SanPalobo Posted August 10, 2014 Hey y'all I've just dug out a 30m2 x 0.5m deep cacti bed in my backyard for all my potted Trich's and a few succulents to go into , just wanting to find out what sort of mix you guys are running for your in ground cacti and any recommendations as what to use and ratios. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foo Posted August 10, 2014 If you can get cheap perlite, ad as much as 30%. Because it doesn't break down, its the gift that keeps giving. However is moderately expensive if you dont have a source. I add shit potting mix and coco coir to sandy soil at about 20%. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheExplorer Posted August 10, 2014 Trichos don't really need anything special, so you could get away with just a couple cubic metres of cheap soil and maybe a quarter or half ton of scoria/gravel for soil structure/drainage. You can then add other stuff if you wish, e.g. manure, compost, charcoal, slow-release fertiliser, etc. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZS Posted August 10, 2014 I plant in native soil - enriched with a little of my "special compost blend" perhaps 50/50 compost/dirt. Drainage is not a problem here in Phoenix and I don't add expensive coir, perlite, vermiculite, or any rock chips to the mix. All of this was brought in for free - from local sources. It enriches the ground and also works great in pots. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SanPalobo Posted August 12, 2014 Looks like i'll go for a 50/50 mix of sandy soil and compost, i'll mix a bit of gravel through for extra drainage as well. Just hoping this will provide enough drainage as my yard is pretty flat with no run off so in heavy downfalls the water can pool up fairly easily but living in SA this isn't too often. Cheers for the input Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimystic Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) take my advice here with a grain of salt cause I don't grow triches in the ground yet: just fyi if your soil is clay and you mix a hole of stuff that drains you could end up with pooling/pudding in the hole which isn't good for most plants... if your soil isn't clay then compost would be sufficient to mix in most cases imo but its worth checking to make sure you don't end up with a pooling effect... if you are in a very hot climate then you don't want the soil too draining or might end up watering very often to keep them growing.. its very hot here and I find myself watering some of my pots every day, while the plants i've more recently potted into plastic pots, and mulched are still showing new growth even with the hotness, cause they stay moist easily.. not trying to scare ya just want to give something to think about before you put in all that work @ make sure what you are adding works with what is around it i don 't have alot of triches in the ground but the same applies for most trees ... theres alot of bad info on the net and I think too much emphasis on drainage materials, at least in regards to triches which spend half of the year moist in their native habitat @ wet/dry seasons... you definitely need soil to drain well in a pot, but in the ground its a different table, not that drainage materials couldn't help in some circumstances.. of course it all mostly depends on what your surrounding soil is like ... I know in my case the water tends to pool in certain locations in the yard and digging a trench along a fence line that happend to go the right direction helped a bunch one last thing about compost... I would check it with a tester and make sure its uber high in nitrogen.. I was getting so called "PH balanced" compost from a local place last year, supposedly cotton burr compost, and potted alot of plants in it which aren't growing as fasts as they could this year... this year I got a little more early in the season and tested it with a basic cheapo test... turned out it was low in nitrogen and high in everything else with a slightly acidic PH... I put some triches into some mushroom compost this year, very high PH, very high in nitrogen (lots of manure) , and even a couple of tiny PC's just went straight into the MC.. .and thet ones in those mixes are doing better than ever, pupping like mad! I actually mixed that compost with the other one in most cases cause that balanced it out real good... I even added worm castings and blood meal to some cause it was laying around... in two years I had almost no pupping, this year I think about a dozen triches have one or more pups... and plants from the last couple years are all on schedule to be repotted... I also cut down on perlite this year for the more recently potted plants and its been a non issue, but this is a super hot climate and we're talking pots... just need enough perlite so that water runs out but not so that it dries up in a few hours eh, and we're talking pots here, mostly clay pots... i've got to go water them now and im just tired... about to run out of rainwater reserves too... bleh Edited August 12, 2014 by Spine Collector Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted August 12, 2014 i'll mix a bit of gravel through for extra drainage as well. please explain how rocks are going to provide you drainage when said rocks are packed tightly in place with the surrounding soils. a person might put rocks (gravel) ON TOP of soils, where water then easily drain DOWN thru the rocks, but I would strongly urge you to try your theory out on potted plants before you make the grave mistake of adding gravel to the in ground bedding mix. I, like you, was once of the belief that gravel in the bottom of the pots would provide drainage. What I discovered was the rocks provided a 'dead zone', where roots wouldn't grow and plants struggled to grow. What does a rock bring to the table? Can a plant or plant root extract ANYTHING from a rock? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Caudata Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) What does a rock bring to the table? Can a plant or plant root extract ANYTHING from a rock? Actualy, yes. Cacti have bacteria in their roots that helps break down rock, allowing for the absorption of minerals: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8209000/8209687.stm not sure if this applies to trichs though, and I generally dont include rocks in my potting mixes Edited August 12, 2014 by Ohlone 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
