Hello! For context, I’ve never been good at keeping plants alive, but I’m trying more than I ever have with these.
I planted a pack of cacti seeds I got from Saguaro NP back in September, and it contained Saguaro, Joshua Tree, and a couple other species that I’ve forgotten. Initially I planted them in dirt and small terracotta pots (pics 8 + 9), covered them for humidity, and let them sit on a windowsill. I also added fertilizer for succulents and cacti (pic 7). Once they started overcrowding those pots, I repotted them into larger plastic ones with soil from the same bag (pic 10) and a few died off in the following weeks, but I chalked that up to natural selection.
In February, while they were in those same pots, I took a 3-week cross country roadtrip and brought them along (we were moving)— i put their pots into the plastic container seen in pic 5, brought them inside once we stopped for the night, and since it was winter and we were driving through the northern part of the country for a bit, did my best to keep them at a warm temperature. Regardless, more died, but enough remained that I felt they could still be successful.
We arrived to south Florida at the beginning of March, and in that time I’ve tried to do some better research because they quickly started dying off. I read that they should be in terracotta pots and in a soil that’s 80/20 inorganic/organic material, so I ordered the one in pic 6, got some pots from Home Depot, and repotted them again. I read that they should be kept in a humid environment until they’re a few inches tall, so I kept them in the plastic bin and I’ve been keeping it covered to create a humidity dome, but even more died and I only have 12 surviving now. I can’t decide if it’s because of the many environmental changes (humidity, pressure, temp, etc) between here and Arizona, if the pots are too large for them, soil too rocky, or if there’s something else I’m doing wrong. I really want these guys to grow, does anyone have any advice?
TLDR— planted a saguaro variety pack in September, repotted twice, changed soils, & lots of environmental changes since, so only 12 seedlings remain. How can I keep them alive?
by karma1803
9 Comments
You have them way too deep inside that pot, Put them in a smaller pot & fill it to the top or else they will start reaching for the light and become etiolated ( long and skinny). Make sure they get plenty of sunlight and don’t over water them.
Why do people put plants in these shady caverns? Fill the pot with dirt.
hey welcome to the struggle lol.
what kind of light source do they have rn?
Are they getting enough light and airflow?
As seedlings you can add organic material to the mix, and as others have said, more soil and more light.
Not trying to discourage you, but these things take 75 years to produce arms. In about 10 to 20 you’ll have something akin to a barrel cactus. Is it worth it to you?
> repotted twice
Twice since September? Of *2025*??
> once they start overcrowding the pots
Friend. Saguaro cacti take *decades* to reach maturity. It takes eighty+ years before they’ll sprout their first “arm”. Guarantee they were not “overcrowded”, and honestly probably died from being uprooted and transplanted so young. Each time you do that, you set back their growth since they have to re-establish their baby root systems.
As gently as possible – The problems here are that you have not set them up to thrive to begin with, you’re being a bit too much of a human helicopter, and do not seem to be taking into account the growth cycles, growth rate, nor lifespan of the species you’re trying to cultivate.
Fill the pot properly with cactus mix soil (it should level out about 0.5 inch from the rim), give them plenty of light, and then *leave them alone* except to water when they’re thirsty. (And maybe coo over them and offer verbal encouragement.)
It will be *years* before they genuinely *need* repotting due to overcrowding. Succulents and cacti thrive on neglect, compared to other plants. Stop handling them to death.
Why are they in a terrarium in that one picture? That amount of condensation is not good for them.