Fertilizer

[wayoutwest302]

Can anyone recommend a good fertilizer for cacti? I recently bought dyna-grow and I'm not quit sure how good it is for mine. Also, with a good fertilizer, how often should you fertilize your cactus?

Nick

[Steve Johnson]

Can anyone recommend a good fertilizer for cacti? I recently bought dyna-grow and I'm not quit sure how good it is for mine. Also, with a good fertilizer, how often should you fertilize your cactus?

I've been fertilizing my cacti with Dyna Gro All-Pro 7-7-7 since the spring of 2012 -- excellent stuff, and I wouldn't use anything else. Only problem is if you store it in a garage or garden shed and you have nights that are cold enough to freeze in winter. If that happens, the Potassium salt will precipitate out and crystalize. There's something you can do to get the crystals back into solution (not difficult, and I can tell you how if you find yourself in that situation). But if you have a safe place to store the Dyna Gro indoors, you won't need to worry about this.

Dilute 1/2 teaspoon Dyna Gro per gallon of water, and use rainwater if you can. If not and you're watering your plants with tap water, I highly recommend acidifying it to bring down the pH of your water. I can give you some further details later if you'd like. I went soil-less when I started using the Dyna Gro -- pumice and DG gravel which is essentially hydroponic, so I have to fertilize every time I water. If you're using a mix that includes soil, you won't need to fertilize as often.

Now here's an unpaid testimonial (shameless self-promotion! ). If you check out my work at Member Topics (see http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 31&t=34730" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), all the cacti you see in my photos are being grown with Dyna Gro.

[wayoutwest302]

Thank you for all of your help Steve! You have a beautiful collection as well!!

Nick