franky Posted August 13, 2014 Yep ammending local soil is the best option. For clay soils, depending on whether there slating or slaking will determine the course of action. Whether that's just adding organic matter improving the structure of the soil or adding calcium sulphate to help displace sodium ions within the clay. Lucky I have very sandy soils lol 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimystic Posted August 13, 2014 triches and pachycereus are from completely different habitats for sure... Pachycereus is super interesting tho its symbiotic relationship with the micros and with the bats... one of the coolest things how the bats just show up right on time, pollinate... then come back later in the year, to eat the fruit and shit some seeds in the bushes... Makes me wonder what humans are supposed to develop symbiosis with other than intestinal pro biotics and such.. I do occasionally get the urge to pee on fruit trees gravel would have zero benefit for triches IMO and would just take up space where you could have compost and maximize the potential growth.. anything fast growing is gonna need lotsa nutes.. Pachycereus Pringlei grows slow as shit, its a desert plant whereas triches are from a much more temperate place that get plenty of moisture to break down their food.. Pachycereus don't just get bacteria from the bat shit either from what I understand... at least I read that the plant somehow packages the bacteria into the seeds... I wonder which is more accurate... I've got a pretty fat Pachycereus and im not sure what to pot it into theres not much info... maybe I just just split a rock eheh Im pretty sure they grow in granite slabs tho... I think pea gravel might just have some calcium or mags just depending on whats its made up of.. pretty much stuff thats gonna be more abundant in richer soils.. from what i've read tho the triches homeland is very mineral rich I can't remember the specifics, but I know rich balanced compost does the trick and they respond quite well to worm poo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
franky Posted August 13, 2014 The pachycereus we have at work, only in pots, have a pine bark based mix. Some are huge, although i don't know too much about there natural habitat they seem to grow fine on a heavily organic based mix (in a pot) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimystic Posted August 13, 2014 tanx.. that does actually help to know that cause I would have potted this one up if I wasn't nervous... so she went to the back of the line... I have also been nervous about testing the cold hardiness but its a thick plant so maybe I shouldn't worry eh.. pine bark huh? well couldn't be much different than the home depot mix the plant is currently in lol well im thinken i'll just go with the standard coir/compost mix but since im gonna go with a fairly huge pot i'll maybe mix in a little more drainage maybe granite grit or something in addition to perlite... Its a special plant for me.. I had a dream about her the night before spotting here in an ackward spot at the depot (equivalent to bunnings down under) I love when they show new spines.... its some gorgeous stuff Thanks for the info... im expecting a fall season growth spurt and will repot after that before winter, its middle of summer here now. Im kinda thinken there should be a thread for Pachycereus since a few have some... would be nice to pass around growing experiences with this plant... meanwhile I wonder if SanPalobo is already mixing shit up or wat! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SanPalobo Posted August 13, 2014 Nah haven't mixed up any soil yet, just in the process of digging a trench for a storm water pipe next to the bed and I'm also going to raise the bed about a foot to prevent water running into it. So i won't be filling it for a week or so. As the hole has already been dug and the soil carted away i'll have to get a fresh load of what ever mix i decide on. So yeah i'm still undecided on what i'm actually going to use but it sounds like i was probably a little too worried about having a free flowing mix rather than what type of compost i should use to provide enough nutrients to the mix. But yeah all this info is great and making me question whether I'm doing the best for my cacti. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cactuscarl Posted August 13, 2014 If I had the option to add one thing to my cacti soil scoria would be it. Trichocereus love that shit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimystic Posted August 13, 2014 Definitely good to get all the info you can before doing a large job like that! looking forward to seeing how it looks when ur done Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_Cursive Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Lime and Gypsum amendments would be advised also. This will help with clay ground base, raise pH (Lime) and both will add much needed Calcium.These are both VERY cheap to source in bulk too. Edited August 13, 2014 by _Cursive Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Berengar Posted December 30, 2014 I hope the OP doesn't mind, I have a similar question and thought I'd add to this thread instead of opening a new one, since there is already lots of great info here. So I have a piece of land where I'd like to put some Agave, Aloe, Opuntia, Trichocereus etc. in the ground. I live in a 'humid subtropical climate', average witer temps are around 45F (min 35F), precipitation 5 - 7 inches (62 per year). The soil composition is mainly 'terra rossa'. So what do you guys think my best options would be? I've seen zelly advise against adding gravel or using top dressing, and those were my main option for making the soil more porous. I guess perlite would also be pretty much pointless. Does makeing the 'patch' slightly slanted make any sense? My thinking is that not all water would be absorbed into the soil, since a part would just flow downhill. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Posted December 30, 2014 I think that "dead zone" is called "anaerobic conditions" .. at least , it is in the aquarium nice thread you guys ! always fantasising of a raised bed with a lot of pummice.... for my often-torrential rains Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
