Grow your own cactii!

[dg]

store purchased cacti soil mix, with additional compost and nutrients should be fine. it must drain freely
(plain potting soil with lots of perlite and some oyster shell lime(ph up) is also a good bet

regular clay or plastic pots should be fine, in your climate i'd recommend unglazed clay or terracotta as it will dry quicker. i'd separate them into 3-4" round pots

do not cut them!! gently pull them out of the soil, separate/cut roots if grown together

they need more light, introduce them slowly to the summer sun. if they cant get more winter light might be best to make them go dormant..

 

[oneistheall]

_FOOL_ get them more light,a cfl light works in winter, something at least 150w positioned close.heres a pic of mine after a week outside, torchs are doing great but bridgs. developed a red tint as a response to the sun, im observing them in case they start to get brown and watering every 3 days.

 

[_FOOL_]

Thanks for the responses.
The artificial lights are not an option at least now, so I guess I have to learn more about winter time dormacy. Can you please explain how to do it properly?

 

[Ice House]

Hear are a couple of cactus in my indoor garden. One a long tall skinny San Pedro and the other a Lophophora Williamsii, a little tiny one!

Anyone have any ideas on how I should approach making new starts off the San P? I have never done it before, but, shouldnt I be able to cut it and replant the cuttings?

 

[dg]

Ice House,
the loph could use a smaller pot, that big pot must take days to dry out...
(if it kicks a pup learn to graft)

you could take cuttings of the SP if you really wanted to, but they will put on more girth/growth if you let them get bigger first.

if you do take cuttings, the bigger the better for a speedy recovery

good luck

ps, a skinny cacti wants more light

 

[dg]

Thanks for the responses.
The artificial lights are not an option at least now, so I guess I have to learn more about winter time dormacy. Can you please explain how to do it properly?

Quoting MS Smith~ with respect
Winter Storage:

Many closet cactus growers like myself who may not have a year round greenhouse or live in the appropriate environment will need to find ways to provide for the plants over the winter. With my own cacti I simply slow down watering in September and water only a couple times in October, dependent upon the weather conditions. I also attempt to prevent the rain from soaking them by putting them under cover of roof or tarp. Once the outside conditions begin to consistently fall around 40 degrees at night then I look to bring them indoors for hibernation; the soil being dry by then. Having slowed down their growth outdoors due to the lessening of water they generally do not grow once I bring them in. The medium and large plants are set downstairs and receive little light. Most of them end up in a couple corners of my basement, one of which get a little bit of sun from a window in a southfacing basement staircase. Though some have been winterized in complete darkness they do not appear to be any worse off in the spring than the ones that received minimal light. I also use a small selection for decorative purposes and place them around the house or office, on the window ledges or the end tables. Unless the plants are starting to show moderate dehydration I will not water them at all for the entire winter.
A couple faults of hibernation are root die back and no growth. Since the small roots receive no moisture and are much thinner than the main root sections they will often die. This leads to the slower formation of new growth the following season since energy for growth is being pushed into formation of new roots. There is really not much that can be done about this except to water, but watering, along with insufficient light, will lead to etiolation, the yellowing of the flesh along with uncommonly thin growth. Such growth could kill the aesthetic qualities of the cactus.

Most of my smaller seedlings will be placed under lighting while the newest seeds are sown at the same time. The yearlings receive water as soon as the soil is dried out. If some of the smaller plants in hibernation are showing signs of dehydration I will usually place them under the lights and water till they have regained some of their former glory. Once the small plant has regained its strength I let the soil dry under the lights and then place it back in the dark for continued hibernation.

 

[ThirdEyeVision]

Hear are a couple of cactus in my indoor garden. One a long tall skinny San Pedro and the other a Lophophora Williamsii, a little tiny one!

Anyone have any ideas on how I should approach making new starts off the San P? I have never done it before, but, shouldnt I be able to cut it and replant the cuttings?

If you want to multiply your cactus garden fairly quickly get some BAP (Benzylaminopurine) from ebay and spray it on your cactus in the evening. Within 2 weeks you will have a pup growing from every aureola.

BAP can be dissolved into warm rubbing alcohol with a few drops of no tears baby shampoo mixed into it. Once fully dissolved mix with water to proper PPM. Personally I also mix DMSO with my mix for better absorption.

Procedure:
Mix up a at about 700 PPM using this calculator: Loading...
When the sun goes down spray it onto your cactus.

If you want only specific aureola to pup mix BAP powder with lanolin.

 

[ThirdEyeVision]

Here they are. I'm not too keen to proceed from here without an experts advice. These are maybe 2-3 years old(cannot remember) and I guess they should be bigger by now even though they grow in a windowsill the whole year without any artificial lights. Summer lasts app. 3 months here.

