Astrophytum help needed

Discuss repotting, soil, lighting, fertilizing, watering, etc. in this category.
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

jerrytheplater wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 1:51 pm Mrs. Green. The fertilizer in the lechuza must be a slow release type for it to last 6 months. Rinsing will only remove what is currently soluble. The rest will be in capsules that take more time to dissolve before releasing the fertilizer. It will still be there. I'd still send an email to find out. You could always fertilize with straight Mono Potassium Phosphate which will give the other two nutrients P and K without the Nitrogen. I'd still want to know the analysis of the fertilizer they are using.
Hi Jerrytheplater; Thank you :) The sencible thing would be to do that, contact them, I agree. But having already bought a sack and knowing it isn’t easy to get a lot of stuff more readily available for citizens in other countries, here, I will take a chance and hope for the best .
MrXeric wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:54 am Make sure they're dry before potting. Put them on paper towels and place them in the warmest, driest part of your house. Change the paper towel after a couple of hours. Even better if you can get a small desk fan pointed at the roots to get the air moving and accelerate the drying.
Thank you MrXeric :) I will do that, as soon as I pick up the courage to repot them..so far I have found a ton of excuses to not do it today..but tomorrow instead..for several days in a row now.. :P

A last question on the matter; considering my climate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to use terracotta pots ?
User avatar
MrXeric
Posts: 559
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:31 pm
Location: California, USDA zone 10a

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by MrXeric »

You're welcome Mrs. Green :)
I think it would be a good idea to use porous terracotta, especially if you have grown anything in them before without problems. Some growers find issues with it, but I grow much of my collection in porous terracotta without problems.
User avatar
Steve Johnson
Posts: 4514
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Steve Johnson »

Mrs.Green wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 12:29 pmA last question on the matter; considering my climate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to use terracotta pots ?
Unless the inside of your house looks like this...
shutterstock-1358335583-2359415799.jpg
shutterstock-1358335583-2359415799.jpg (53.67 KiB) Viewed 10049 times
...I don't think you'll need to use terracotta.

In case you haven't seen it before:

https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45833

If you like the look of terracotta, you'll find a helpful hint in my presentation.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
User avatar
anttisepp
Posts: 1348
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:00 pm
Location: Suomi - Finland

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by anttisepp »

Astrophytums are bullet-proof plants. They need only sun enough other things aren't very important. My first myriostigma was with me in all life complications and still alive as 2-3 year younger ornatums. The seeds (they are all my own seedlings) were large and growth always was problem-free.
PS never used clay pots, to say more I hate them :D as "killers of the plants".
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

MrXeric wrote: Thu Jun 23, 2022 1:41 am You're welcome Mrs. Green :)
I think it would be a good idea to use porous terracotta, especially if you have grown anything in them before without problems. Some growers find issues with it, but I grow much of my collection in porous terracotta without problems.
Thank you MrXeric :) As I started collecting again only a couple of years ago, I don’t have the necessary experience yet. ( regarding terracotta pots) To me it just sounds logical that a pot who ‘breathes’ is better/safer than a ‘non-breathing’ pot in a colder climate. More ‘forgiving’ so to speak if I should happen to give the plant to much water.

Not that I have a habit of doing so, in fact I am pretty sure that I have given a lot of the cacti to little water in the growing season, fearing they would rot.

My other plants ( the non -succulent ones) are potted in an easier potting medium, for me anyway. ( and plastic pots) I am pretty used to both see, feel and weigh the pot to estimate the need or not for watering. But with using another mix ( more non-organic) for the cacti, it both look, feels and weighs a lot more, even dry so I can’t use my experience with other plants/substrate for watering the cacti. On top of that the pots I use for the cacti are often smaller compared with the plant size than for other plants.

Steve Johnson wrote: Thu Jun 23, 2022 2:00 am [quote=Mrs.Green post_id=394774 time=<a href="tel:1655900963">1655900963</a> user_id=17196]A last question on the matter; considering my climate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to use terracotta pots ?
Unless the inside of your house looks like this...
shutterstock-1358335583-2359415799.jpg
...I don't think you'll need to use terracotta.

In case you haven't seen it before:

https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45833

If you like the look of terracotta, you'll find a helpful hint in my presentation.
[/quote]

Thank you Steve Johnson :) Very beautiful but no, I don’t see any resemblance :D Thank you, I had forgotten about that post, did read it some time ago, have re-read it and I am still a bit uncertain to be honest.
anttisepp wrote: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:35 am Astrophytums are bullet-proof plants. They need only sun enough other things aren't very important. My first myriostigma was with me in all life complications and still alive as 2-3 year younger ornatums. The seeds (they are all my own seedlings) were large and growth always was problem-free.
PS never used clay pots, to say more I hate them :D as "killers of the plants".
Thank you Anttisepp :) Bullet-proof? Hmm..I begin to wonder if the first three I bought wasn’t Astrophytums after all? :lol: They lasted not a month, none of them.. I do hope the new ones will survive , at least they seems to have much better roots than the previous ones, who had very little and very thin roots. Funny, I have had no qualms about repotting all the other cacti but these ones, I have a feeling like they are the finest china and hardly dare touching them. :D
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

