Hydrophonic Cactus anyone..

[Chiral]

Hey guys I have been wondering about Hydro cactus for a while now and it appears that its certainly do able..I've found a few links and pages showing it.

One thing I noticed is that the colouring of the cactus seems a little off..maybe due to this way of growing...not sure. I'm also unable to find and discussion on growth rates which usually is one of the reasons for hydro growers.

check this link out and I'll hunt down some more.

http://clone.zwkf.net/xxlrimg.asp?tab=&menuid=473

H.

[PD.]

HERE AND HERE

and its spelled HYDROPONIC ya doodle

[Chiral]

 

...thanks

[Chiral]

After much reading and many many late nights researching the hydro route..it seems that only passive hydro is the go..under LED panels with a soil mix of Perlite/Vermiculite and some organic soil and sand.

A kinda light but sandy well draining mix would work..its all about the growth rates..I'm purely interested in improving the growth rate and being able to have the plant grow continuously all year round without a dormant period in winter has gotta be good.

H.

[Undergrounder]

I have some Tricho seedlings, a bunch of perlite, a bunch of vermiculite, a bunch of lights.. I'll transplant a couple into a passive hydro pot and see how they go as an experiment if you like..

[Chiral]

yeah sweet I would too but my seedlings need to stay where they are for a while yet.

H.

[kadakuda]

i have had an opuntia growing in my fish filter for 2 years with damn near zero light....does that count?

[mr b.caapi]

Theres a Hydroponic nursery down the road from me here who have a heap of very healthy cacti including Trichocereus growing in this fashion.

[gerbil]

I reckon a tbm in a mineral mix running organic hydro would be interesting, something i've wanted to try for a long time but prob. wont until i can give it a really strong go.

[Inyan]

http://trichocereusforestryservice.blogspo...fting%20sprouts

It goes without saying that you can grow cacti via hydroponics, but it is nice to see people trying it.

http://www.dopesthydroponics.com/gallery.html

http://www.hobbyhydro.com/shop.php?c=2&amp...cereus_pachanoi

http://www.1-seedbank.com/cacti/index.html

Hydroponic Loph

Simply put, growing any plant in a medium such as sand, gravel, perlite, clay debris, etc... add water at regular intervals to ensure the nutrient requirements are met and allow to drain and dry so that the roots don't rot. Now, questions I'd be looking into is how long can the particular roots of the particular cacti in question stay wet before you must begin the drying phase and is this drying phase needed with all cacti. Temperatures regulation is also going to be a must as your going to be wanting to push your cacti as fast as you can without splitting them. So, lights are another concern as without adequate light your not going to get the growth you want either.

Still, if your going this far you might want to consider gardening with carbon dioxide.

http://www.homeharvest.com/carbondioxideenrichment.htm

In this manner you can expect yield increases of 20-40% in growth.

Now, if your still tracking... why not supplement with some growth hormones... GA3, etc. Guess it all depends on how much you want to shell out for your operation.

Edited January 17, 2009 by Inyan

[kadakuda]

why tbm for a first hydro cacti try? they seem, to me, water picky...

[Inyan]

TBM... Too Big Monstrose? Or Trichocereus bridgessi monstrose? Either way, I've always flooded my Trichocereus in the same pool as my Brugmansia. Variegated forms of Trichocereus however, I have grafted to non-variegated forms as they will not take the same watering schedule as I keep my Brugmansia on without rotting. Of course, changing the soil into something more porous would circumvent that problem, but I tend to like to conserve water without worrying about the run off. A better run operation of course would perhaps collect the run off and use it for watering others down the path.

[gerbil]

naturally they receive a huge amount of rain as far as i can tell in some fairly harsh fluctuating conditions, (when it's not raining )

hydroponics is just too broad i guess, tweak it any which way; this'll allow for avoidance if any water finicky issues are present which is a primary reason for the mineral mix, high regulation and control; the organics may invite some rot issues if the system isn't balance in any manner not nutrient wise i mean and will probably be a point of focus over time. tbm will be no different to other species etc imo, just about making a system / regime to suit the specific plant in question.

My main issues with TBM have been inappropriate timing, dosage and frequency of high nitrogen ferts in heavy soils (haven't tried them in light soils but i'd imagine i'd run into similar issues at times re: N).

[Undergrounder]

Simply put, growing any plant in a medium such as sand, gravel, perlite, clay debris, etc... add water at regular intervals to ensure the nutrient requirements are met and allow to drain and dry so that the roots don't rot. Now, questions I'd be looking into is how long can the particular roots of the particular cacti in question stay wet before you must begin the drying phase and is this drying phase needed with all cacti.

I think it's a common misconception that roots need to dry out between waterings or else they rot.. Roots love to be constantly wet so long as they have enough oxygen as well, what the water does is 'stick' to the particles in the medium and hang between air gaps, choking off the oxygen. If you have big enough particles you can have the medium constantly wet and they plant grows better.