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greentoe357

how to repot / which to combine?

greentoe357
10 years ago

I am thinking how to group these recent purchases into a couple of combined pots. Leaning toward grouping the haworthia/aloe kinds on the left separately and the cacti kinds on the right into another combined pot, perhaps with the biggest one, agave, potted separately because it is larger, visually looks different and has much bigger root system than the rest. Culture-wise, will these combined plants be OK together? Same dormancy period? Same way/timing to induce flowers? Should I also keep Opuntia /Bunny Ears /Prickly Pear separately from the group pot? What I googled online says to keep it colder in the winter (50-65) than the other cacti (60 F minimum). I'd love to put it together with the other cacti if it can survive and look decent.

Design-wise, I like long and narrow arrangements, perhaps in a pot like this (http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=459308-49047-38166), or low round pots like this (http://www.lowes.com/pd_484993-32736-LOW1209-17_1z0x7zb+1z0xlpt__?productId=50020206). Any other design arrangement ideas for these?

The long pot I linked to is made of metal - is that a problem for these plants?

For the mix, I am thinking of using Al/tapla's gritty mix (equal parts of pine bark, granite grit and turface, all screened for uniform size). I know there are countless soil recipes, but do you think this is basically OK? I have the ingredients and can deviate from the equal proportions if you think it's best for cacti or for the aloe type plants.

If the new soil composition and drainage/retention characteristics are very different from the old soil, I understand bare-rooting is a good idea in order not to create two different perched water levels and to rejuve the roots. But I am thinking leveling the plants perfectly while handling all those prickles in a multiple cacti arrangement is going to be challenging - teasing the root balls but keeping some of the old soil seems simpler. What would you advise? I never repotted a cactus before, yet along five at the same time. How do you do it with only two hands?

Finally, (I promise) - one mammillaria there is flowering (top right). Should I wait to repot till it's done? On the other hand, another mammillaria had been knocked down in the store and does not have a very firm foundation - I want it to start re-establishing roots in its permanent mix ASAP. What would you do?

Comments (8)

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    10 years ago

    Long, narrow containers suit me as well. Similar to an aquarium, I guess.

    What I did here in this fern stand was put a porous mix in the trough but, since it had no drainage, I kept the individual plants in separate pots.

    tj

  • 0nametaken0
    10 years ago

    wow that cacti on the most left looks soo cool, whats the name? Very well done. I like my planted aquariums long and wide, not tall :)

  • greentoe357
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    > wow that cacti on the most left looks soo cool, whats the name?

    I knew I wouldn't get away without mentioning the names. :-)

    Not sure which one you mean, but here are all the names from the top going down:

    First column from left: gasteraloe 'flow', aloe aristata.
    Second column: 3 haworthias: limifolia, fasciata var. concolor and fasciata.
    Third: opuntia microdasis v. rufida, ferocactus glaucescens and agave potatorum.
    Fourth: 3 mammillarias: mammillaria gracilis v. fragilis, mammillaria heidiae and mammillaria rhodantha ssp. pringlei.

    > Long, narrow containers suit me as well.

    Yes. I ordered the pots I linked to in my original message and some others too - will see how they look in person. Yesterday I also saw this little terrarium thing in the picture and bought that as well - gonna try growing three different cactus seeds in them. Any species suggestions? Should be fun because the openings on top are only about half an inch in diameter. The diameter of each globe is 3 inches.

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    10 years ago

    I have my haworthias in a pot by themselves. Texas Sun is so intense here most things get some kind of protection. I find that when winter sun gets so low that it gets under my porch all day, I have to move it because ihe plants start coloring up too much.They get EARLY morning sun and a LATE afternoon shaft. They are in their own grouping. I find they are winter growers, loosing their roots in summer and getting them back as the 100's disappear. Fall and spring are good for them so I would lump them in as opportunistic growers. I don't put them in with my aloes because most of them get good solid 1/2 - 3/4 day sun.

    I have a tendency to use wide round low pots and i mound rock up on them in a geologic diorama looking process and then I have the a tall plant in an off centered central high spot and lodge plants around it. IT does settle in a couple of years but then it is time to repot again. I organize things in temperature hardiness , xericness, and winter summer growing patterns. I have a pot I bring in when temps get to 45 at night, one at 32, one at 27, one at 20, some NEVER. I have been known to water one side of a pot to keep a plant dry on the other side, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

    I love to paint with plant colors and textures in the groupings. I do have some haworthias at the bottom of plants and they like it. I do that with fennestaria, small stapellias, huernias and faucarias. Any empty dirt is asking for "an assorted succulent"..

    Opuntias like sun, LOT and LOTS of sun. Do not put them with the haworthias. That is a no brainer.

  • greentoe357
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    > wow that cacti on the most left looks soo cool, whats the name?

    I just realized you were not talking to me. Not the first and won't be the last time that I mistakenly thought I was at the center of the universe. :-)

    And yes, that is a very cool looking cactus, and I also would love to know the name.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    wantonamara,
    can we see your 'geologic diorama' pots? i am very curious.
    i think your grouping them by the min-temp range is very practical!
    somewhere on GW (sansevieria? forum) i saw pics of hawortias (?) with smaller sansevieria 'sticks' (cylindrica?). like a ground cover, filling the pot. it looked stunning. but surely hawortias will get overwhelmed in a few years? and then how would you pull them out?
    i think rosette-like plants in general look very nice against smth tall/singular column / bunch.
    i planted a large dish once and sev years later had to take it apart completely due to diff growth rates. i think that should be an important factor. it's just too hard to maintain.
    as far as how do you plant with 2 hands? i use cardboard tubes (from paper towels or t.paper) - put them over the plant with spikes and then you can hold them. it's thin enough so it bends and conforms to outlines. just don't pierce them with spines, 'cause then you'll have to cut them off piece by piece....you can leave the tubes loosely on each plant until you've planted the whole dish - this way your hands will be somewhat protected from spines. and the spines on cacti won't wreck other plants and won't catch! i also use them for grabbing wooded cacti trunks securely.
    but it's much easier to position individual pots within a large container (can do diff heights too, some with clay rim sticking out like edging) - and then backfill with medium. this way rearranging them is a snap! you can cover the pot tops completely with gravel too.

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    10 years ago

    Thanks to the ID experts on this forum I can tell you the cacti on the left is Cereus tetragona 'Fairy Castle'.

    I should elaborate on my planting. I keep the plants in individual pots so I can water them as each needs and when one either outgrows its spot or needs pups thinned out it is easy to do without disturbing the others.

    tj

    Here is a link that might be useful: Close-up of the cacti castle