Adding; don’t know why the quoting function acting funny sometimes? Quoting Steve’s answer the same way as the others didn’t work.
User avatar
jerrytheplater
Posts: 1153
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:38 pm
Location: Bloomingdale, NJ (USDA Zone 6b)
Contact:

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by jerrytheplater »

Steve Johnson wrote: Thu Jun 23, 2022 2:00 am
Mrs.Green wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 12:29 pmA last question on the matter; considering my climate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to use terracotta pots ?
Unless the inside of your house looks like this...

shutterstock-1358335583-2359415799.jpg
...I don't think you'll need to use terracotta.

In case you haven't seen it before:

https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45833

If you like the look of terracotta, you'll find a helpful hint in my presentation.
Just an experiment. I quoted Steve's post. I just clicked on the quotation marks and typed this below the last [/quote]
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.
User avatar
greenknight
Posts: 4813
Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by greenknight »

When I did multiple quotes in the same post recently, it made the second one a quote within a quote - I used cut-and-paste to separate them. It does act a little funny sometimes.
Spence :mrgreen:
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

Thank you Jerrytheplater and Greenknight :)

A couple of days ago I did pick up the courage and repotted the Astros..So now I just have to wait and see how that goes. ( fingers crossed) :P
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

A qiuck update on the Astros; as said above, I did repot all 9 of them. All in pure Lechuza-Pon. They all survived the winter but one rotted not long after the first watering in spring and another one got mushy after the second watering. The remaining sevem is all alive so far and two of them have flowered this year and a third have a bud.
Attachments
4F27AE6D-9063-468F-9132-510BE589A931.jpeg
4F27AE6D-9063-468F-9132-510BE589A931.jpeg (89.09 KiB) Viewed 9434 times
User avatar
Tom in Tucson
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 4:12 pm
Location: NW Tucson AZ area

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Tom in Tucson »

Mrs.Green wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2023 9:28 pm A qiuck update on the Astros; as said above, I did repot all 9 of them. All in pure Lechuza-Pon. They all survived the winter but one rotted not long after the first watering in spring and another one got mushy after the second watering. The remaining sevem is all alive so far and two of them have flowered this year and a third have a bud.
Too bad you lost a couple, but the treatment seems to suit what's left!
Mrs.Green
Posts: 1083
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Mrs.Green »

Tom in Tucson wrote: Sat Jul 15, 2023 8:46 pm

Too bad you lost a couple, but the treatment seems to suit what's left!
Thank you Tom in Tucson 🙂 I am rather pleased that 7 out of 9 survived the winter after repotting. The first three I bought didn’t last long, they all died within a month or so after purchase. But I don’t think they were very healthy when I bought them, in the first place.

I was unsure about the substrate when I repotted, on the bag it says that Lechuza-Pon have a neutral PH value and our springwater is neutral too. Reading that many cacti prefers a slightly acid substrate and/or water, I am questioning how suiteable the Lechusa-Pon is as substrate for cacti in general? ( given that my tapwater is also neutral?)
User avatar
Steve Johnson
Posts: 4514
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Steve Johnson »

Mrs.Green wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 10:18 amReading that many cacti prefers a slightly acid substrate and/or water, I am questioning how suiteable the Lechusa-Pon is as substrate for cacti in general? ( given that my tapwater is also neutral?)
True for so-called "jungle" cacti (Schlumbergera, Rhipsalis, Hatiora, etc.), but species native to the North and South American deserts prefer potting media that are neutral or slightly alkaline. The fact that your spring water is pH-neutral only tells us that it doesn't contain any calcium bicarbonate (bicarbonate = temporary hardness). Permanent hardness (indicated by minerals in your spring water) could be a problem for your cacti over time. Unfortunately acidifying the water does nothing to neutralize permanent hardness, so the concern is having minerals building up in your mix. The best way to avoid that problem -- flush your pots with distilled water once a year while your cacti are in the growing season.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
User avatar
MikeInOz
Posts: 479
Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:21 am
Location: Sth east Australia

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by MikeInOz »

Steve Johnson wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:25 pm species native to the North and South American deserts prefer potting media that are neutral or slightly alkaline.
Remember that data on the ferns from alkaline soils?
They grew equally well in acid media ( not too acid of course - around 5.5 to 6) as long a the available Ca was > 4 times the Mg.
User avatar
Steve Johnson
Posts: 4514
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Astrophytum help needed

Post by Steve Johnson »

MikeInOz wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 11:58 pm
Steve Johnson wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:25 pm species native to the North and South American deserts prefer potting media that are neutral or slightly alkaline.
Remember that data on the ferns from alkaline soils?
They grew equally well in acid media ( not too acid of course - around 5.5 to 6) as long a the available Ca was > 4 times the Mg.
Ooh, I forgot about that -- thanks for reminding me! :)
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Post Reply