keith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:48 pm
You could mix it with small gravel ?
Thank you Keith; exactly what I came up with as a possible solution too, glad to learn that I wasn’t way off, thinking that.
Steve Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Jun 16, 2022 9:59 pm
[quote=keith post_id=394617 time=<a href="tel:1655412539">1655412539</a> user_id=6370]
You could mix it with small gravel ?
Agreed -- pumice holds a surprising amount of water, and the porosity of lava rock creates a similar effect. Mrs. Green, if you mix LECHUZA-PON with a nonporous gravel, it will act as a "moderator" that prevents the pumice and lava rock from taking too long to dry out. I grow the vast majority of my cacti in a 60% pumice/40% granite gravel mix, and the granite is there for precisely that reason.
There's only one thing about LECHUZA-PON I'm not thrilled with:
"Fully-coated, premium-quality fertilizer.
The coating is purely organize [I think it's supposed to say "organic"] and breaks down without leaving any residue.
The fertilizer supplies your plant with nutrients for up to 6 months.
Fit for all plants, including foliage, flowering plants like orchids, citrus plants, herbs, tomatoes, fruit trees, cacti, and more."
Desert cacti in the wild grow in nutrient-poor native soils, and nursery-grown cacti share the same genetic heritage as their wild ancestors. While they do need to be fertilized under cultivation, fertilizer levels should always be lower than what we would use for orchids, citrus, tomatoes, etc. I doubt that the LECHUZA-PON people know anything about the lower nutrient requirements that are specific to cacti and succulents. However, growing your cacti with their fertilizer shouldn't be a problem IMO -- once it's used up, you can start using your fertilizer of choice.
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Thanks a lot Steve Johnson! I wonder if it would help to wash ( and dry) the Lechuza-pon before using it? But if the added fertilizer wouldn’t do to much harm, I will use it as it is. Adding gravel to the mix should also give a less total amount of fertilizer, the plant would be exposed to?