A question for everyone,.....Am I using too bigger pots?

Hello all you lovely people who have helped me, this is now CLOSED and unwatched. Thks, Guys.

Hi All,

I am beginning to think I am using pots that are to big for plants.

You have to keep the cacti & succulents in the right size pots, hey?

Is there a rule of thumb for the size of pots to use?
I will just show one and tell me what you guys think because I maybe wasting half a pot and could use it for a bigger plant?????

Debi
Pic # 1


This message was edited Jul 16, 2008 4:53 PM

Hi All,

Just want to show you another one.

If I am using too bigger pots, I would have so much more room.

Also, If I start a new plant from one thats not looking good but the leaf looks good, would that get rid of those pesty little critter's?

Debi
Pic # 2

Hello Debi. You can use big pots but to save room, plant a few different plants in the one pot. Makes a great show. I have started new plants from pieces of plants not doing well , if there is a nice piece to take. Check carefully for those 'pesky critters' or any diseased bits.
The others will tell you that a mixed pot looks great. Happy gardening.

Hi Debi, when you rescue a plant using a leaf cutting put the old plant to one side out of the way but don't chuck it until you are sure that the leaf has taken then if it doesn't you can go back and with a bit of luck and try again. When you multi plant bigger pots try to get different height layers then they will fit in more cosily and the bigger stronger plants won't block out the smaller type ones. THe one in the pink pot is a very strong plant that quickly takes over the pot but if something taller is grown with it there will be enough light to keep both strong and healthy. Something finer and hanging would look nice in the front corner of the top pic. How are you getting on with naming your plants? Smaller type cacti don't have such a big root system and do well in shallower pots. Also unless you have cast iron fingers
and very good eye sight, don't plant your prickly cactus with your succulent types it can be a painful lesson. We tend to pull out small weeds or remove bits of dead stuff without thinking and if there is a prickle in the area it will end up in ones finger and that is definately
Murphy's Law. ouch. Lesley.

Hey Lesley,

I have been thinking of taking a healthy knobs off some of my cacti and get it started, keep seperate and try again.

The thing is they take so long to get to a good size.

What do you do if you have a cacti that half (bottom) look's yellow and has been stressed at some time?

Take a small knob and start again????

Your Mate,
Debi
Australia
Zone 10

Hi Debi, yeah, there is still some green in the bottom, just keep lightly damp it may send a new shoot up from the bottom. Looks like it has been too dry. Take off your shoot and leave on the bench for a few days .This will dry off the bottom bit and it will help it form roots more easily. Plant fairly shallow in a damp medium, and give it a spray if it drys out too much. A small pot for small bits is probably the best way to go it helps to keep the temp around the root area warmer. The prickles on your pic gives me the willies. Chuckle. I got close to a mini rose in my garden today and I swear it tried to skin me alive. I ended up with 4 plasters patching me up and blood every where.
I threatened said rose with extinction then pruned the living day lights out of it. Of course it will now grow bigger and will attack me again,
It has been another lovely day here so hope for another like it tomorrow. Have fun with your bits. Lesley.

what I do with size of pots...

1. the reason why general gardeners tell you to only pot it one or two sizes up from their old pot is because they grow better when they're squeezed... for some strange reason, they like to squeeze out and travel somewhere rather than sit in the middle of a big pot. On the offside, this is Most succulents... there are some who'd love all the space you can offer, eg sedums, cotyledons, euphorbias do grow very large. but others like barrel cactus, astrophytums, cereus and that kind of thing, they take a while and wont grow out of the big pot. you have to gradually increase it.

2. another tip as to why some gardeners gradually increase the size is that when they repot, they replace the old potting mix... so the plant kinda gets a refreshment every one or two years, and they dont have to be fertilised at all... yeup! no fertiliser it's all in the mix!

3. it's a preference and also the climate... smaller means wet and damp easier... big means that some of it will get wet and some wont. and like in my area if I have too much surface space around my succulents they get weeds growing in there... grrr! the sun also dries out the soil, so you'd have wasted your bucks if that good potting mix that you put together or the expensive stuff you bought dries out and becomes useless.... better minimise it. ( friend pointed out to me that some people use their own garden soil instead of potting mixes made up of commercial stuff or commercial mixes, as with that, I have no say in the matter as the soil I have in my garden is very poor and we try to mulch it as much as possible but it is not rich enough to be potting mix. )

Now with that said, there is no real cons for having a big pot, big will not kill any plants... if you want a big pot and you can afford it, go for it!

Jensilaedi,

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

The effort you have put into this answer for me is very much appreciated and understandable.

I am a Disability Pensioner so I would not like to lose the soil I buy for my plants. If you have treated your plants for scale and they have that yellow still, would you cut it off, especially when it has offsets with it?

Dave's Garden people are fantastic!

Thanks for that effort, I do appreciate it very much,

Debi
Zone 10B
Ipswich :-)

Hi Debi,
If it is the plant in the photo you are referring to, some brown or corky patches are normal at the base of most of the columnar cereus type cacti. Think of it as the skin getting old and barky like the base and trunk of a tree. If you are talking about scale marks in general, I am afraid that they don't go away, you just have to wait for the plant to grow out of them. Specifically with the plant in the photo I would check by pressing on the brown area at the base that there is no soft rot under the brown area as I don't quite like the look of it. As long as it is all solid tissue I would leave it alone as the ugly bit at the bottom will pass nutrients onto the two branches at the top and they will grow faster on the plant than they will if you cut them off and re-root them - especially at this time of the year! Wait until the branches are 20 to 30 cm high, then you can use them to start new and prettier plants. Actually, that looks like a nice species to me, I can't guess which one yet as there is just not enough plant material to see the full habit of the plant. My best guess would be possibly a Myrtillocactus species or a close relative. Here is a link if you want to see what this kind of cactus can do: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Myrtillocactus&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

TTFN, KK.

Edited because I can't spell "to" BLUSH!

This message was edited Jun 17, 2008 2:52 PM

it does look like both of those... going woody because of scale. I'm with KK. I'd just quarantine it so it doesn't catch on other plants and let it try to survive. I also try to give it diluted fertiliser so it can try and fight back. But I dont really do this in winter as it's too cold for that. If I were you I'd wait till spring when it starts getting warmer. For now I suggest, it's quarantine and wait ... sorry.