Thank you very much for the clear lines :)

Happy little anonymous cactus :) I'll top dress him later once I water and the soil has settled around the roots

Hmmm. I'm assuming you're topdressing to increase soil nutrition?

Since you are getting it bareroot and all, why don't you mix in the topdress ammendment into the mix itself so it's one unified mixture with the ammendment distributed everywhere.

So you just have to bury the entire part that is brown. Water at least 3 days after repotting to let any root wounds to heal off.

At this point in my C&S "career" lol, honestly, I'm top dressing with inert material strictly for aesthetics :)

A top dressing isn't to high in nutrients.....

as it doesn't really need to be but it would/could be higher in mineral content.

I topdress for aesthetics and to help keep perlite from floating, also to help to anchor newly potted plants before their roots get established (or roots start growing in case of cuttings). Using larger size grit or pebbles or rocks, it would not be good to mix topdressing with the potting mix itself. Not sure about increasing soil nutrition with topdressing?

Thanks for chiming in, nomen and Rina :)

^ what Rina said as well, anchoring and perlite control. I even tweeze out errant perlite bits - it's so annoying seeing the bright white particles.

Bunkfree, what potting mix are you using? And thanks for asking this question! Great opportunity for learning.

1/3 each Schulz C&S soil, screened perlite, and Qualisorb floor dry (from automotive dept at Canadian Tire - no line on pumice yet) http://absorbpur.ca/product/qualisorb-2/

This was my first cactus repot ever, I was really surprised by the amount of brown cactus below the soil line!

You did a great job!

About getting roots into soil... I'm new but this is working for me.

• I fill the pot with the mix then use my fingers to make a deep indentation in the center, pushing the soil to the sides of the pot.
• Then, I gently gather the roots and try to aim them for the indentation.
• Down they go, into the soil. I hold the plant stable with one hand and push the soil back around the roots with the other.
• As I need more soil, I use a plastic spoon to fill around until the plant is able to stand on its own.
• Finally, I use a soft brush to remove any of the mix that's attached itself to the leaves.

I haven't tried cacti yet, but this is the method I use with succulents.

I did pretty much the same - except I couldn't use my fingers because stabby spines hah! So I scooped in some soil - poke poke poke with the handle. Add more soil, poke poke poke. Repeat.