Repotting help

[CrazyPlantLady]

I searched the internet for help on repotting cacti and I've found contradicting information. Is it best to wet the soil first before removing the plant from the old pot, or is it a good idea to leave the soil dry and water the plant after repotting? I want to avoid breaking the old pot if at all possible, it's a very attractive pot that I'm hoping to re-use.

[iann]

Most cactus growers don't deliberately wet the soil before repotting, or for a while afterwards. Some soil types will drop off the roots when completely dry, but that is usually only a problem if the roots haven't fully filled the pot, in which case you probably shouldn't be repotting it

If the rootball is really compacted, and especially with clay pots or any pot with a narrow neck, you can cut down the side of the pot with a knife to help free it. Let the roots recover for at least a few days before getting them wet after this treatment. You can also try pushing rods up through the holes in the base. Results will vary depending on how solid the rootball is and the holes you have to work with. A simple device that allows you to push rods through all the holes at once will help.

[DaveW]

I think the "wet the soil first before re-potting" is an old gardeners trick that really applies to "normal" plants which don't like to be dry root for long so don't mind being wet with damaged roots which always occurs to some extent when re-potting. Cacti don't like wet and damaged roots at the same time and can even stand for weeks with roots dry before potting, something that would kill many house plants.

I think Ian meant plastic pots when cutting down the side with a knife? There sometimes can be a problem with unglazed porous clay ones if the roots are stuck to the side of the pot and it will not easily un-pot (which does not happen with plastic or usually glazed clay) in that you have to decide which is most important, the plant or pot and occasionally break the pot to get it out.

This video might help, although I think she must be employed by "Health and Safety" since I have too many plants to pot to play around like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPZl4eZtbOs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[iann]

I think Ian meant plastic pots when cutting down the side with a knife?

No, cut down inside the pot to release the roots, or even to cut them off if the rootball just won't come out of the opening at the top of the pot. You have to judge whether the safety of the pot is more important than the damage to the plant

[DaveW]

I'm with Ian, the plant is more important than the pot to me, so if in doubt the pot is always sacrificed. However most collectors don't tend to grow cacti in fancy pots in the UK, just plain plastic ones, plus only very few in clay pots these days since in UK cactus shows the pot does not really feature in the judging as long as just clean and tidy, therefore you will not get any extra marks for it since we consider our shows to be plant shows, not pottery shows. However the windowsill growers may tend to use fancy pots more, but in many cases they just slip the cactus in it's plastic pot within a fancy pottery container.

In any case if you are a greenhouse grower who heats their greenhouse and space is at a premium pots are packed closely together therefore fancy pots are not seen and usually being thicker or ornamental tend to take up more room, which can mean half a dozen extra plants you can get in a small greenhouse with thin plastic pots, and better still square ones. I suppose not having to heat in many parts of the US, plus larger yards means space and particularly greenhouse space is not so much at a premium as in the UK, therefore you can spread pots out more?

I think some of these in this link show how we like to cram our plants in, therefore fancy pots would be pointless and space consuming:-

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... =7&t=30835" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CrazyPlantLady]

Thanks for all the help. The cactus was successfully repotted. We left the soil dry and loosened the root ball by running a knife along the edge of the old pot, like for a stuck cake.

[DaveW]

Regarding my remarks above about judging plants in the UK rather than the pot. By coincidence this quote is from the BCSS Journal "Cactus World" just received for June 2014, page N10, "Northern Weekend 2014" in a talk by one of the lecturers:-

"He also included a visit to the Huntington and a very amusing description of his experience in judging the US National Show, where in the company of two American judges, he learned first hand the American judging maxim - "never mind the plant, what a stunning pot"

I presume they were joking, but all BCSS judges have to be accredited and attend a judges course, where they have to take a written exam which is marked and if they do not reach set standard cannot judge any of our shows, even local branch ones. Anybody giving undue attention to a pot over the plant would soon be excluded from judging our shows and no matter how well known a grower they are they cannot be a BCSS judge without taking the course and passing the tests.

Does not the American Society then have a testing and accreditation system for judges, or can anybody just be called on to do it? Seems a funny system if a UK judge could be asked to judge a US National Show, whereas an American judge would not be allowed to judge any of ours, even branch ones, unless they also had BCSS accreditation after attending a judges course to prove their competence?