Soil for "Peyotes"

[spunwhirllin]

Opinions galore,I've got a couple more.

Plastic pots kick ass! They retain no miosture because they're not porous.If you formulate your soil correctly for your climate you can't lose.I've went plastic pots with everything,sure they don't breathe like terra cotta,but with appropriate soil there shouldn't be a problem.

I use 2 parts pumice to 1 part potting soil for my lophs,and they grow like mad,atleast for the last few seasons.Its a continuous never ending interactive experiment.

Teotz,your plants will speak to you,if you listen.

[Garbage]

At the Cactus park on Tenerife they had them growing in neat lava lumps.

[Garbage]

Because mine all have 10-13 cm tap roots my choice of pots is limited.

I have used terracota in the past-too drying,plastic-too moist.

I am stuck looking for cascade and semi cascade bonsai pots,these are glazed on the outside and inside they are moisture wicking ceramic.

My trichocereus loved the glazed exterior planters,so much so the interface between the interior pot surface and the soil was where most of the root hairs were to be found.

I hope to plant up all my medium and small peyotes in a couple of sets of Jun Tao cascade stoneware pots with the larger specimens in individual Tongrae cascades.

If i started over i would train them for shorter roots and thus have a wider range of attractive pots to choose from.

Buying nice things is difficult these days,a world of great pots can be seen online but no one sells them!

I wanted a strangler fig today but none have them,seed can be bought but who has ten years to spare waiting for interesting vegetation?

I have lost track of the times i yearned to buy a thing only to find i must be the only one to want to buy such a thing.

[Garbage]

The UK pot scene is as much use as a chocolate teapot,loads of garden variety Italian terracota,unlovely bought in bulk Chinese imitation crocks and extra squashy plastic round terracota? and flimsy black squares.

http://www.made-in-yixing.com/

[Garbage]

Back to the drawing board,my purple sand/clay pots have an incurving rim!

It would be fine if i was depooting and root trimming by cutting bonsai out of the pot but not for me cactus roots.

The larger of the two looks to have been mde in two parts,the bowl and the incurved rim.

Leads me to think think glazed pots of the type may well be glazed to hide imperfections,a second if you will.

[Teotzlcoatl]

While I think I have a good soil make-up, I know next to nothing about soil PH, or how to check it...

I think I remember cacti liking Arcidic soil, of about 6-7 PH? Is that correct?

Ok, so...

Base = the oppisite of Acid

Acid = the oppisite of Base

Alkaline (Basic?) = the oppisite of Arcidic

Arcidic = the oppisite of Alkaline (Basic?)

Right??? Please correct me if I'm wrong!

I've heard tap-water can be very Alkaline and cause Lime (I think) build up on/in clay pots... So Lime is Alkaline right?

So my real question is... what kind of organic substances can I add to my soil to make it more Arcidic? and whats the best way to check my soil PH? Is it even required? Or I am just worrying to much?

Will adding some of this to water and watering my cacti with it, help the PH?

What should I do?

[Garbage]

I wouldn't if i were you.

[kadakuda]

if you trim the cactus roots, the taps stay small, and easier to get pots for. plus the cactus grows faster. even my larger peyote only have around 5" tap roots.

i use these plastic pots which are very thick (dont degrade in the sun, or break when dropped a few stories up), but they are round. great cacti pots, and come in tall(ish) sizes. for say a 6" pot its only about $1, compared to expensive clay/bonsai pots. just a thought.

Edited October 8, 2008 by kadakuda

[Garbage]

I got them an enormous Korean Mica rectangle.

Like this

http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/shop/product_i...products_id=971

By my reckoning i can shoehorn in four rows of six in about march when i repot.

[Teotzlcoatl]

What do you guys think about adding stuff like Dopa to cacti soil to make the cactus more potent?

Dopa = L-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine)

Edited January 6, 2009 by Teotz'