I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

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strider
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 10:42 pm
Location: Livermore, California

I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by strider »

I'm gonna post some pictures of my cacti that I have and junk I guess.

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This is my first cactus ever. (I still feel embarrassed by the fact that I didn't know it was a dead flower glued onto it.) Thanks to this forum, I know it is a mammillaria gracilis. I'm pretty sure it's not in the right kind of soil now, and that maybe the pot is too big?

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This is my second cactus, I call him George. I know it is a mini cholla (Cylindropuntia spp. But what does the spp mean? I have no idea.) I know it's a desert type plant so it doesn't need a lot of water and it needs a lot of sun.

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I just got this cactus today!! The little pot thingy said it is opuntia picardoi. Apparently I need to have it not ever get frost on it and I need to water it more often when it's hot? (I mean that's common sense, probably.)

I also have a moon cactus/grafted cactus but I don't have any pics of it... yet. It's called gymnocalycium mihanovichii or hibotan? I know it shouldn't have a lot of sunlight and it doesn't take heat or cold very well?

I have the first three cacti on a table outside in my backyard. It gets a lot of sun, but is in the shade for part of the day. I water them one time a week, but only two tablespoons 'cause the guy who potted them for me was like, "water them with two tablespoons, one time a week," and I was like, "oh, okay." They SEEM to be doing fine and have little new growths.

I have the moon cactus on my mantle in the living room, which faces east, and usually we have the blinds wide open, so, is that good or should it get more sun?

ANYWAY thanks for any advice and looking at my cacti.
jmoney
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by jmoney »

Water when the soil dries out. That is the rule of thumb I use. If the soil looks moist or wet, then they don't need water. In my opinion when dealing with cacti or succulents, they can live just fine under-watering them so why over-water? If they stay too damp, then you risk rot and that's a whole different set of problems.
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graffiti
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by graffiti »

Okay. First of all spp simply means 'species'. Technically for a single species it should be sp, as spp is plural.

As for watering, don't water small amounts. That will kill them. Watch the soil and when it appears dry an inch down, fully saturate the pot. If the soil is right, the water should run right through. But they should ALWAYS dry out before watering. This means no set schedule. I water mine by the weight of the pot.

One final thing is be careful of the Opunias and cylindropuntias as they have glochids and will mess your day up.
strider
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Location: Livermore, California

Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by strider »

Okay, thanks for the advice! I bought a pack of bamboo skewers and I've used them to see if the soil is damp/moist or dry, and if it's dry I've been watering it. I hope that helps them more.

I took a pic of all my cacti thus far

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I just took the moon cactus outside because I don't think it was very sunny where I originally had it, and it was pretty overcast all day, so I thought the filtered lighting might be better for it for a lil bit. :-k (It's under a wood... thingy... that covers a large portion of the patio, too.)

I think I'm gonna try to get one of those shelf thingies to put my cacti on and some kind of thing to put over it to keep out water/filter the sunlight more pretty soon. (If only money wasn't an issue... alas, the life of the poor student.)

Anyway I discovered the mammillaria gracilis has little flowers

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I'm excited, I feel like a proud parent. :')

Incidentally, though, how do I take care of them for the winter? I know it's fall, but here in Livermore CA, the summer lasts until November.

I'm gonna copy and paste some from Wikipedia--

"Nearly all of the 14.6 inches (370 mm) of annual Livermore rainfall comes in the September to May time period, but about 50% of the days are sunny during this period with no appreciable cloud cover. The peak rainy months are December to March. Most rainstorms are classified as 50% light rain, 32% moderate rain, 11% heavy rain and less than 6% thunder showers.[12] The coldest months are December and January, with a mean high of about 56 °F (13 °C) and a low of about 38 °F (3 °C) with some occasional frost possible on clear mornings. The temperature can drop to as low as 20 °F (−7 °C) to 25 °F (−4 °C) range on an exceptionally cold night. Snow is very rare, but light dustings do occur on the surrounding hills and occasionally in the valley."

So how does it work with wintering? Do I give them less water? No water? Bring them inside? Keep them outside with a cover of some kind?
esp_imaging
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by esp_imaging »

strider wrote:
So how does it work with wintering? Do I give them less water? No water? Bring them inside? Keep them outside with a cover of some kind?
"Yes" could be the answer to all of the above!

Apart from the grafted hibotan, I think you'd have an excellent chance of growing them outside all year given your climate. I think the other 3 will all cope with light frost if dry. You may want to protect them from heavy rain and frost, maybe bringing them inside for just the coldest and wettest (say) 10 days or so? The mammillaria is small and fragile, so quite easily damaged by insects / slugs / mice etc, I'd be most tempted to keep it indoors with the hibotan for the winter.

Hopefully a fellow Californian will chip in with more local knowledge!
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strider
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by strider »

Oh okay, cool!

How do you know when to stop watering them/water them less?
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7george
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by 7george »

strider wrote:Oh okay, cool!

How do you know when to stop watering them/water them less?
We read about this in our thick books. 8) For most cacti in northern hemisphere the dryer period should be from November till March. But if the temperature around your cacti is still high and they produce some new growth - new offsets or young spines at the top of these, you see some real flowers - continue with watering once or 2ce a month (if no rain is falling from the sky). Even though the plants will survive a full draught for several months.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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jp29
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Re: I have no idea what I'm doing / strider cactipalooza

Post by jp29 »

You cannot go wrong visiting Growing Cacti via the link at the top of this page.

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