I have about 200 plants i want to put inground. I live on the eastern sierra Nevada mountain range. Temps get from 30* in January-120*in July august .
The soil is sandy loomy decomposed granite from the mountains. It doesnt drain very well but we also dont get a lot of rain here . I have built some raised beds and I plan to till the soil one time before planting but what do you guys recommend I do to treat the soil to add more drainage. I have access to a lot of rock 1-2 inch i was planning to add to the beds but what else should I do to make my cactus grow great and reduce risk of rot.
by cactiguy710
6 Comments
Most common answer is going to be 50% soil 50% pumice. Not sure how much a 1/2 ton of pumice is, but not cheap.
I’ve use 1/4″ rocks for extra drainage and it worked well. Kinda heavy. Shells might be another option…
If you got the cash and want to do it the right way, 50/50 w/pumice
I’d mix in some pumice and/or lava rock. Btw if you drive up to Oregon with a truck there’s lots of spots where it’s nothing but natural pumice and lava rock everywhere. You can even find large lightweight boulders of it. I filled two trash bags as full as possible just by collecting pumice and red lava rock from the ground in the woods behind a rest stop within 30 minutes. Wanted to say this as you could fill a truck bed by taking a drive though that area without too much effort(definitely less effort than planting 200 cacti IMO)
But if buying is what works best for you then adding a lot of those two to the soil will help a lot
Perlite. I buy huge bags for $14
I know it’s not ideal, but I think they can grow well without amendments
I didn’t really read the post but the bottom row 3rd in from the left looks like dicks and balls and that’s what caught my attention for the post…just throwing that out there.
200 to put in ground sounds laboring
Man, what a big project… with even bigger rewards