet or used forums before the conversation can get confusing.

first time i EVER used the internet was when i put 'peyote' in a google search (with help i might add! to buy one just like my neighbours one, and found here. and i remeber the ol' utFse!!! scared the bejesus outta me! i didnteven know what a search engine was!!! but yeah i think newbs are to be encouraged, as we where when we were newbs, and the same opportunitys shown, same access to plants, same questions answered that we were blessed with. a good way to give back to this community thats given so much to us (well i can only speak for myself really), and i guess to meet new folks with likeinterests.

rant over.

Edited December 20, 2007 by jono

[XipeTotec]

good trick for sanails and slugs is to put a little beer (4 cms ) at the bottom of a marg container or the like, the snails and slugs go in after the yeast and drown. works.

another good trick (well it sounds good, ive never done it though) is to put a board of wood in your garden, propped up a bit, so snails and slugs can settle under it each night.... then, each morning.... kill!!!! muuuaaaahahaaahaaahaaa

[recondite]

diatomaceous earth is another suggestion

[The Dude]

Ah jono, I think i should be able to give the n00b as much shit as I want seeing as I created him... he is my frankenstein monster.

erm.. all this was an attempt to get your free cacti jono, and then i forgot to log out of the n00b account and blew my cover, instead of editing it I figured I'll just make a joke about it. I mean.. that n00b woulda been in some weird identity crisis if he was replying to IllegalBrain in my defense talking on my behalf, saying "I" (not n00b but Dude) was trying to be ironic, etc etc... Wasn't the most obvious thing though and this joke gets lamer (already was) when I gotta explain myself more.

hehe ah well was still fun. I think this effort is deserving of a free cactus jono

[edit]

I reckon the small amount of beer idea sounds easier than diatomeceous earth, I want something that will lure them in and kill them instead of having to sprinkle that stuff over my pots.

Edited December 21, 2007 by El Duderino

[paradox]

another good trick (well it sounds good, ive never done it though) is to put a board of wood in your garden, propped up a bit, so snails and slugs can settle under it each night.... then, each morning.... kill!!!! muuuaaaahahaaahaaahaaa

that is a good trick but i think it's much more ethical to throw them into your neighbours garden rather than kill them, muuuhahaha

BTW has anyone ever heard of cockroaches eating cacti? last night i went into my garden for a bit of a night time checkup & i caught one of those dirty big mutant cockroaches (you know the ones that are nearly as big as a mouse) & it was munching a big dirty hole on one of my peruvianoids i thought it was kinda weird & very annoying. I STRONGLY DISLIKE COCKROACHES

[TheFriendlyPlanter]

BTW has anyone ever heard of cockroaches eating cacti? last night i went into my garden for a bit of a night time checkup & i caught one of those dirty big mutant cockroaches (you know the ones that are nearly as big as a mouse) & it was munching a big dirty hole on one of my peruvianoids i thought it was kinda weird & very annoying. I STRONGLY DISLIKE COCKROACHES

I caught one eating a huge hole in the side of one of my epiphyllum fruits. I WANTED TO EAT THAT!

They also like the growing tips of orchid roots. BASTARDS!

Edited December 21, 2007 by mountain sage