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general cactus questions
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Posted by crazycactus (My Page) on Fri, Aug 21, 09 at 17:57
I was looking at some grocery store cactus the other day...they looked unusually healthy, which surprised me because they were living in a light-less, air conditioned environment. One had at least two snails on the spines. Are land snails usually a cactus pest?
Also, a different, less healthy looking cactus had lost many of its spines. Will these grow back?
One last thing, when you're buying cacti from anywhere other than a specialty nursery, how do you make sure it's alive? I look to see if there are roots visible around the drainage holes in the pot, but sometimes they can't be seen. It's kind of hard to pull most cacti out of their pots with bare hands, so any tips to make sure one isn't paying for a rotted shell? Thanks! |
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RE: general cactus questions
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| They probably look so healthy because they may have just arrived at the store. A cactus can look healthy in not much light for a while seeing as it's not given lots of water and fertilizer. As far as the other two questions go, I'm not sure. Perhaps just take a chance and hope for the best? |
RE: general cactus questions
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| I'm bringing my spikey multi-tower cactus indoors now and it's fallen over. I need to repot. How can I help it to grow more strong roots. And how do I harness it upright? |
RE: general cactus questions
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How tall is it? And are you sure it is a cactus? Is the stem broken?
I my experience an open compost promotes root growth, while dense, peat or clay based composts sometimes prevents it.
A bamboo stick can be useful as support, it depends on the size of the plant. Spines can grow back if the areole is intact, but it does not always happen. And snails is a serious pest, yes (but slugs are worse). You will never know for sure that a plant is healthy when you buy it, you can only see the obvious signs of rot. Even if you pull out the root ball it is difficult to see the innermost part. |
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