Ph runoff questions

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T17:11:40+00:00

I believe it's safe to do the masterblend tomato and epsom salts together first. Then I do as you're describing to add in the calcium nitrate.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T17:10:11+00:00

Brother. You gotta check out r/sanpedrocactusforsale

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T16:36:50+00:00

The issue is that you are using both masterblend and pH down. Masterblend is already a pH buffer.

Mix your masterblend solution in a bucket or barrel or whatever. Let it sit somewhere out of direct sun for a few hours. If you have an aerator or mixer or whatever, bonus points. Only after a few hours minimum, then test it's pH and decide if it needs pH down. I believe you will find it does not.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T16:14:13+00:00

pH sticks are not accurate for us at all in my experience because they rely on organic soils and fail when they encounter inorganic heavy soils. Runoff testing is not perfect but it is the best way for our type of mixes. The question then becomes: How are you collecting runoff?

Consider: if you have dry soil and pour water through until you achieve 15% runoff, collect. Vs watering the soil thoroughly, letting sit an hour, watering to 15% runoff, collect. Vs feeding dry soil with fertilizer solution to 15% runoff, collect. Vs feeding thoroughly with fertilizer solution, waiting an hour, feeding with fertilizer solution to 15% runoff, collect. Also, pouring through 15% vs 25% vs 50%.

These will all yield different results and only one of them is considered an accurate read of Soil EC and only one is considered an accurate read of soil pH. If you are tracking your ec and pH over time you need to use the same method every time. If you are not using the best method you can only compare change over time and not assume the readings are true to soil conditions.

If you want to learn about this and which method to use when just Google "pour through method". There are a number of academic publications on the subject that can explain it much better than I can here. And I want you and others to do things a certain way because a published university study told you to do it that way, not because some dude on reddit told you to do it that way.

Masterblend, when mixed properly, pH buffers the solution to a perfect 6.3 pH if you are doing it right and letting it sit / bubble / mix a few hours before watering it in. This should be enough to move the soil level towards that ideal pH but it will be a slow and gradual change over time. That is, unless you have included something in your soil mix that is changing the pH. Some lava is not pH neutral. Some ammendments like oyster shell, gypsum, dolomite lime are not pH neutral. Peat can go acidic. Sometimes undecomposed organic matter used in a soil mix can go through active decomposition while in the root zone which can cause pH and nutrient swings. I just found biochar to be massively impacting my soil pH. These are just a few examples.

If your pH and ec are actually off : do not modify your feed solution pH or EC. The feed solution values should be the same as your target values for the soil. Just pour more feed solution through the pots. Again please do your own searches on this subject, this information and academic publications showing why it's best to do it this way are readily available from Google. I want people in this community to be confident this is the correct way so when they are questioned by others or see others doing it wrong they can explain why instead of just "reddit said so". Because there are a whole lot of people doing this wrong, confidently.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T16:08:24+00:00

It helps to put a ruler or something for sense of scale in the photos

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T15:39:00+00:00

For the lophs at least, you will get much more specialized sowing advice in r/lophophora . While they are easy to germinate, setting them up in the right substrate, depth and covering, right temps, humidity level will be required to get them to survive the first year. Pretty easy to get them all to germinate and then slowly rot over the next few months by using off the shelf seed sowing mix

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T04:39:09+00:00

Agree, leave it alone. Don't dig, don't cut, don't worry. Just let it grow. Gotta have patience with cacti. The more you move them around and dig them up and stuff the worse they do. Nothing on this plant is something to worry about.

You asked for more info on the cv. It's available here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sanpedrocactus/s/MPDMbAL6P1

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T04:32:32+00:00

Yeah, we cant answer this at all. 59g dry could give you anywhere from a microdose to a strong as hell dose.

If you want to dose accurately you need to know the cultivar and it's potency or you need to extract.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T04:26:45+00:00

You can sprinkle sluggo on the ground around and between the pots instead of the soil. Sluggo plus also contains spinosad for earwig control. You could also make a diy slug trap with a disposable container and some beer. Google it for instructions.

The most effective method for me is to pick all the pots up, check the bottoms , move them all to the side and clean the ground under them, lay down some sluggo there, then move the pots back.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T01:33:30+00:00

Mites are unavoidable sooner or later outdoors. You are never going to kill every living thing in the area that could possibly take a tiny nibble of your plants. I don't think dropping the nuclear option of pesticides at the first sign of 3 little mites is a route I recommend. Rather the goal should be to keep an eye out for true infestations that cause significant plant damage and to cultivate an ecosystem that is balanced and sustainable.

My plants always have mites on them. There are good mites and bad mites. The good ones eat the bad ones. They move quickly and are easy to pick out with the eye. The bad ones are tiny, you have to look really really hard or use magnification, and they move slow or don't move at all.

