From: jim@doink.b23b.ingr.com (James B. Reed)
Subject: Re: trying to save cactus
Reply-To: jimreed@b23b.b23b.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 16:54:44 GMT

In article <BvnFF8.2sw@dcs.ed.ac.uk>, ajw@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Amanda Welsh) writes:
|> Thanks to everyone who replied to me about saving these cacti. I seemed to
|> have made a few mistakes in the first thing I did:
|> 
|>      1) by putting these things straight into soil instead of leaving the
|> 	wounds to dry out(I must admit to being not much of a cacti expert).  

Well, it's not exactly an obvious step to those not familiar with succulents.

|>      2) I'm not sure that the soil is particularly sandy, its just standard 
|>         potting compost.

They'll probably forgive you and survive anyway.  You'll just have to be a
little more careful in avoiding overwatering.

|>      3) Ehhhm (embarrassment) I don't even think that they are cacti, but
|>         succulents -- being a bit short on spines.

Not a big deal, basic care is the same and succulents are easier to handle
for repotting!

|> Despite my ignorance they seem to have survived so far. My question is now
|> should I try to rectify mistakes 1 and 2 by -- I can't really use the word
|> "uprooting here" -- lifting them off the soil, letting them dry out and later
|> repotting them in a more sandy soil?  My feelings are against this ...

I'm against it too.  If any of them have started rooting, you'd be doing
more harm than good.  Just be sure to let the soil around the plants dry
out between waterings.

|> I'm a bit confused about watering. Its my natural instinct to water
|> *everything* (in the plant world that is) -- I've only just managed to train
|> myself not to overwater everything. I gave these things a bit of water when I
|> first potted them -- was that a mistake? Should I let them dry out now?,

It's a good idea to water them when you pot or repot them, the water helps
the soil settle in around the roots (or the plan in your case).  Since you're
already upsetting the plant somewhat by repotting, it's probably better to
do all the root disturbance at once.  Waiting until later to give the initial
watering give a second disturbance which isn't really necessary.

ALWAYS let the top of the soil dry out before watering a succulent (you
don't have to wait until it's bone dry clear through though).  When it's
not actively growing it's not using much water, you should let it dry
than usual.  If it is actively growing, you can water when the just the
very top gets dry.

The basic rule of thumb for watering is: "when in doubt, don't".  The first
sign if too little water is withering, water it more and it will recover
just fine.  The main sign of too much water is rot, the best you can hope
for then is to hack off healthy parts and start over.

|> more
|> generally should I let my mother-in-laws tongue (sansiveria?) and christmas
|> cactus dry out over the winter too? 

It depends on what you mean by "dry out".  Not watering again until April
or May would be a little extreme :-).  I can't really offer particular
advice about those specific plants.

	Jim
-- 
James B. Reed                | If at first you don't succeed,
Intergraph Corporation       | Find out why,
jimreed@b23b.b23b.ingr.com   | **THEN** try again.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens