Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Discuss repotting, soil, lighting, fertilizing, watering, etc. in this category.
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adetheproducer
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by adetheproducer »

No they should be fine, the issue is when pots are pourus so water gets drawn out through the pot it's self. If it's glazed or high temp fire it will have similar properties as plastic but the added advantage of keeping roots a bit cooler that plastic pots.
And as the walls come down and as I look in your eyes
My fear begins to fade recalling all of the times
I have died and will die.
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Karsty
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by Karsty »

Hi Folks,

After a long while waiting for results, After I'd repotted the Pelecyphora and put it high up in the conservatory, this year it flowered nicely!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/h6SlsBl5gw6Ynqy62
Karsty
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by Karsty »

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Karsty
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by Karsty »

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kuni1234567
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by kuni1234567 »

I grow Pelecyphora strobiliformis in both clay and plastic pots outside in Southern California. The plants are different sizes and flower at the same time of the year. I do not know how long these plants will live, but I have some cactus that have been growing for more than fifty years. I tend to grow all of my cactus in plastic pots except for Echinomastus johnsonii and other cactus that grow in very arid conditions. I really do not like to fertilize Pelecyphora because they tend to grow out of character. I also believe that good air circulation is very important as well as sunny conditions. I used to grow cactus and succulents indoors and had fair results compared to growing them outside. I also had a small heated greenhouse for tropical succulents, but high humidity is not good for most cactus plants.
DaveW
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Re: Pelecyphora aselliformis, pots, clay pots

Post by DaveW »

Edit:- I replied on a previous page which has moved it to this later page, so did not see the later posts before writing the reply below. A non porous clay pot behaves exactly the same as a ceramic pot, a plastic pot, or a pot that is coated to make it non porous. Therefore it just comes down to appearance, there being little difference from a growth point of view. The situation is can you still get porous clay pots in many countries these days, therefore the question then becomes academic unless you can still find old second-hand porous pots?

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Not all clay pots these days are porous Karsty, any more than ceramic ones are. It depends on how high the firing temperature was. If your clay pots do not regularly produce an unsightly white deposits on the outsides of the pot they are probably not porous.

Manufacturers started firing at higher temperatures to make their pots frost proof when left outside. The old porous clay pots used to laminate in the frost when the water held in the clay walls froze and expanded. Higher firing temperatures stopped the pots themselves soaking up water through reducing their porosity, therefore people still got the look of the old clay pots, but now non porous frost proof ones.

Really you should be giving the plant what it prefers for optimum growth, they are after all living entities not really living sculptures if you want them to thrive. Cacti unlike ordinary plants take a long time to die in inappropriate conditions, therefore we may be fooled into thinking they are thriving when they are suffering.

Personally I think plastic cacti really serve the need for "plant sculptures", since you cannot kill them by inappropriate cultivation. However if you are managing to grow them OK at present look at their sculptural aspect as a bonus not the aim. The plant always should come first rather than the effect. Many commercial bowl and container gardens are really temporary constructions, with plants either getting repotted later into more suitable pots as they grow, or simply eventually thrown away and replaced with new ones.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/artificial-cactus
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