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Potted cactus are struggling

8 years ago

I'm new to the world of potted cactus, I bought these back in March at a plant sale at a local gardening center. The lady who worked there told me to water them every week, and I've been pretty consistent about it. The soil is completely dry between waterings as well and there is a small hole at the bottom of this pot. I kept the original soil, which seems to be about a mixture of soil and some kind of pearlite. They seemed to be doing fine up until a few weeks ago when my echevaria went downhill fast and died, and the other two were doing great until about last week.

The cactus live outside on my front porch, which is southeast facing and the porch itself gets full sun throughout the day although I do have a sun shade up now that it has gotten hot. I live in Arizona and lately it has been in 100's with no rain. With the shade, they probably get 2-3 hours full sun, and a few hours of shaded sun. I have been googling and have been getting really confused about the mixed advice on various websites about much light and water they should be getting.

I think (am not positive) that my echevaria may have died from overwatering. After it died, I moved the plants around as you can see from the photos, in order to space them out some. I waited a few days after the move to water them. I did not find any rot in the roots of any of the plants. Still, something is wrong. The stubby ones are getting thin at the top and the white fuzzy one seems smaller than before. It does not seem to be collapsing or anything, but it just does not look as robust. I have not changed anything with them other than the move, but I wonder if the harsh weather change is having an impact also.

The top photo is from March right after I bought them and they were all healthy. The bottom photo was taken just this afternoon, I moved the pot off the porch to a sunny spot in my yard after I read up on a lack of sunlight possibly causing them to stretch out.

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Comments (5)

socks
8 years ago
I find that ceramic pots take a lot longer to dry out than clay or plastic. That may be part of your problem. Do not water on a schedule, water when dry. Use a wooden skewer inserted into the soil for a few minutes. If it's dry when pulled out, you can water. If damp, don't water. It gives you an idea of what is going on down deep.

Also, I think your beautiful pot contains too much soil for the plants, and all that soil holds water. I have an orchid in a roundish pot like that, and after I water it I have to tip it different directions to get full drainage.

All that said----Here's what I would do with your cactus--get a couple of smaller straight sided pots (clay is nice, plastic works too) and repot them separately in a mix of commercial C/S mix combined 50/50 with perlite or pumice which has been rinsed through a sieve to get out the tiniest particles. I know that's not what you were wanting with your beautiful pot, but maybe you could get a pretty annual or succulent with a much bigger root ball for that one. I'm not an expert, but I bet the cactus roots only go down a few inches, leaving a lot of mix in the bottom and sides to hold water.
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Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for the suggestions, socks. I'd be okay with repotting them. I think you are right about the roots, they aren't very deep at all. I was wondering if the mix was part of the problem, so I will get them some new mix with less soil and some pearlite like you suggested. I moved them into a sunnier spot this morning and will monitor them over the next few days.
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socks
8 years ago
Transition gradually into more sun. All day sun at 100 degrees might be a bit much though!
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robinswfl
8 years ago
Sara, Socks is definitely right about a gradual move into the sun. Also -- his first post is 100% correct, in my opinion. If you are going to blend soil and perlite, WASH the perlite first. Use an old vegetable strainer (or buy one at a dollar store). Washing will remove the perlite dust, which will kill healthy roots.

I also agree about separate and smaller pots. Be aware -- the round, whitish, soft and fluffy Mammillaria Plumosa may be a single globe now -- but they grow fast in good conditions. A friend gave me one almost 3 years ago that was only 2 globes. Today it is probably 16 globes and we call it The Blob! So, give it its own pot! Good luck with your individual plants.
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Original Author
8 years ago
Oh wow I didn't know that about the Mammillaria. I will definitely be re-potting these and I will follow your suggestions about the pearlite. Thanks so much!