Repotting lophs

[nona]

I'd grown some lophs from seed some years ago and kept them in 5.5cm round seedling pots. They didn't seem to grow fast (which I was expecting) and didn't give it much thought - until recently when I decided to freshen the soil. To my surprise I could barely extract them from the pots. The tap roots were literally as wide as the heads and barely any room for the fine roots.

Is it normal for the tap roots to be this thick - or was that my doing having kept them in small pots for so long? Thanks.

[greenknight]

Lophs have thick tap roots, this is quite normal.

[metsolt]

Did you happen to take any pictures of them?

[nona]

Did you happen to take any pictures of them?

Already repotted but the original pot was 5.5x4x5 cm (top.base.height) and the plant root had essentially filled it. The crown of the plant was 4cm diam. Should I be looking at a pot that's deep and narrow to promote growth?

[DaveW]

Some tuberous rooted plants like Ariocarpus can distort plastic pots or split them (even split clay or ceramic ones) if in need of repotting as their tuberous roots fill the pot. Growing in a pot is an unnatural environment for all plants since in open ground their roots can extend both sideways and downwards as far as they like. The hydraulic pressure plants roots can produce is amazing, they can even crack concrete, so a plant pot is no barrier to them expanding. For the American expensive fancy pot brigade therefore don't underpot your tuberous rooted plants if you value the pot. We are not bothered about split cheap plastic ones in the UK and will sometimes break a pot off to get a plant out rather than damage the plant.

https://www.cnysealing.com/blog/how-exa ... h-concrete

As to Lophophora's not growing very fast. You probably mean the body does not gain size very quickly, but if you get one that gets a mark or damage near the top it's amazing how fast it disappears down the body side as the epidermis also concertina's at the base almost as fast as it grows at the crown. I had one about an inch in diameter split up one side from taking up water to quickly, but after a couple of years the split had virtually disappeared, concertinaing to the base. So they do grow quicker than you think, even if they do not gain size as quickly.

The ideal pots for tuberous or tap rooted species are as you say the deep ones that used to be called "Long Tom's" in the UK. I don't know about pots in America and elsewhere that are often handmade, but standard plastic and clay pots in the UK usually work to the formula that a standard pot is the same height as its diameter and a half pot is half the height of its diameter. However "Long Tom's" were much deeper and I don't know if there is a similar convention for their size ratio. However for some deep rooted plants you may have to overpot if deeper pots are not available and use a wider pot than needed just to get the extra depth for the root.

[nona]

standard plastic and clay pots in the UK usually work to the formula that a standard pot is the same height as its diameter and a half pot is half the height of its diameter. However "Long Tom's" were much deeper and I don't know if there is a similar convention for their size ratio. However for some deep rooted plants you may have to overpot if deeper pots are not available and use a wider pot than needed just to get the extra depth for the root.

Squat pots look nicer but standard ratio pots may have to do. So far I've been using scoria chunks to fill-out large pots to minimize moisture and organics however it makes for a heavy pot.

[nona]

Did you happen to take any pictures of them?

Had to re-do one so took the opportunity.

P1230008_3.jpg (39.1 KiB) Viewed 1818 times

[greenknight]

That cactus looks good, but it clearly could use a deeper pot.

If you google "deep pots" you should be able to find some. I don't know where you are, but here's one in the US: https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/con ... z-EALw_wcB

Search around, you're sure to find others.

[nona]

That cactus looks good, but it clearly could use a deeper pot.

If you google "deep pots" you should be able to find some. I don't know where you are, but here's one in the US:
[...]
Search around, you're sure to find others.

Thanks. No problem finding pots on-line. I've transferred the lophs to 6cm cube pots which looks right for now. I'll keep a eye on them now that I know the growth habit.

The good news is that two have flowered simultaneously for the first time and I can attempt cross-pollination. All were grown from seed so hopefully it will take.

[metsolt]

That cactus looks good, but it clearly could use a deeper pot.

If you google "deep pots" you should be able to find some. I don't know where you are, but here's one in the US:
[...]
Search around, you're sure to find others.

Thanks. No problem finding pots on-line. I've transferred the lophs to 6cm cube pots which looks right for now. I'll keep a eye on them now that I know the growth habit.

The good news is that two have flowered simultaneously for the first time and I can attempt cross-pollination. All were grown from seed so hopefully it will take.

The one in the pic, and I guess all of them, look VERY good!
When it comes to growing from seed, there is a thread that I started here so you can see what to expect at what time after germination. I play on updating it with pics today. Good luck!