I am soliciting help again!! Is anyone out there growing cactus that remain very small when mature? Perhaps they are referred to as thimble cactus? I recently picked up a small planter which I thought would be interesting if I could pot it up with these types cactus. Yes, I have done some serching but have not had any luck finding any
Of course, it would be helpful to know just how small you are talking about. Many of the rebutias flower when quite small and cheery, and they'd be a lot easier for you to find than Blossfeldia
Very small usually equals tricky. Slow growth, fewer reserves against poor conditions, niche habits, very often fat taproots. Do you need something bullet-proof, or will touchy prima-donnas do?
Thanks all for your responses.
Cruaux.... I have taken the following photos of what I call a mini-pot-group to show the size of the pots that I would like to plant. As you can see there are five seperate pots but they are all attached as a group. Hope these photos help better understand the size(s) of the pots. I plan to drill holes for drainage if I can in fact plant them. Your opinions please, are the pots to small??
luddhus....Good question! My hope is that if the cactus is small enough, that it would not be a problem. I would probably not plant the smallest pot because it seems way to small to me.
You could make a plastic tube and slot that in so the roots are constrained, but you'd have to find a way of giving it a bottom so you can winkle the whole thing out. The insides of the pots don't look glazed, so if any roots make it to the bottom they'll likely make a grab for it.
If I had this planter I would stick to vigorous offshoots or cuttings before trying to plant whole cacti. Pots that small are going to lose water very quickly even before plants are added.
Sutremaine wrote:You could make a plastic tube and slot that in so the roots are constrained, but you'd have to find a way of giving it a bottom so you can winkle the whole thing out. The insides of the pots don't look glazed, so if any roots make it to the bottom they'll likely make a grab for it.
If I had this planter I would stick to vigorous offshoots or cuttings before trying to plant whole cacti. Pots that small are going to lose water very quickly even before plants are added.
Yup. I agree. That happened to a Lantana that I had in a pot that was unglazed. The roots grew through the hole in the bottom of the pot and choked it off, almost to death, but I saved it. Same thing happened to my rosemary plant, but that one I failed to notice the standing water and it yellowed and died from massive rootrot.
It stunk so bad...ick!~
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
Sutremaine...I really like your idea about planting cuttings instead of the whole cactus plant. I also grow various sempervivum and that would work for them as well. This goes to show that this forum is full of ideas from members and I for one have benefited greatly since I started the cactus hobby.
For the tiny pots, try an Avonia quinaria. Tiny caudex, even smaller roots. A 1" pot can handle a plant for several years and a 2" pot is enough for a long time, but they are too small for almost any cactus.
Lots of choices or the "bigger" pots. You can get root balls out of pots with necks, but you need a knife Or you break the pot.
Is anyone out there growing cactus that remain very small when mature? Perhaps they are referred to as thimble cactus? I recently picked up a small planter which I thought would be interesting if I could pot it up with these types cactus. Yes, I have done some serching but have not had any luck finding any 
I also grow various sempervivum and that would work for them as well. This goes to show that this forum is full of ideas from members and I for one have benefited greatly since I started the cactus hobby.
Or you break the pot.
