Identification and help neede

[orsolya]

I have these cacti for at least 5 years. They have been together with other succulents in a huge flat pot. Why is the big one so yellow, what are they and how could I make them happier. I repotted them in a separate pot hoping that they will recover. I was told by the garden centre guy that a mixture of mulch and good potting mix should be all right.And that there is no need to fertilise.

You seem to be experts, plese help. I don't want my plants to suffer because of my ignorance.

Thank you and cheers!

[teonanacatl]

for a mix you probably want more drainage then "good potting mix and multch" and they do need fert, especially the faster growers.

[orsolya]

Thansk for the reply, Teonanacatl, could you suggest some?

[orsolya]

I checked the drainage after the first pot, the water runs very quickly through. I think I mixed at 50/50

[Gunter]

What is the pH?

Do you have hard water? (water with Ca and Mg salts in it)

What are you feeding them?

[orsolya]

I guess the tap water should be hard in Adelaide.(I haven't got a watertank). The PH of the garden soil is strongly alcaline, but i never use that soil for my pots, i use good quality potting mix for them. As for feeding i just use general slow release fertiliser.

[Gunter]

I like hard water. The water I use is around pH 8.

I use a mix of half compost, half perlite, with a bit of agricultural lime and a bit of Diatomaceous Earth. The compost I use is organic and has no peat.

I don't really want to tell you to do what I do. We all do best with a bit of advice and a lot of personal effort and experimentation.

Here is a group shot of some of my plants. Many of them are in the mix I mentioned above, and they are all in plastic pots. I feed them alternating solutions of 15:30:15 and 20:20:20 with some ammonium sulfate in late summer all diluted to around 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per gallon.

I think good drainage, good air holding properties and a high cation exchange capacity with adequate nutrition including Ca, Mg and N, as well as a complete macro and micro: are some of the keys to my own success. Of course I am always learning and would love to hear the suggestions of others as well.

[ 13. September 2005, 02:56: Message edited by: Archaea ]

[dracos6]

i use debco cacti and succulent mix with good results.

i think the top one is a cereus peruvianus and the bottom left a prickly pear (dont know botanical name) cant help with the bottom right. dont take this as gospel tho as im far from an expert.

is the one on top getting a nice amount of sun? as you've recently repotted im guessing there wasnt any mold or rot, so maybe light or fert levels. ive never ferted my cacti as i was told they shouldn't need it for a year or so with the potting mix i use, i think ill start soon tho so if people could post some advice on ferts it would be much appreciated.

[Benzito]

Prickly pear is a type of Opuntia I do believe?

[dracos6]

i do believe youre correct benz, a little google suggests that 'prickly pear' actually represent about a dozen types of opuntia, i think its one of em

[Rev]

yeah new soil and pots for sure

cut a good quality potting mix with riversand

and compost - the latter 2 from a landscape suppler for cheapnmness

1/3 each

feed with anything and everything

some slow release like osmocote plus some seaweed, some urine ( yeah piss.. trichs love it) or urea or ammonium sulphate - i do avoid nitrates as a source of nitrogen these days . some cow manure tea

and a good well rotted compost

a bit of everything really..

i dont use dynamic lifter as it supports strange fungal happenings