Piante grasse cactus spine

Tag: cultivation

Targeted repotting: sowing identical plants in different soils to test the substrate

It’s time for… testing. Between the end of December and the end of February, as soon as I have time, I dedicate myself to repotting the plants in the greenhouse. Obviously I only repot plants in stasis, with very dry soil, postponing the change of pot to spring for the plants that I keep in vegetation in winter, perhaps outdoors (but still in pots and not in the ground, of course). Today I flared and planted about fifty plants that I obtained by sowing in natural light and heat. Some of them were born in 2014, others in 2016 (but already large enough to be repotted). It was an opportunity to start a useful test on various types of soil to understand how this affects the growth of some specific species of cacti.

Let’s see in the following article what exactly this experiment on the substrate consists of and let’s see, thanks to the photographic update two years after repotting, how the plants have grown. (…)

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How to repot cactus and succulent plants: in which period, how to proceed, which tricks to use

Some growers repot every year, while some others repot when required – i.e. when a plant shows signs of suffering or when the pot has become too small related to the stem. There can be many reasons for repotting (or racking, as someone says alternatively) a cactus or a succulent plant, and every grower has his own rules. As for me, I don’t have “fixed deadlines”: I evaluate plant by plant trying to understand if new soil and more space are needed. I repot my succulents when I see that the vase is now too small, when I believe that the soil has exploited or when I want to grow specific specimens more quickly. While it is true that many plants live quietly in the same container for five or six years (in many cases even longer!), it’s also true that frequent repottings (once a year or every two years) help to speed up the growth of cacti, particularly young plants and genera that over time take on considerable sizes, such as Echinocactus and Ferocactus. I repot, also, when I notice that a plant has blocked for a long time and it doesn’t grow or produce new thorns. It can be the spy that something, at the root level, is going wrong. A plant that doesn’t grow or doesn’t swell despite watering, or, again, a plant that loses its colour (showing, for example, a lack of magnesium that not even fertilization can solve) can be saved by a repotting, with the cleaning of roots and the supply of new soil.

So let’s see in this article in which period it is better to repot cactus and succulent plants, which pots to choose (square, round, terracotta or plastic), how to check the roots and how to proceed in practice. (…)

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Succulents and cold: how to care for cactus in winter and the minimum temperatures tolerated

Do cacti resist frost? In winter, do succulent plants have to be kept indoors or can they stay outside? And what are the minimum winter temperatures they can tolerate? Even among experienced growers, the minimum temperatures of cacti and succulents are still debated today. I tackle the topic starting, as always, from my personal experience, which is my only way to have accurate data, found in the field, related to my system and my growing conditions, here in North of Italy. Let’s say right away that during winter I keep most of my plants in the greenhouse. It is a large greenhouse of 60 square meters and with a height, at the top, of 4 meters. These dimensions guarantee a satisfying volume of air, which in turn prevents moisture stagnation, the first real enemy of cacti and succulent plants in winter.

Let’s see, in the following article, the various factors that influence the resistance of cacti and succulents to cold. At the end of the article, you will also find a schedule with the minimum temperatures tolerated by the various families of succulents. (…)

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Substrate, loam, soil mix: which is the best soil for cactus and succulent plants?

I may look like a mordant, but I want to clear the field of misunderstandings and false myths: the right soil for cacti does not exist. There are many types of soil (or composts, substrates, mixtures, the question does not change) and there are genera that prefer certain substances and others that require more. Established this and removed one of the first Faq (Frequently Asked Questions) by cacti enthusiasts to the first arms – “Which is the best soil for my cactus?” – it can be said on the contrary that on the one hand there are the characteristics that a good soil for cactus must necessarily have; on the other hand the needs of the single plants. The question was simple and the related answer was given by italian cacti expert Giuseppe Lodi, who, after observing “the butts of roots of certain imports” and having noticed how these were encrusted with clay loam, suggested a base soil absolutely natural and versatile: “You can start from a mixture of common clay loam (field or garden), coarse sand and leaf soil, in equal parts. Of these three components none of them can be enough, alone” (Giuseppe Lodi, “Le mie piante grasse” – Edagricole).

Except perhaps for the difficult availability of the loam of leaves (be careful to go for the woods and get bags of decomposed foliage: there are fines for collections of this kind), the recipe provided by the Italian pioneer in the cultivation of cacti and succulents was more than sensible, as well as experienced. Considering the difficulty of finding the loam of leaves (Lodi suggested leaves of beech or chestnut), that moreover must be well decomposed (and it may contain fungi and bacteria dangerous for the plants), this element can be replaced by good quality peat, sieved fine, without lumps and filaments. Too bad that over the years we have forgotten Lodi advice to focus everything on what for many is still the standard substrate of peat, lapillus and pumice in equal parts, standard enough to fit any kind and species of succulent.

In the following article now we see which is the best substrate for growing cacti and succulent plants based on my experience over the years with proofs and experiments on various mixtures. (…)

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How to make the perfect substrate for cacti and succulents. Is peat really a cactus killer?

Do I use lapillus or just pumice? Is peat really a cactus-killing devil, as we hear people say? But then why nurserymen cultivate their plants nearly 100% with peat, and their plants don’t die in the greenhouse? The question about materials and elements that end up in compost for cacti and succulents is a limitless one. Firstly because the variables are endless and range from growing regimes, environmental factors, latitude, to plant type (for example, there are differences in substrate requirements between a caudiciform and a cactus). Then, because the same elements, as like the field soil, can vary immensely between them – for example, based on the area where it is picked up: it’s evident that the loam of the Po Valley, where I live, cannot have the same chemical characteristics as that one existing in Bolivia, for example. So, how can we orient among the many elements and materials we can find – some easily, others less – to mix them and make good compost? A first answer, perhaps obvious but reasonable, is to do experience and direct observation. In a word: experimentation. Another one, trivial but overlooked, is knowledge – the knowledge of the single “ingredients” properties that create the substrate and of the individual plant’s needs.

Let’s explore the topic in the following article. (…)

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