time for repotting??
time for repotting??
I got a few new cactus plants today and a few of them have the roots coming out the bottom of the pot, does this mean its time for a new pot? Are there any tell tale signs for repotting? Im new to the cacus world, i know and deal so much more with bonsai so any help would be appreciated!
The majority of the cacti I've purchased commercially is horribly pot bound or at least soil bound when I get them. By soil bound I mean the soil has dried into a large peaty clump that doesn't absorb water.
My normal process is to let the plant get mostly dry then pop it out of the pot. I use some large tweezers and my fingers to loosen the soil. I start cutting away any obviously damaged stuff as well as really long roots. I don't rinse mine in water when I'm cleaning them. I trim back the roots to avoid having them bend and clump when I repot.
I let the plant sit in the shade in a metal pan for between 3 and 7 days, then I repot. I use something called Dip 'n Gro to dip the roots in before potting. I've used rooting powders in the past, but dipping them in a water solution is much easier to deal with. It also contains an anti-fungal.
If I have a lot of rotten roots and questionable stuff, I spray it with anti-fungal before letting it rest. I check on these daily to make sure we don't have anything growing.
After the've been repotted I wait a couple of days and give it a light watering. I continue with the light watering and observation for a couple of weeks, then it's back to normal.
I had plants in the past that I just stuck in a new pot with more soil (like they show in most of the books) and these plants generally don't grow/thrive. I've gone through and repotted all of my plants from when I wasn't so fastidious about root cleaning/trimming.
You'll get a variety of advice on this topic that may be completely contradictory. My experience is that I have more problems with plants I didn't clean and trim than with the ones I did.
That may or may not have anything to do with my treatment of the roots, so take everything with a grain of salt!
Tim
My normal process is to let the plant get mostly dry then pop it out of the pot. I use some large tweezers and my fingers to loosen the soil. I start cutting away any obviously damaged stuff as well as really long roots. I don't rinse mine in water when I'm cleaning them. I trim back the roots to avoid having them bend and clump when I repot.
I let the plant sit in the shade in a metal pan for between 3 and 7 days, then I repot. I use something called Dip 'n Gro to dip the roots in before potting. I've used rooting powders in the past, but dipping them in a water solution is much easier to deal with. It also contains an anti-fungal.
If I have a lot of rotten roots and questionable stuff, I spray it with anti-fungal before letting it rest. I check on these daily to make sure we don't have anything growing.
After the've been repotted I wait a couple of days and give it a light watering. I continue with the light watering and observation for a couple of weeks, then it's back to normal.
I had plants in the past that I just stuck in a new pot with more soil (like they show in most of the books) and these plants generally don't grow/thrive. I've gone through and repotted all of my plants from when I wasn't so fastidious about root cleaning/trimming.
You'll get a variety of advice on this topic that may be completely contradictory. My experience is that I have more problems with plants I didn't clean and trim than with the ones I did.
That may or may not have anything to do with my treatment of the roots, so take everything with a grain of salt!
Tim