Newbie Alert: Care

[From0to10in2weeks]

Hello All,

Two weeks ago, I didn’t own any cacti. Now, I have 10.

And an introductory book about care and ID of cacti. Long tweezers. And still lots of questions…

Nine of them I bought at Ikea. They have these packs of 3 with different species each. Does anyone have experience with cacti from Ikea? Is it a lost cause long term? The soil certainly looks much more “earthy” than what I typically see in photos of cacti in forums like these. Do you think I should repot them right away into more cactus friendly soil?

My watering strategy so far is to place the pots (plastic with 3-4 holes underneath) into a tray of shallow water (no fertiliser yet) and let them soak for 30 mins. Then, I take them out and place them on some paper towels for 5-10 mins to remove the excess water at the bottom. So far, I’ve done it twice in the last 2 weeks. Any comments on this so far?

When watering earlier this week I noticed that a few of the cacti have their roots growing out of the openings in the pot. Is that an indication to repot?

Thank you. Best.

[greenknight]

Yes, you should repot them. See this thread: http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... =25&t=9222

Your watering method is fine, using towels to wick away excess water will prevent the soil from staying saturated and reduce the risk of rot (good method to use with any cactus that accidentally gets over-watered). Good idea to keep doing this as long as they're in the original soil, but it shouldn't be necessary once you get them into a better-draining mix, it would be too much trouble to do it with a larger collection. Clearly you've caught the cactus bug, your collection is bound to get bigger.

Roots growing out the drain holes are a sign the plant is ready for a bigger pot, for sure.

[From0to10in2weeks]

Yes, you should repot them. See this thread: http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... =25&t=9222

Your watering method is fine, using towels to wick away excess water will prevent the soil from staying saturated and reduce the risk of rot (good method to use with any cactus that accidentally gets over-watered). Good idea to keep doing this as long as they're in the original soil, but it shouldn't be necessary once you get them into a better-draining mix, it would be too much trouble to do it with a larger collection. Clearly you've caught the cactus bug, your collection is bound to get bigger.

Roots growing out the drain holes are a sign the plant is ready for a bigger pot, for sure.

Haha. Yes, I sure suffer from CAS - Cactus Acquisition Syndrome... But I'll really try to limit myself to the 10 pokies I have at the moment, and see how many I can keep alive before getting more.

Thanks for pointing me to this thread and for clarifying the need to repot... So much to consider.

Best.