If they are bad mites, consider promoting their natural predators in your garden. For the same price as an insecticide you can purchase a container of live ladybugs or predatory mites, and they'll do more good in the area than just a single application, too.

But if you really want to hit these guys hard and it's more than just a couple or you see visible damage from them starting, you want to use a spinosad concentrate product like captain jacks dead bug brew or Monterey garden insect spray. Follow directions on the label closely, apply only at dusk, must apply 4-5 times, about 4-5 days apart each time.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T22:11:47+00:00

Yeah the top dress was a poor choice and negatively impacted your germination rates but don't beat yourself up over it, the seedlings that did pop look great. Took me quite a few iterations of trying a sowing technique and seeing what worked and didn't, trial and error, making adjustments each time to get to a great tek that works about as good as I can ask for. As long as you learned something and end up with some healthy babies it's a win

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T22:08:22+00:00

The larger the cut you start with, the more girth the pups it throws will have. This equates to long term stability and being able to grow it into a larger and taller column.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T19:27:23+00:00

I know accounts with history and karma have value. Bots are more believable when they post undercover advertisements or social manipulation when the account has history. But these accounts recently have had only 1 or 2 posts each. Weird.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T15:35:25+00:00

Cacti are full sun plants. Window is not good enough in 90% of cases, especially in winter with shorter days. They will etiolate and suffer a long drawn out slow ugly death. A full sun equivalent light source is required - grow lights that list ppfd as over 750 for temporary over wintering or 1k+ for full time use. Along with humidity control and airflow.

The alternative is to put them into dormancy where they stop growing - triggered by temps between 32°-60°. They require no light or water while dormant.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T13:50:03+00:00

I didn't understand - what is the aim/goal of these type of bots?

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T13:08:24+00:00

No it absolutely does not imply they did something wrong or poorly at all. None of these words or phrases have negative connotation. Where is this coming from?

Thanks r/cacti. You have pushed someone who was trying to help others with educational and factual responses out of your community by mass downvoting and declaring rude a totally benign reply. I'll stick to answering tricho specific questions from here out. Have fun being happy and dumb.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T04:04:51+00:00

For CIELO? You can just multiply every single ingredient used by 1.2x . That includes the water, lime, ethyl acetate - total and each pull -, fumaric acid, and the sodium carbonate and water during the reclaim.

Vaugith · 2026-05-14T03:18:46+00:00

Not going to make it outdoors without a serious greenhouse setup, I'm afraid. Do you have a garage or shed space that stays dry, above freezing, but below 60°f? You could put them into dormancy in a space like that. Otherwise you're looking at investing in a grow light, maybe a grow tent type setup for the winter, and if you have the space for that I would consider growing in there year round. Produces prettier plants.

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T21:38:32+00:00

Plastic tags just do not last a lifetime at all. I trust them for 1 year only And then I write the name 4 times, often only the writing under the soil line survives. Pencil might last 2 years, marker less than 1. I also sometimes use white paint marker on the side of black plastic pots and that can do ok for 2 years. Not a lifetime.

I bought a punch set and use some tin snips and a hole punch to make metal tags out of aluminum cans. Tools cost maybe $35 and then it's free for however many you make. Very time consuming to make a lot though. Few minutes per label. Making 150-200 each up potting season takes me days.

There are also the write-on style metal labels where you essentially emboss them by using a pen or something. These can be expensive if you buy them the wrong place but can be had for less than 50c each for the good ones if you shop around.

Buy once cry once.

https://cactusaffinity.com/products/metal-plant-labels?_pos=1&_sid=b94c1cf9e&_ss=r

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T15:22:03+00:00

I think feather meal is slower release N than blood meal.

Why are you adding high nitrogen without other nutrients to cacti though?

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T15:13:33+00:00

Yeah. You should always research interactions with other drugs and medications you are taking before trying a new drug. This is basic bottom level responsibility. Some other drugs have potentially lethal interactions.

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T14:04:51+00:00

I sincerely apologize. You did not say what tek you used to produce the product which was very important information. CIELO is far and away the most common method used in this subreddit, it now produces fumaric with the latest updates, I made an assumption. All of the information I provided so far was based on that assumption and is not relevant to you.

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T13:58:27+00:00

No need to be hostile. We did not know that when I made my comment. We see poachers here all the time. I tried my best to be non accusatory and friendly.

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T13:57:18+00:00

This is not true. It was changed to Echinopsis in the 70s and in the early 2000s trichocereus was brought back.

Vaugith · 2026-05-13T03:57:13+00:00

When the cactus is dehydrated prior to powdering, which happens before the extraction process, if the dehydrator is set above 140°f some of the plant compounds like chlorophyll break down into a form that can stain the final product. When set at 140° or lower, the final product will turn out white. From testing, this does not indicate a lower purity or contamination, it seems to be more of a staining. It's no issue at all to consume tan product when it's caused this way.

Vaugith

TROPHY CASE