I just planted this guy after he broke off of the tallest cactus. It’s in a mix of CVG (coco coir-vermiculite-gypsum) is this good for the cactus? And there’s a layer of rocks on the bottom-then the soil.
It doesn’t have roots yet but I was wondering how often and how much water I should give it. Also need to know how much water to give the other plant. Kinda new to being a cactus dad.
Btw they are kinda squishy.
by mushfanboy
4 Comments
cvg wont be good for them they like easily draining soil cvg is made to keep things damp all the time
it’s a question of what the ratio of coco coir to vermiculite is and how sunny, warm and dry that place is.
the soil shouldn’t stay wet or too moist for too long, and my impression is the cactus can only take a lot of water if it’s also growing, putting the water to use
the basic idea is that if you have rocks with holes or rocks next to each other then water can drain through the cracks between them or through them – maybe the coco also dries out fast enough to be viable without going more inorganic, using expanded clay, pumice, lava rock etc
and the idea for rooting is usually to give it a misting once or twice a week to sort of give the plant an idea where the water’s at.
people swear by providing warmth from the bottom if you had a heating mat.
in my experience in the northern hemisphere they will really go crazy rooting june-august, maybe the soil is warm enough
just don’t let the cutting stay wet in the ground. some people actually just have it sit on top of perlite or pumice until roots are properly formed.
i’ve heard people say they just plant it in the final substrate and treat them like a rooted cactus and check after two months by tugging to see if it’s rooted. maybe a riskier approach for a novice.
one last note is that i think it was tossindogs who warned against using glazed pots as opposed to plastic or terracotta, and then maybe i would use a pot that has drainage holes at the bottom so water doesn’t stay trapped at the bottom potentially.
all of this is also a question of how strong the sun is where you live