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Your description of the components of the soil you use is very thorough. The use of loam for globular cacti is seldom employed in the USA. The only person I ever knew who used a high percentage of it for hundreds of species was Jürgen Menzel. (Cactus Jordi). Having admired many of the pictures of cacti grown at ADBLPS (by Aymeric de Barmon and his staff) has led me to assume that this soil type is more frequently used in Europe. BTW, Jürgen was a good friend of mine, who always amazed me (RIP), and who told me of 2 countries in Europe where he grew cacti, before moving to California.ohugal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:14 pm
How often did you water them and what was the weather like during your growing season?
If you buy loam, it's always interesting to do a sediment test to determine the amount of silt, sand, clay and organic particles. The test is quite easy and then you know what you're working with. The loam I have has a significant amount of clay for example.
If you previously grew in a straight mineral mix, it makes sense they did not get enough nutrients. I grow most of my plants in a mix of pumice, quartz grit and loam and have to supplement each watering with fertilizer. I have a friend who has been growing his plants (Turbinicarpi from seed) in a mineral mix with 10% organic matter (worm castings) for 3 years now. He did not fertilize once and his plants look good. His mixture is more varied than mine though. It contains pumice, akadama, scoria and limestone. In their Knowing, understanding, growing Turbinicarpus-Rapicactus Donati and Zanovello recommend 1 part coarse siliceous sand, 1 part of field soil with clayish-calcareous composition, 1 part of crushed lavic material (lapillus), 1 part of pumice, 1 part of limestone rock gravel, a small quantity of humus, about 1/2 kilo of granular, slow-release, complex fertilizer for 100 kilos of potting mix, gypsum for the species that live on soils with high gypsum content. They also recommend adding 10% water to the mix before repotting. They elaborate on each component in the book and this is not their full description.
I was in a hot and humid climate but I recently moved to more semi-arid. The turbs were getting watered every two weeks, but since I made changes I can see the turbs plump up and I wait till they shrink a bit. Probably more like once every 3 weeks. I appreciate the soil components information. I need that bookohugal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 4:14 pm
How often did you water them and what was the weather like during your growing season?
If you buy loam, it's always interesting to do a sediment test to determine the amount of silt, sand, clay and organic particles. The test is quite easy and then you know what you're working with. The loam I have has a significant amount of clay for example.
If you previously grew in a straight mineral mix, it makes sense they did not get enough nutrients. I grow most of my plants in a mix of pumice, quartz grit and loam and have to supplement each watering with fertilizer. I have a friend who has been growing his plants (Turbinicarpi from seed) in a mineral mix with 10% organic matter (worm castings) for 3 years now. He did not fertilize once and his plants look good. His mixture is more varied than mine though. It contains pumice, akadama, scoria and limestone. In their Knowing, understanding, growing Turbinicarpus-Rapicactus Donati and Zanovello recommend 1 part coarse siliceous sand, 1 part of field soil with clayish-calcareous composition, 1 part of crushed lavic material (lapillus), 1 part of pumice, 1 part of limestone rock gravel, a small quantity of humus, about 1/2 kilo of granular, slow-release, complex fertilizer for 100 kilos of potting mix, gypsum for the species that live on soils with high gypsum content. They also recommend adding 10% water to the mix before repotting. They elaborate on each component in the book and this is not their full description.
Thank you