Should I just cut them and let the section dry before repotting and what kind of soil should I use. IS it a good idea to get new underwatering pots as pictured? What kind of pot is best for these cacti?

Here's the porn.

Cute little guys They seem to be needing more light though, judging by their color.

 

[Once]

Third Eye,

I harvested three of my Pedro's this spring. Two of them have pupped, but only one pup on each coming from the highest areole. The other has still not shown any signs of regrowth. Would it be to late to apply BAP to the cuts? the pups now are 2-4", do you think I could get more pupping still at this stage? also, would the BAP help to encourage the Pedro who has not pupped to start pushing some out?
I would love to get as many arms as possible shooting of these stumps!

 

[Madcap]

hmmmm... this little guy seems a little too young to have babies. We were not prepared for the MASSIVE growth spurt this guy took to when we up-potted him.

He had been fairly long and skinny so we buried him at least 4 more inches under ground. I had hoped his stem would fatten as all the underground length converted to root baring mode. Instead he went big fat tip so fast that I realized Id need to repot him even deeper. Then before I could get to it....a PUP. Now I guess I need to wait for the pup to get a little bigger so I can remove it bury more of that skinny stem. He is so wobbly.

This is my favorite cactus (maybe because of the terribly hard life he has lived so far (he and his twim brother got a nastay rot, his bro didn't recover)

He has bright RED spikes. I bought him and his now deceased brother from CS a couple years ago as little seedlings. Supposedly a hybrid of a torch and an "active pedro"

 

[antichode]

Just keep it secure in the ground madcap. Put another stake in if need be... eventually the lower half will go hard and woody and the roots will fill out that whole pot, then it will be quite happy to stand on its own. Re-potting and taking cuttings will slow growth considerably. It takes most of a summer season for the photsynthetic flesh not receiving sun to throw out roots. If you burry even more you'll just prolong this process. Let the little guy do his thing

 

[Madcap]

Thanks, I figured as much. Was just surprised to have him throw the pup.

 

[Orion]

Look at these babies From seed, Pedros, 6 months on , dropping humidity:

 

[_FOOL_]

Just keep it secure in the ground madcap. Put another stake in if need be... eventually the lower half will go hard and woody and the roots will fill out that whole pot, then it will be quite happy to stand on its own. Re-potting and taking cuttings will slow growth considerably. It takes most of a summer season for the photsynthetic flesh not receiving sun to throw out roots. If you burry even more you'll just prolong this process. Let the little guy do his thing

You say the lower section becomes woody over time. Is it ok to bury the plant deeper when that happens?
How long it takes for the thinner part to wooden?

Madcap, All of my cacti are like those, but shorter. They are skinny at the bottom and fat from the top. I would want them to look nicer though and let them stand on their own someday.

Maybe I bury some of them deeper next spring after the dormancy, so some of them are going to look nicer and some of them will yield sooner.
Thanks.

 

[Madcap]

If you have no pups, bury that lil neck next season.

And pls put up some pics.... I showed you'd you mine.

 

[behindthelight]

Any chance someone could detail exactly what you need to do? I have never grown anything, but I find it interesting. I have some san pedro cutting right now, I would like to plant 1 or 2 of them, but I'm not sure what to do.

-Exactly what type of soil do you use and in what amounts?
-How far deep do you need to put the cutting into the soil?
-I've heard that they need a lot of light, then I hear to keep them away from light.
-How often do you water them?
-Can you just cut a piece off of the plant and it will just regrow it?

And for the caapi guys out there:
-I saw online a place that sells caapi plants. Can I just put it in a pot with soil and water it and it will thrive?

 

[Orion]

few months later. Next summer these will show some real growth, too bad they were just beginning to shoot up as the weather got colder. Anyhoo:

 

[LSDMT-25]

hey everyone. thought i would show you my little cactus garden ive started.

 

[Adivino]

(plain potting soil with lots of perlite and some oyster shell lime(ph up) is also a good bet

Hey dg, are you sure you want to put that in the soil? Cacti are said to like slightly acidic soil, around a pH of 6-7.

 

[bindu]

Hello Eluna,

i just got some cacti seeds yesterday.
Peruvian and Peyote, put them in wet cactus soil and spread some plastic wrap over it.

I still have loads of more seeds and would like to plant them in individual pots.

In the last picture of the first post i saw lil peyotls growing in these compostable pots.
I have some of this pots but dont they grow mold if kept wet?

Would use some normal soil mixed with 50% perlite to plant the peyotls, plastic wrap on top until they become at least pea sized.
Anyone got more advise on that, id like to make the cacti feel good?

Btw its winter now where i am but ill keep them indoors in the warm and i can buy some lights if neccesary.