Is this acceptable cactus mix?
Hexyl Cinnamal
5 years ago
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Hexyl Cinnamal
5 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with Cactus & Succulent Soil Mix
Comments (1)Avoid peat in any form as the organic component of your soil. Go to a nursery, and just read all the ingredients on the bags of soil and compost. If there is no peat, then it probably perfect. The stuff I buy is labeled "Organic COmpost" but I've used orchid mix and high quality C&S mix. Some typical things you'll see as ingredients: decomposed/composted bark, chips, or leaves bark, chips, leaves forest humus Then, just be sure to mix the organic material with large amounts of drainage material. Pumice, cinders, and gravel all work, each with their own merits. Since you grow orchids, you could probably use coarse bark or even charcoal with acceptable results. My *minimum* mix is equal parts organic material and drainage material. For touchier species, go for way more drainage material, occasionally even omitting the organic component altogether....See Moreshould you mix manure in your cactus/succulent soil?
Comments (38)Like I said I use some compost in my mix, but that does not say it is the best for plant yield. If that exact same organism was grown in a container with a high porosity mix, or hydroponics for that matter, the plant/organism would be even larger. There is no "magic" that manure or organics have. There are only macro and micronutrients that effect plant growth MOST. If you disagree with me, then you disagree hydroponics do NOT yield more then organic soil grown. I can say right now hydroponics yield more, a big reason is air porosity. For example: The 50/50 of manure and pumice- The manure holds water and buffers ph, and gives a little nutrients. If the grower used a auto watering system with 100% pumace, watering 3 times a day with ph balanced solution of water/ complete fertilizers ect, the plant would be 20% larger. Why? Because of increased air porosity. For my peppers I use the compost in my mix because I want a water holding potting mix that will not dry in the heat. If I had a self watering or auto watering system then I could use a very light high porosity mix, but I need the easy to grow in, water holding abilty of potting mix, for my pepper plants that is. I understand if I use a auto watering system with a high air porosity grow medium- I will need to watch ph a little more, and need to be on top of fertilizing even more direct. With all of that will come a larger harvest per square foot. I am not disagreeing, as I do too use compost im mix. I am just pointing out some things....See MoreCactus mix for Lemon Meyer (dwarf) and Mandarin
Comments (11)The better Cactus/Citrus mix is fine here in hot/dry inland Southern California in a porous pot like Terracotta. It doesn't last long and I've seen some decline within a year if the pot wasn't big enough. I'm assuming you are wetter than that so the answer is that it might be better than what you have but not by much. I'm sure you could improve it by screening over an insect screen to remove all the material under 1mm. Even better would be to screen over 1/8" screen, about 3mm in your terms. Anything under 2-2.5mm should fall through. That would mean you would be tossing more than half the mix you buy. I see on the site provided that they offer orchid mix, which should get you pine/fir bark. I also see they offer coarse sand, and pumice in 1-3mm and 4-7mm. 2.5-4mm is going to be ideal particle size for a fast draining mix. If the sand is coarse enough, you should be able to make up a great mix for a damp climate. Just get rid of ALL material under 1mm as a minimum. If you can get rid of material under 2mm, so much the better. The really important thing to understand from the excellent info provided by Al in the Water Movement in Containers thread is that you can go crazy trying to add coarse materials to a mix that starts out too fine. How much gravel do you have to add to pudding to get it to drain? LOTS! This post was edited by GregBradley on Sun, Nov 2, 14 at 9:26...See MoreComparing a Succulent in Gritty Mix Against Commercial Cactus Soil
Comments (5)@meanom most people here mix gritty mix as equal parts of: * granite stone that is 1/4" to 3/8" (no fines or sand) * turface MVP that is filtered, and many people here "cheat" and filter out only particles smaller than 1/16" * bark filtered 1/4" to 3/8". Fortunately, I found a local supplier that prefilters to 1/4" I would recommend using some root hormone to get the roots growing into that medium. Then fertilize maybe starting two weeks later....See MoreHexyl Cinnamal
5 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
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5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
5 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
5 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL
5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
5 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
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5 years agoAS _NJ ZONE 6B
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5 years agoKaren S. (7b, NYC)
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5 years agoKara 9b SF Bay Area CA
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoJeff (5b)
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoJeff (5b)
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
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5 years agoHexyl Cinnamal
5 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL
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5 years agoHelen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b
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5 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL
5 years agoSpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
5 years agojp10a
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL
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