So I've been wondering
At what point in a cactus's life do you begin to fertilize it?
I'm guessing some people fertilize from the beginning with amendments like bone meal, blood meal or time release fert i.e. osmocote.
Are fertilizers like that useful to have in a seedling's and seed sprout's soil mix?
How about young cacti, i.e. gymnocalycium pups or a five-inch tall cereus type, or a soda can sized mamm?
I'm not feeding any of my cacti yet and I wonder if not feeding or feeding will help make a difference in helping these beings reach their growth potentials.
Any advice on the subject is welcome.
Thank you.
When to fertilize?
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DannabisAx
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CactusFanDan
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As far as I see it, fertilising too early can just serve to provide extra nutrients for fungi, algae and other parasitic organisms to gain a foothold and flourish. Also, with seedlings having delicate root systems a high concentration of solutes in the soil could be harmful to them. I'd say that going off time scales as oppose to size might be a better way of knowing when the right time to fertilise is, along with some common sense. I'd say that a 1 and a half year old seedling is probably old enough to be given fertiliser. Just my opinion. 
PS: I'd like to know if cacti have specially adapted root systems than that of other plants. Such as they may be able to perform active transport in the root cells without the substance being moved being in solution? Any information on stuff like that would he helpful, thanks.
PS: I'd like to know if cacti have specially adapted root systems than that of other plants. Such as they may be able to perform active transport in the root cells without the substance being moved being in solution? Any information on stuff like that would he helpful, thanks.
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extinctearth
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I've never seen anything about cacti or other succulents taking up nutrients not in solution.
Seedlings at the cotyledon stage don't need any nutrients since they have a handy store in the seed leaves. You can certainly feed them but make it very soluble and very dilute. The last thing you want is a salt buildup from frequent watering leaving behind stuff.
What you describe as young plants are my adults! Of course I grew most of them from seed. They get fertilised several times a year with whatever is to hand. Chempak 12.5-25-25, Chempak 20-20-20, general purpose 7-7-7, all more dilute than the instructions say. Occasionally I add some 21-0-0 extremely dilute since nitrogen doesn't persist in the soil.
This year I tried a dose of Magnesium and chelates after reading about good results from added Magnesium. I saw no visible change, so presumably my plants are not deficient in those elements, or don't have an excess of Potassium which amounts to the same thing.
Seedlings at the cotyledon stage don't need any nutrients since they have a handy store in the seed leaves. You can certainly feed them but make it very soluble and very dilute. The last thing you want is a salt buildup from frequent watering leaving behind stuff.
What you describe as young plants are my adults! Of course I grew most of them from seed. They get fertilised several times a year with whatever is to hand. Chempak 12.5-25-25, Chempak 20-20-20, general purpose 7-7-7, all more dilute than the instructions say. Occasionally I add some 21-0-0 extremely dilute since nitrogen doesn't persist in the soil.
This year I tried a dose of Magnesium and chelates after reading about good results from added Magnesium. I saw no visible change, so presumably my plants are not deficient in those elements, or don't have an excess of Potassium which amounts to the same thing.
--ian