I used to try to use a pH meter but could never get it to work- readings were all over the place buffer fluids or not, and that's when the battery worked. I had just as much problems with having a working battery as I did with wild readings. Then there's the times the battery leaked and completely ...

My first ask: don't mention sulfuric acid (highly tissue corrosive) as an acidifier option like they do lol. Agreed -- way too dangerous for hobbyist use, and best if we leave it to the professionals who know what they're doing. Going to look around and see if there's anything with very positive re...

I stumbled on this very in-depth piece all about water alkalinity/pH and why it's so important for it to be right for watering cacti, whether in-ground or potted. The one glaring thing missing is a reference to the added benefit of increasing the availability of cal/mag in hard water through the pr...

Chindit wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 7:07 pm Steve, I just realized that while I read your message when posted i never responded.
Thanks for re-posting that info and for all the help with my project.

My pleasure, and please keep us posted on your progress.

Are there any risks or adverse effects associated with the acidification of hard water, whether it be changes in elemental composition or the water or impact on soil media/cacti health? For example, calcium acetate is a phosphate binder - unsure if that in turn makes phosphorous less available to t...

The beige areas around the base indicate premature corking, typical for mixes containing too much soil and organic material. Lean out the mix by adding mineral gravel -- pumice (the best if you can find it), granite gravel, or calcined clay granules. My default recommendation is a 50% soil/50% miner...

I'm pretty confident our tap water has a high-ish pH (7.5-8), but I should probably test it personally to get a good sense. I wish there was a clear report breakdown of all the minerals in Arizona tap water, but I can't seem to find that info anywhere. Don't know if this is helpful, but I just want...

Thanks for some guidance on what to look out for! My pleasure! Btw - what role does urea nitrogen play and is ammoniacal superior because it removes one more step of conversion through hydrolysis? That knowledge is, unfortunately, beyond my pay grade. :lol: (One of my regrets is the fact that I cou...

Mike - do you exclusively use Osmocote's cacti fertilizer with a few other top dressings to supplement Ca/Mg? Do you know of any all-in-one water soluble solutions available in the US that are decent alternatives? Mike, I hope you won't mind if I answer question #2 for you... Generally speaking, gr...

Are you sure nitrate should be 2:1? I don't think that's accurate. I've seen a ton of cacti growers recommend Masterblend and it contains mostly Nitrate Nitrogen (no more than 15% ammonium). GeeBee even recommends a 80/20 ratio. A good description pulled from Reddit: From here : "Ammonium, the...

Gotcha! These plants are outside, do you think I should just leave them to the predatory insects and birds? See this: https://www.cactiguide.com/cactipests/#aphids Imidacloprid soil soaks are a highly effective long-term solution to problems with mealies and armored scale. Since aphids are sucking ...

I wouldn't have put my plants outdoors. I would have kept them indoors under gro-lights. Bringing them outdoors exposed them to rust fungus which has killed about half my collection. That was about 18years ago. The remaining half remain infected after all these years. Well, it depends on where you ...

What do you think about Megacrop ? NPK of their current batch is 10-7-18 which is 10-3-15 after elemental conversions. Comes out to 1-0.3-1.5 which is right in line with the acceptable ranges you noted. The hard water in AZ should make for close to 3 or 4:1 Ca to Mg as well as 1:1 N:Ca. Packed with...

I agree with what Mike just said, although I'd like to add a few things here... First - sorry to be "Mr. Picky-Fussy", but the patches are beige, not yellow. Beige is the color of corking, and you have corking all over the place. There's a reason for that which I'll discuss in a moment. Se...

Happy Spring Steve! Happy Spring to you too! Conditions were finally right to give my collection its first deep watering of the year last weekend. I usually water at night, but when overnight lows are still in the low 50s (in my case it was 52 with overnight fog), I'll water in the morning as I did...