Bog-ponics for Cacti

[Wakinyan]

Bog-ponics.... don't read too much into it. This is simply how I prefer to grow my cacti.

 

[Wakinyan]

Another picture detailing my bogponics

 

[dmusicaltrancistor]

Will this work for all cacti or just certain species :surprised

 

[Wakinyan]

Anyone who claims something works all the time or in all instances... I'd want to see a lot of proof of that claim. I only claim that what I do works for me. Test for yourself and risk only what your willing to risk. I will tell you I am continually learning and experimenting with my goal being to kill my cacti or at least come close to it. My theory being that only by pushing the boundaries and then going back and testing those boundaries again can I find what works and what doesn't work and I've never been one to simply accept that something can or can not be done because someone said it could. I have to do something myself. If it fails, I have to go back and explore why it might have failed and try again. For what its worth, many find growing cacti via hydroponics easier. For me, this is easier at the moment.

 

[Mitakuye Oyasin]

Interesting. Are Pereskiopsis the roots or bases of all your cacti?

 

[Wakinyan]

No, Pereskiopsis does not provide the roots for all my cacti in the bog-ponics setup. There is an Echinopsis in one of those photos on its own roots, a few Trichocereus species on their own roots as well.

 

[Spiralout]

Very nice growing, how long have you been doing it for? What is the difference between this and hydroponics?

Like you said trial and error is best.

 

[Wakinyan]

Hydroponics doesn't use soil. So, that is a huge difference right there. I like using soil however as it allows me to use the soil to keep my specimens stable and upright rather than having to invest in rock wool or some other media or setup to keep my cacti upright. The downside is I can't see what is going on with the roots with this method. If any rot were to set in I would not have a clue till it started manifesting higher up in the stem of the cacti. With the grafts that is not a big worry as it is easy enough to de-graft and re-graft. I also sometimes use a fair bit of cow manure and chicken manure in my soil mixes for my cacti along with the bone meal and blood meal I amend my soil with. Now, what I noticed when first doing this is that there are a lot of bugs that must incubate in egg form or such in these manures as I found them crawling all through the soil in the first few weeks. I terminated them with prejudice however as I used a systemic insecticide for fruits and vegetables on them to eradicate them. Next big scare for me was when my Pereskiopsis started to shrivel after being in the water for several days. I removed them and let the soil almost dry out and then replaced them in the water. I haven't had any problems since then. I periodically pour the water out and scoop the algae out and let this run through the cacti soil. This keeps the organic matter/algae to a minimum and gives another source of food as it breaks down. I also feed with liquid fertilizers as well.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Looks like you could grow Phalaris along with your cacti :lol:

It's great how Trichs totally fly in the face of what people typically think of as cactus growing methods :thumb_up:

However, a couple of my Stetsonias objected strongly to this kind of abuse once temperatures started dropping

 

[Wakinyan]

Good that you caught that the majority of the cacti here are Trichocereus/Echinopsis types. Life is an experiment and what works well with some may not work well with others. That is why I only risk what I can afford to lose when learning someone else methods or modifying my own.

As for the cold, I keep my cacti above freezing, but I do let the temperatures dip at night into the upper 30's.