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Best grow medium for cacti

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Aum

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Hi all,

I usually just use standard cacti mix from bunnings for my cacti. But I am planning to plant my next lot of cacti in a harder to reach spot in a sunroom behind a spa and I am wondering if there is a good medium for this that would allow for me not needing to water them very often without risking root rot?

Alternatively would it be a better option to buy a couple of self-watering troughs (rectangular planters) to grow them in? I wasn't sure if cacti were suitable for them or not.

I am finding the regular cacti mix I use on my other cacti drys out pretty quick and I water every few days.

Cheers.
 
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I know this isn't an answer per se, but just a thought.
They are cactus. They'll live being dry for a long time. I just use sand and some kind of soil and my pots drain pretty quickly. The ones in the window don't get watered enough in the summer and not at all in the winter. They grow more slowly than the ones that go outside and get the rain, but they're healthy.
 
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Hey brokedownpalace10,

Yeah I think your probably right there, I have heard it said that less is better with cacti.

I guess I'm just wondering if there is a way to keep them growing fairly optimally while still neglecting them a bit lol.

Like if I can add more coco peat or something to the mix to retain moisture longer or do the self watering planter idea. But if I don't find someone here thats had success with that I will just stick to the basics and I'm sure they'll do fine as you say, and will just grow a little slower.

Cheers.
 
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Hello!

I don't know much about growing cacti, but mine are being neglected for sure. And they're growing strong anyways.

They don't need water often, and I believe they don't want to be around moisture 100% of the time. As in, I think it's better to alternate heavy watering and a long period without water.

During the summer, I've been watering them about once a week, but they've been getting full sun all day and very hot temperatures. During the winter, they don't need water at all. I only water them when I bury my finger in the pot and it feels totally dry. My soil mix is whatever they had in the store next to my house, and it's definitely not the best, because it doesn't drain too well, and I worry that it can cause root rot, but... it's working so far.

My point is: Don't worry too much about the cacti. They'll thrive on neglect too. It's better to underwater them than to overdo it.
 
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If it's Trichocereus - San Pedro and the like - then it's a slightly different ball game. These plants will thrive with generous watering (for a cactus - waterlogging, naturally, is best avoided) throughout the summer and will respond accordingly with their growth levels. They appreciate regular application of fertilizer and it's often suggested to use organic tomato feed diluted to half the usual strength. These plants also respond very well to undiluted urine which is a good money-saver.

Back to the original question, I've used normal peat-free potting compost mixed with anything that helps increase drainage such as perlite, grit, lava chippings, or clay balls or chippings. I should add that these are plants grown in pots, some quite large, in northern Europe. They are outdoors in the summer and remain more or less outside in the winter but in a temporary conservatory heated only sufficiently to protect against frost.
 
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I got my medium from the cultivation book from patrick noll which i found as a download somewhere here... It mentions to use 2 or 3 parts of porous inorganic minerals (pumice or lava or zeolith) and 1 part regular plant garden soil.

Still that is again drain heavy so does not hold water for long. But in my very short new life as a cacti keeper i felt like you could still use exactly that and simply only water every 2 weeks instead of every 1 week. Cannot see why they would not like it and still fulfill your low maintenance aspect. Maybe do 1:1 regarding this mix or 1,5:1.
 
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Twilight Person said:
I got my medium from the cultivation book from patrick noll which i found as a download somewhere here... It mentions to use 2 or 3 parts of porous inorganic minerals (pumice or lava or zeolith) and 1 part regular plant garden soil.

Still that is again drain heavy so does not hold water for long. But in my very short new life as a cacti keeper i felt like you could still use exactly that and simply only water every 2 weeks instead of every 1 week. Cannot see why they would not like it and still fulfill your low maintenance aspect. Maybe do 1:1 regarding this mix or 1,5:1.
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Looks like I've not mentioned the proportion of drainage material in my mix: it's about 1:1 and maybe even runs a bit heavier on the compost to account for its sand content. I also tend to add ~0.1 of volcanic rock dust; the mix is relatively free- draining all the same.

I do wonder if Patrick's mix has been developed to optimise blooming - he's a master in that respect - so perhaps I ought to take a leaf out of his book and go for an even more free-draining compost if more flowers are to be a realistic goal.
 
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I like a mix that is pretty free draining because I can then put that pot outside in the rain if I want without it staying too soggy.
I have a big planter box in the window, which will always be in the window, which is straight potting soil with a little perlite.
You could have bigger, deeper, trays under the pots. That might make watering needed less often.
 
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About to start growing cacti again, recently been more focused on succulents. I always had good luck with pure pumice. But not always easy to source and you want to filter out most of the dust, which, is a very dusty process. Will let you know, starting both seeds and cuttings soon. Never done a cacti from seed, but in general growing from seed is most satisfying thing in my experience.
 
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Thanks everyone for the responses. I got the cacti potted up last Sunday but have been very slack at posting here.

I ended up doing around 40% cacti mix (screened for bark chunks), 40 perlite and 20 coco coir. So perhaps a bit light on the inorganic material but will see how things go.

I used some of the mix to do a couple of 'takeaway tek' containers also.

I potted nine of the cacti in these trough planters and one in a larger pot that I forgot to photograph
 

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downwardsfromzero said:
Aum said:
Not sure why my photos gone upside down sorry
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Metadata is stripped for your safety and security. This includes the orientation data, although we can now tell you were holding the phone with the button to the left!

Pretty babies :)
Click to expand...

Oh right haha thanks I know for next time now.
 
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Couply update pics of my cacti collection
 

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