General growing advice please...

Use this forum to get advice on growing succulents and keeping them healthy
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Urchin1987
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Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:52 pm

General growing advice please...

Post by Urchin1987 »

I have only recently started growing a few succulents and cacti and am really just looking for some general advice on whether i am doing to right things with them, mainly around watering. If there are any other points which i should be thinking about these would be grateful received!

I live in London, UK and the plants sit on a table by a southish facing window and get a reasonable amount of sunlight. I have recently repotted all the plants from their original, tiny shop pots and peat compost. Each is now growing in a 50/50 mix of perlite and Levingtons Cacti and Bonsai compost with a gravel top dressing. I managed to remove most of the peat compost from the rootballs of each before repotting, apart from the Aloe variagata, which was done before i knew about removing the peat.

The plants i am currently growing are:

Aloe variegata
Haworthia magnifica notablis
Haworthia pumila
Pleiosplios nelii 'Rubra'
Lithops karasmontana bella
Astrophytum ornatum

I was planning on not watering the Lithops or Pleiospilos until maybe April next year, but to water the others once a month throughout the winter. I will not feed until April either.

Is my plan for watering and feeding correct or should i be doing something different, such as not watering at all in winter? Any comments or advice would be really appreciated...
iann
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: England

Re: General growing advice please...

Post by iann »

Levingtons Cacti and Bonsai compost
Interesting. I looked it up and it says: "Free draining blend of loam, sand and peat with essential nutrients." Could you post a picture? I'm so used to "cactus compost" being simply peat plus a little perlite that I'm curious about one that could actually be useful. I'm assuming it contained nowhere near enough coarse material?

You can leave the Lithops dry until April (or so), but the Pleiospilos can be watered occasionally. Or sprayed more often.

Most Haworthias too can have a little winter water, although H. pumila is one of the most summer-active ones so keep it mostly (or completely) dry in winter.

Leave the Astrophytum dry until summer unless it is tiny. In summer, it can be watered deeply but only when the soil is completely dry.
--ian
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Urchin1987
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Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:52 pm

Re: General growing advice please...

Post by Urchin1987 »

Thanks for confirming the water needs - really helpful. Should the Aloe variegata also be kept pretty dry until spring? I have read that a lot of Aloes are winter-growing so don't know whether this means i should be watering more frequently over winter and less in the summer?

I will try and sort a picture of the media when i get home - from memory i think it was very fine so, as you say, not a lot of course material...
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greenknight
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Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: General growing advice please...

Post by greenknight »

Aloe variegata is not a winter grower. Keep it pretty dry. Easy plant as long as you don't over-water it.
Spence :mrgreen:
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