I was taking a walk with the gf today and saw a huge trich looking cactus in one of my neighbors yards. I walked up and asked if I could have a piece and they happily agreed saying they have to cut it back each year because it starts messing up their roof.
yeah MelCat definitley a type of Cereus - They are lovely though - Their flowers are also spectacular and they seem to flower more often than my pedro's and torches.
i had experienced rot when i initially potted my cuttings so i had to trim them and start over. these columns are just from this season they have been growing very quickly. the smaller one budded later than the larger one, i have been really surprised by it since the larger one has slowed a bit and fattened up.
also i wanted to ask you folks, i found a little spider on my cactus today. he actually caught a bug, too. i am wondering if it's ok to have a lil spider on your plant as long as he doesn't make a huge funnel web or something. i know that ladie bugs are good for killing pests, but i'm not particularly worried about that right now. are spiders bad, or does it matter?
Spiders are good, they eat bugs and they have a trippy defensive energy. even if they make a web its fine, you will see pictures of peoples plants with spider webs on them.
I have a question for you folks knowledgeable in trichocereus ID- It seems with my cacti that the pachanoi (or perhaps pachanot) seem to be fatter at the base and narrower at the top, where my bridgesii seem to be almost the opposite- narrower at the base and fatter towards the tip. Is this a common way to identify the difference between a pachanoi and it's cousins?
Spiders are good, they eat bugs and they have a trippy defensive energy. even if they make a web its fine, you will see pictures of peoples plants with spider webs on them.
sorry for the double post but i have another question as a horticultural n00b. i just got some wormies to aerate my cactus pot and i put them on top of the soil mix but they don't seem to want to go into it. it is hot as hell right now so i figured they would want to get out of the heat (although i'm not sure it'll be much cooler underneath). i tried covering them with some dirt in hopes of facilitating some movement, but they're just slithering or sitting on top of the soil/perlite.
i've never really made a concerted effort to grow a plant in my life so i'm still learning the ins and outs of this stuff. are my worms ok to be left to their own devices or are they just going to sit on top of the pot and die in the heat? i could move my pots inside if needed, i just put them out in the sun when i can.
also i have been using Miracle Grow all purpose plant food occasionally when i water my cacti, but i just realized that it is very high in nitrogen and it is preferable to have a low nitrogen ratio. i was just confused by this because i read that it's ok to use Miracle Grow to feed pedros. i saw some people recommending Shultz cactus food which i just looked for at Lowe's but they didn't have it (at least i think they didn't, the employees are never particularly helpful when you go there).
anyway... thanks for any insight you can provide! it is much appreciated.
Earthworms are great, but I wouldn't use them for this application. The trouble is that they can digest down all the gritty organic particles in the potting soil and make it compact more and drain less. They are great in the ground, but I generally don't suggest them for pots. You could always add some earthworm castings to enjoy the benefit of them still. What kind of soil are you using in your pots?
I don't think miracle gro is the best choice for a fetilizer. Shultz' cuctus would be fine, or even just their regular housplant food at half strength. I LOVE the Dr. Earth liquid 3-3-3 myself.
thanks for the reply. ok... i must have misread about earthworms somewhere. i am just using a storebought cactus soil mix and perlite. i am starting to worry that i may rot my cactus again as the soil has been damp since i last watered it, which was about a week ago. i don't want to dig it up to try to find out, though.
I would put it in as warm and sunny a spot as it can stand without sunburning to get that soil to dry out a bit. I like to grow mine in terra cotta pots too because it helps the soil dry more quickly.
I could be wrong about the earthworms, but I've worked in garden centers for about 12 years, and have never really known people to use earthworms in potting soil and have always assumed this is why.
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