CactiJim wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 4:19 am
Ok fellow cacti comrades. I finally did my first watering with the fertilizer. I’m super excited to see the results. One question, however; I ended up using 4 gallons of this solution to water and thoroughly drench my plants. And it was time consuming to make 2 gallons twice.
Do you guys this it would be ok to make 5 gallons of this solution and put it in one of those 5 gallon water jugs and leave it in my house somewhere until I’m ready to use it? Or will the nutrients settle and combine somehow and mess up? I don’t think it’ll stay around for long especially during this growing season. Probably won’t make solution during winter.
Ah, glad you asked...
When I watered and fertilized my cacti with the new fert regimen for the first time in mid-May, I had a half-gallon of the watering solution left. I just wanted to see what would happen after keeping it there for a couple of weeks -- and unfortunately something precipitated out. Tiny pieces of brown stuff floating around, so I think that must've been the TPS CalMag, although I can't say for sure because I don't know the chemistry involved. As I suspected going into it, the watering solution needs to be A. freshly-made, and B. used up right away. You can buy 4-gallon water containers on Amazon, and this one looks both good and affordable:
I use about 3 gallons per watering session, I only have 1-gallon jugs, and yes it's time-consuming. Not a big deal for me, but I understand why you'd like to make things a little easier for you -- a 4-gallon container will be right up your alley.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
CactiJim wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 4:19 am
Ok fellow cacti comrades. I finally did my first watering with the fertilizer. I’m super excited to see the results. One question, however; I ended up using 4 gallons of this solution to water and thoroughly drench my plants. And it was time consuming to make 2 gallons twice.
Do you guys this it would be ok to make 5 gallons of this solution and put it in one of those 5 gallon water jugs and leave it in my house somewhere until I’m ready to use it? Or will the nutrients settle and combine somehow and mess up? I don’t think it’ll stay around for long especially during this growing season. Probably won’t make solution during winter.
Ah, glad you asked...
When I watered and fertilized my cacti with the new fert regimen for the first time in mid-May, I had a half-gallon of the watering solution left. I just wanted to see what would happen after keeping it there for a couple of weeks -- and unfortunately something precipitated out. Tiny pieces of brown stuff floating around, so I think that must've been the TPS CalMag, although I can't say for sure because I don't know the chemistry involved. As I suspected going into it, the watering solution needs to be A. freshly-made, and B. used up right away. You can buy 4-gallon water containers on Amazon, and this one looks both good and affordable:
I use about 3 gallons per watering session, I only have 1-gallon jugs, and yes it's time-consuming. Not a big deal for me, but I understand why you'd like to make things a little easier for you -- a 4-gallon container will be right up your alley.
Ahh gotcha. No worries! It’s easy to make 4 gallons at once and then use that in one watering session. I’d just rather measure once to make a 4 gallon solution than measure twice to make 2, 2-gallon solutions. Thanks Steve!
Storing mixed up/diluted fertilizer solutions also runs the risk of getting algae growth which will use up your nutrients.
Steve: regarding brown stuff-that may be just a brown algae or diatoms growing on your container walls. It can easily get brushed off of the sides. I'd try taking a bit of your mixed fertilizer and storing it in a clean glass covered jar in the dark for a couple of weeks and see if you get the same brown flakes. I'm don't know the color of the TPS CalMag. The precipitate we don't want is a Calcium or Mg Phosphate or Carbonate. Both of them would be white.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
jerrytheplater wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 5:26 pm
Storing mixed up/diluted fertilizer solutions also runs the risk of getting algae growth which will use up your nutrients.
Steve: regarding brown stuff-that may be just a brown algae or diatoms growing on your container walls. It can easily get brushed off of the sides. I'd try taking a bit of your mixed fertilizer and storing it in a clean glass covered jar in the dark for a couple of weeks and see if you get the same brown flakes. I'm don't know the color of the TPS CalMag. The precipitate we don't want is a Calcium or Mg Phosphate or Carbonate. Both of them would be white.
Hi Jerry,
The TPS CalMag is brown (looks almost like concentrated beef bullion), and I didn't see any white precipitate in the leftover watering solution. That's the good news. The bad news -- I think algae must be feeding off of the TPS. But I do have a big potted Haworthia and a huge potted Sword fern that love the new fert regimen, so leftover watering solution isn't going to waste. Thanks for letting me know about the precipitate issue.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Question: so I love this fertilizer mixture you all helped me make. However, I noticed a little problem (with my potted plants, not the fertilizer mixture). Because I have a bunch of plants, when I make my four gallons, I want to make sure I thoroughly soak all the cacti but as we all know, what seems to be happening with the first watering is that much of the mixture is running off the sides of the pots and not thoroughly drenching the cacti substrate. I always pick up the pots and inspect the bottom to make sure the entire substrate got wet and not just visually. I discovered that since when I water with my fert mixture, I obviously don’t water as liberally because I have a bunch of cacti so I want to use all four gallons to cover my whole collection and not have to make an entirely new batch.
