Drainage and transplantation

Drainage: For cacti drainage is necessary. Even the drainage holes will not eliminate stagnant water in the roots, because excess water remains in the pan, where it does not always have time to merge. Good drainage certainly saves a cactus from the stagnation of water. Size of drainage relative - at least 1 / 6 of the volume pot, maximum - 1 / 3. As the drainage can use expanded clay, small pieces of broken red brick chippings, but for want of a better pieces of foam. In drainage also added a broken egg shells. It is desirable to drainage, but you can simply add the soil mixture pieces of wood (preferably birch) charcoal. |

Transplanting: The best time to repot cacti - the end of March, April, early May, ie when the plants are just beginning to rise. Transplantation healthy cacti, the new pot should be slightly higher than the old. Old pot should be free to enter into a new one. If transplant revealed rotten or dead roots, they need to carefully remove the nail scissors. Pot in this case, take a little less old, but the soil add more sand and pieces of charcoal.

We obtain kaktusPered transplanting better disinfected and pots and soil. Pots can pour boiling water, and soil mixture fry in the oven. Before transplanting cacti 2-3 days are not watered, so that when transplanting a plant would be easier to get from the pot and shake off the roots of the old land. The soil mixture for planting should not be cold and slightly vlazhnovatoy. To pull the cactus from the old pot without damaging the hand, the plant is wrapped a strip of folded in several layers of paper, then holding the barrel cactus thus turning the pot with the plant and tapping the bottom of the pot is removed. Usually, if the pot was good drainage, cacti are removed much easier than in the case where there is no drainage, and the roots of the plants stick to the bottom and walls of the pot. All the detected damaged roots must be removed, and sprinkle slices with powdered charcoal. If the root system significantly affected, and many of the roots were removed, then the new soil mixture should contain a lot of sand.

The new pot is placed on the bottom of the pot (though this is optional) and poured on the bottom of drainage, at a depth you (1 / 6 - 1 / 3 of the volume pot). Then the drainage is put a bit of land, and then put the plant, gently stroking the roots and compacting the ground evenly between them. It is important to transplant the cactus to the stem was covered with earth, soil is filled up only the root collar at the plant. If the stem will be in the land, the irrigation will begin its decay, resulting in the death of the plant. Schematically correct transplant shown in the figure above, which depicts the pot in the section. After transplanting cacti are not watered for several days, if the plant had a lot of hurt and damaged roots, it is not watered for longer, but a healthy cactus is usually not watered for about a week, but periodically sprayed with a fine spray. In addition, the newly transplanted cactus can not be put to direct sun, it's usually pritenyayut within 4-6 days. Transplanted cacti in the young age of three years each year, older plants are transplanted in a year. Epiphytic cacti are transplanted annually after flowering. Just after flowering all transplanted cacti that bloom in early spring or late winter.

Special treatment method (or root bath) for a cactus with a damaged root system, used in transplantation. On this method, I once read an old book about cacti and never hear about him, but to use it myself and had positive results (with the exception of epifillyumy and the Decembrists). It sometimes happens that a cactus apparently healthy, but very poorly growing, and root for the transplant are poorly developed and the weak. Then you can try the following procedure. Cactus, once removed from their pot, shakes off the old ground, the roots can even be washed in warm water, but accurately, that there are no breakages. Then, in a cup or glass filled with hot water, temperature about 50-55 ° C. To do this you need a thermometer. Take the dense matter, which is fixed on a glass of water. In the middle is a hole and put a cactus, with roots to the root collar should be in hot water, but no stem or root collar should not touch the water. In this hot water cactus aged up to 15 minutes. It is important that no water got cold, and all the time, was one of temperature, can be wrapped glass wool shawl, or pour hot water, watching the temperature on the thermometer, but in no way harboring a glass with a cactus. This procedure stimulates root formation in cacti. After that, the roots need to dry a little cactus in 12-24 hours, and then put all the rules.