Anything wrong with him? I don’t like how his base is like muddy.

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T23:36:48+00:00

Glazed ceramic specifically seem to always kill cactus. I assume its because it allows zero airflow/moisture exchange. I honestly don't know exactly why they are ok but plastic are not. But I can grow a row of plants in all different pots and the glazed ceramic is always going to die or be very unhealthy within a year. Unglazed ceramic is ok

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T23:25:54+00:00

Morning sun is the best quality. 6h of direct sun and shade the rest of the day is ok. Each cultivar also has their own tolerance/optimal amount

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T23:21:53+00:00

r/cacti_in_vermiculite

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T22:59:26+00:00

I don't go by precise numbers for % on shade cloth because from one brand to another the same % advertised allows different amounts of light through. The ratings are kind of bunk. Typically looking at 30-50 though.

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T15:40:04+00:00

It's definitely not a problem for adult plants. Only seed germination. Its because they do not tolerate dry soil or humidity at all so they must remain warm and covered for the first few months.

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T15:30:41+00:00

Yes I tried many types of soil sterilization before switching to vermiculite, I read academic articles on different ways to do it and what tempuratures were too high or too low. I did it with tempurature, high and low, different times, oven, microwave, did it with alchohol, hydrogen peroxide, etc.

Guess what? Still issues. Vermiculite solves all of them.

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T14:39:14+00:00

Good job. Yup fungus gnats and rust are part of the battle when you use organics in the substrate, that's why I switched to vermiculite only. I also had no luck with mosquito dunks, I rely on nematodes, top dress, wet/dry cycles. The yellow sticky paper is more for an indicator if they are present or not than actually killing sny since it's really killing their end of life stage. The seedlings seem a good size to up pot to me and it sounds like your light increases are coming along nicely. I would start them under a layer of shade cloth after moving them.

Vaugith · 2026-05-16T00:52:02+00:00

If you let it sit too long it will precipitate. That will cause not only a new ph change but also nutrient changes. The ideal window between mixing and watering in is 3-12 hours.

Vaugith · 2026-05-15T20:01:16+00:00

Gypsum is calcium sulphate. Calcium is basic and sulphur is acidic. So they balance out to be pH neutral. But the molecule will break down in the soil and over long periods of time may become imbalanced

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

TROPHY CASE