I have a possible solution but wanted feedback: if I first thoroughly soak my cacti with regular old garden hose water, and THEN go back like 30 min later and douse them in the fertilizer mixture, will they still be able to pick up as much nutrients as if I doused them initially with the fert mixture? I just wanted to get over the slightly hydrophobic substrate nature with the basic hose water as that is infinitely easier to use than making like 6 or 8 gallons of fertilizer just to make sure the soil gets throroughly soaked.
This issue will go away as soon as I replace the substrate which I plan on doing soon but wanted to see if this strategy will work in the meantime.
Sounds like you might have a compacted soil problem -- too much soil in the mix? I think you're doing all you can do right now. Don't know what you have in mind for a new mix, but if it gives the roots of you cacti better aeration, you won't have any watering troubles like what you've been going through.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Steve Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 5:21 am
Sounds like you might have a compacted soil problem -- too much soil in the mix? I think you're doing all you can do right now. Don't know what you have in mind for a new mix, but if it gives the roots of you cacti better aeration, you won't have any watering troubles like what you've been going through.
For sure. It’s just old soil, like two years old. I need to change it but I’ll probably do that this weekend. The good thing is that the majority of them are 2-3 year old cacti and so aren’t as prone to root rot as older, more established cacti.
Are you talking about a potting mix with a large amount of Sphagnum Peat Moss? If so, yes, when that dries it is very hard to wet, and water will just run right off of it.
I often water my plants with pure water before fertilizing. I don't have potting mix with a lot of sphagnum except for some pots of perennials and other flowers that sit on my deck. The cacti have mainly mineral mix. Some organic is added.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
CactiJim wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:49 pmFor sure. It’s just old soil, like two years old. I need to change it but I’ll probably do that this weekend. The good thing is that the majority of them are 2-3 year old cacti and so aren’t as prone to root rot as older, more established cacti.
A basic problem with all substrates regardless of whether a mix is soil-based or soilless -- the finer grains in the substrate want to settle down below the coarser grains. Soils are the finest grains of all, and when you mix the ingredients together, you'll notice that a good part of the soil in the mix ends up on the bottom of the container. I have the same problem with my hydroponic pumice and granite gravel mix -- a good part of the finer grains end up on the bottom of my mixing container. To avoid the problem, here's a tip I learned from an expert succulent grower years ago:
Mist the mix so that it gets just a little bit moist when you repot. The ingredients "hang together" better.
After you repot, the mix will dry out quickly as long as you didn't overdo the misting. Then when your cacti are ready for normal watering, the ingredients will continue to hang together even after repeated watering and drying-out cycles over time.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
jerrytheplater wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 11:37 pm
Are you talking about a potting mix with a large amount of Sphagnum Peat Moss? If so, yes, when that dries it is very hard to wet, and water will just run right off of it.
I often water my plants with pure water before fertilizing. I don't have potting mix with a lot of sphagnum except for some pots of perennials and other flowers that sit on my deck. The cacti have mainly mineral mix. Some organic is added.
Hi Jerry, I think when I first up-potted my seedlings, I did a mixture of 1 part regular potting soil and 1 part inorganic. But it seems like the (probably) peat-based potting soil has become too hydrophobic.
I will do that as well: drench them with water and then fertilize with my mixture. To be honest, since tomorrow is Saturday, I think I’m just gonna make a big container of 75%inorganic and 25%organic and start changing the soil for all my seedlings.
Steve, thank you for the tip. I try to make sure my new soil is just slightly damp before transplanting anything. Not sure of the veracity of this statement but I have read that damp/slightly moist soil encourages root healing and development as opposed to soaking wet substrate or bone dry substrate.
Jimmy, if a heavy sphagnum potting mix gets very dry I will submerge the pots in water till they are fully saturated.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
Mike and Steve, do either of you guys have any thoughts on whether this fertilizer regimen would be ok for agaves or ocotillo? If not, how should it be modified?
--------------------
Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
zpeckler wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 6:56 pm
As always, great discussion on this thread.
Mike and Steve, do either of you guys have any thoughts on whether this fertilizer regimen would be ok for agaves or ocotillo? If not, how should it be modified?
I use it on all my cacti (and succulents). This is only the first year, but so far so good. The entirely mineral substrate is perhaps a bit too lean for Agave and Aloë.
Location
Antwerp, Belgium
temperate, maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers
hardiness zone 8a
zpeckler wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 6:56 pm
As always, great discussion on this thread.
Mike and Steve, do either of you guys have any thoughts on whether this fertilizer regimen would be ok for agaves or ocotillo? If not, how should it be modified?
The same for everything. Just remember that many agaves grow on limestone so you might make allowances for that but even if you don't I suspect everything will be fine.
