CactiGuide.com

Excellent post!! I repot everything the same day I buy a plant. Right after I started my cacti hobby I bought a book about cacti care and it explained to remove all of old soil before repotting. I have done that and it's also a good time to inspect for mealies or other bugs while you're repotting.

Karin

I really hate this, often buying plants from garden centres which have massive tops and a tiny 5cm, 2inch pot with a hard peat plug and some slow release pellets. Grrr! Traditionally nurseries use peat because it is a binder. You can litterally turn the pot upside down and neither the plant or the dirt falls out. Which has its advantages commercially. Speciallist nurseries always sell bare root plants here. Removing the peat though damages the roots. Peat contains very few nutrients and retains moisture, assuming you can re-wet it of course. I think it causes problems and would get rid of it. Or buy from a diferent source.

Hello everyone, I am new on here but have been reading with interest.
Ionly have a few cacti and now realise after reading on here that they are in the wrong compost! Levingtons cactus mix. I did mix some today to repot a ariocarpus agavoises but replaced with a mix of sharp sand, John Innes no 2, cat litter ( pink non clumping ) Clay granules and limestone chippings from Wickes. I did have to smash some of the larger pieces with a hammer.
Iwould like to buy a strombocactus disciformis if Imanage to keep my Agavoides alive through the winter. I have a very old cactus that I have had for nearly 20 years and seems to thrive in its shop bought peat mix compost!
Ihad no idea about soils for cacti until reading tyhe information on these forums, so thankyou all for the information and advice!

How about a pic of your "very old cactus."

- Jim

Well a long time later! I have photo of this old boy. We found it when we moved house nearly 20 years ago and it was very brown and neglected, but we were going to throw him in the bin but took pity on him! However we continued to abuse him and kept him on a too dark windowsill. Now hes kept in a sunny hot conservatory, maybe too hot but it is developing spines now. It stands about 1 foot tall.

Some plants take forever to get the old peat soil off the roots without destroying all the roots and your hands!!
I have a few I've been needing to repot but super SCARED of those opuntia types attacking the crap outta me!

I repotted an opuntia and it was in a mix of peat and peanut shells(??)
You don't wanna kno how long it took me to repot that SOB!
And you wanna kno even less about how many spines i had in my body!

The sanseveria and a few hydrid gasteria I bought from IKEA the other day was in sphagnum moss.
They also use this for their cacti and euphorbias.

The 70mm collection of cacti and succulents I buy from nurseries come in mix with plenty of gravel, but they charge more than IKEA.

willow wrote: ↑Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:46 pm Well a long time later! I have photo of this old boy. We found it when we moved house nearly 20 years ago and it was very brown and neglected, but we were going to throw him in the bin but took pity on him! However we continued to abuse him and kept him on a too dark windowsill. Now hes kept in a sunny hot conservatory, maybe too hot but it is developing spines now. It stands about 1 foot tall.

I have the exact same cactus as you.
It was sold under the name "cereus monstrose", does anyone have an ID? Could it be cereus repandus, the Peruvian apple cactus?

Cactifan800 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:05 am

willow wrote: ↑Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:46 pm Well a long time later! I have photo of this old boy. We found it when we moved house nearly 20 years ago and it was very brown and neglected, but we were going to throw him in the bin but took pity on him! However we continued to abuse him and kept him on a too dark windowsill. Now hes kept in a sunny hot conservatory, maybe too hot but it is developing spines now. It stands about 1 foot tall.

I have the exact same cactus as you.
It was sold under the name "cereus monstrose", does anyone have an ID? Could it be cereus repandus, the Peruvian apple cactus?

It can be many things as these are often hybrids so cereus monstrose is just about right

This one I call a "biscuit cactus" has just survived since I bought it at a garden center. Today I decided to repot it in some Sunshine Number 4 mix with added perlite and a little bit of Growstone. Here is the "before" picture. I'll post the "after" when I know the outcome.

MitchellM wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2019 8:35 pm BiscuitCactus.jpgThis one I call a "biscuit cactus" has just survived since I bought it at a garden center. Today I decided to repot it in some Sunshine Number 4 mix with added perlite and a little bit of Growstone. Here is the "before" picture. I'll post the "after" when I know the outcome.

I can't believe they sold you that. How much did you buy it for, did you get a discount. That's a gymnocalycium by the way.
I think it's better to buy cacti from a private collector, the price may be a bit high.

Dodi Russell wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:01 pm I can't believe they sold you that. How much did you buy it for, did you get a discount. That's a gymnocalycium by the way.
I think it's better to buy cacti from a private collector, the price may be a bit high.

It was a little better when I bought it. I was going to give up on it at some point. Now I want to see if I can get it healthier.

It's pretty annoying buying cacti from stores because they stock a random assortment and don't expect people to care what species they are buying. I usually pop in for a quick look and leave without buying anything but sometimes there's something worthwhile. I got my Pilosocereus and Myrtilocactus from stores and got a lot of cuttings from them. If I see a little Ferocactus I buy it. Or the one pictured. I always get this one if I see it because I like the color and how fast it grows.

everything i hear about peat is bad. even for my vegetables i keep clear of it. it seems to me, although i am new to cacti, a peat mix can be easily replaced with coir and a little love.