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Elrik

Shell soil mix for Pereskiopsis?

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I'm dusting off my Pereskiopsis, so to speak, and I'm curious about soil mix.

I know peres loves wet organic soil and loves 'grow' style fertilizer and I've heard sporadic rumors that supplementary calcium and magnesium is helpful. This seems logical given the rate of growth.

I've never grown peres in a basic medium, would it help or impede growth if I mixed a notable quantity of shell into the soil mix?

I can also quite easily make a liquid calcium-magnesium concentrate to add to the water, its just that when I hiked out to get a load of mineral rich sand for cacti today I also picked up a lot of 1-2 cm freshwater clam shells and I can get as much of those as I can tolerate hauling the 4 kilometers back home :lol:

So, basically, has anyone added lime or shell to perskiopsis soil?

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I mix bone meal, blood meal, cow manure, and fish emulsion into my soil for Pereskiopsis and as I drink  6-12 eggs a day... those egg shells also find their way into my soil for my Pereskiopsis. If your looking for hard numbers, I'm not your guy. I'm the type that simply mixes things up until the soil looks right and feels right. Pereskiopsis are like Brugmansia though in that if you grow them together and your Brugmansia is very happy... then your Pereskiopsis will also be happy. Both are heavy feeders.

 

With that being said, I've also simply stuck Pereskiopsis in the ground outside after it was tilled as Pereskiopsis also loves room to grow its roots.

 

A root bound Pereskiopsis in a small container can work wonders for small grafts, but if you want faster growth over a longer period of time.... upsize the container your stock is in prior to grafting.

 

Any loose clippings of Pereskiopsis can also be simply tossed on a well tilled ground and they will set roots for you and start growing on their own.

 

I know this is kind of basic, but I figured a little information was better than none.

 

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Because I live on a remote island, there is no shops that sell cactus mix and the like. So I use well rinsed beach sand in my mix. It has lots of shell and coral grit in it. Seams to work well for all cacti, but I'm far from an expert.

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Thanks :)

Between the egg shells and beach sand I will go ahead and add lots of shells to my Peres mix.

Perhaps then I'll experiment with water pH to regulate how fast the shells are consumed, supposedly it may have an effect on spination on the scion.

Now I just have to make my 30 pathetic defoliated Pereskiopsis into a forest of usable stock :lol:

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