Watering

[GoOnThen]

I water my entire garden on auto reticulation at night twice a week and I want to set up my cacti on the same system.

My plants are all Trich cuttings and are in pots at the moment.

Is it best to set up with drippers or micro sprays or both?

I have read a lot of posts on watering but haven’t found any comments on which are the best options.

My thinking is that Trichs will enjoy the water spray on there columns at night as they will draw some of the moisture in through their skin.

Is this the case or have I just been reading way to many posts on watering.

On liquid fertilising (miracle grow/seasol) do you splash/spray some on the column as well as watering in to the pot.

All input would be much appreciated

Cheers

Got

[~shameless~]

Regarding the irrigation question- your choice wil be either drippers or mini sprays/micro sparays micro jets or misting, not both

as you cant mix drippers with anything , the preassure the micros use will not alow much if any water at ll to come through the drippers you could use both but run diffrent lines cost more and makes twice the job.

T o imitate ideal conditions for watering trichs i would use a late night or early morning mist on still nights as thats what happens in some of the hills and valleys that trichs originate from in sth america, not much rain during the day but ussually a nice misty night and morning when its stillish, i dont think thats all nessesary though.

[Chiral]

Always best to just water them thoroughly in the late evening just like any other plant, grab the hose and liberally give everything a nice drenching. Trich's love water in summer, they plump up nice and fat, fertilize half to two thirds strength every 2 weeks during the growing season and they will be big fat shiny green monsters in no time. If the soil is free draining in the pots then every evening is fine, dependent on if it's rained of course. Use a small watering can with your fertilizer and make sure to really water it in nice and deep, the watering can gives you greater control over your dosing. When initially potting up plants or cactus it's also good idea to place some good quality slow release balls around where the roots will be down inside the soil.

[bit]

I agree with Chiral

I too find it a good idea to water them daily if it hasn't rained that day during summer (typical temps between 18 and 30C during summer here). I will fert with half strength weekly, unless the plant is one I've rescued or needs recovering - in which case full strength fert weekly.

Plus I don't think you need worry about emulating their natural habitat. I'm not sure there's any benefit at all to misting them - there's a reason they're not leafy beasts.

[GoOnThen]

I try and have as much of my watering automated as possible but as we have water restrictions this has to be supplemented by hand watering or by breaking the rules and running the retic at 3am

All of my trichs are in good free draining potting/perlite mix so daily watering sounds like the go.

One good thing about drippers is if your inclinened to break you water restrictions it’s like watering in stealth mode.

Should my fertilising be light this summer as they are all new cuttings just getting their first roots?

Thanks for the input

Cheers

Got

[Coquero]

auto retic is the best! its a necessity for me since I spend most my time away from home, but the biggest advantage is in the health of the plants which know they are getting a regular water schedule and grow like mad... it only takes a short period without water to trigger dormancy and it takes a lot longer to get back into growth mode

i'm not an expert on watering cacti, but I guess as long as water is getting to the roots anything will do! I personally dont like sprays due to water wastage but they have the advantage of spreading out over a larger area which I guess would be a benefit for cacti with shallow root systems

[GoOnThen]

Auto reticulation is my gardens savoir it never misses a watering day and it gives a good night time soak two days a week.

I have pretty heavy business and family commitments so my garden can be a bit neglected at times.

I might not be the best gardener but my main garden gets regular water, fert and heavy mulch and is going fine at the moment on the water restrictions.

Mid summer requires the use of stealth watering techniques which the retic handles on another program targeting plants that suffer the most in the summer heat.

I can understand the enjoyment people get out of hand watering and I do love being in the garden at night with a drink in one hand and the hose in the other but for me it’s time and garden size issues that restricts this.

We are on 2000 sq meters with approx 1000 sq meters of garden at the moment and love it.

Cheers

Got