Cactus Lite

[celphaware]

I have a question about the way my pedro and bridgesii are growing. The bridgesii was bought "skinny" (2" wide) but the pach was much fatter when purchased mid summer (4" wide as a cutting, now 3.5" at it's fattest, less than an inch at the tip) The pach is growing extremely fast but steadily getting skinnier. It was purchased as a 12" cutting and has grown 12" in less than 6 months.

I don't have a southern or eastern facing window in my house so I keep my cacti under a grow light purchased for something else. I know this has something to do with the uneven growth, and I was feeding them cactus fert. (scotts) for awhile too.

Is there any way to fatten these guys up? I recently purchased a T5 setup for one of my aquariums and want to use this on my plants instead. Any suggestions?

[Pandora]

Originally Posted by celphaware

Is there any way to fatten these guys up?

Any suggestions?

Yes, feed it a high cholesterol diet high in n-3 fatty acids.

[celphaware]

Originally Posted by Pandora

Yes, feed it a high cholesterol diet high in n-3 fatty acids.

So whole milk with some chopped up liver and cream cheese, little egg yolk, perhaps? The high cholesterol diet I understand, but n-3 fatty acids? Is that so they have a decent shot of not developing cancer?

[lapslideman]

You really amaze me pandora. I can't help but wonder why someone with your knowledge wastes so much time on nonsense. You appear to know your stuff when it comes to cacti, but instead of helping others you post mindless bullshit.

Dude...lighten up

I thought it was kind of funny.

The light will help...also try some tincture of thyme.

[celphaware]

Originally Posted by lapslideman

Dude...lighten up

Yea, I probably should. It's so easy to misinterpret things online, I know I've made plenty of statements that were taken out of context or whatever...at the same time though, a simple "lol" would go a long way to avoid this.

I will look into the tincture of thyme, and ditch the grow light. Should I continue to fert.? I was giving them some every two weeks. I water once a week and keep the light on about 10 to 12 hours.

Thanks, man.

[lapslideman]

Actually tincture of Thyme is a joke also...kind of a pun on time....

light and time...a little water every now and then...fast draining growing medium...be careful not to fertilize too much...one can burn a plant with that stuff.

Waiting is the hardest part.

Being serious....You may want to look into your light cycle...that can effect growth. Be sure you are over 12 hours of light a day...that should help. So do not ditch the grow light.

peace

[Pandora]

Originally Posted by celphaware

You really amaze me pandora. I can't help but wonder why someone with your knowledge wastes so much time on nonsense. You appear to know your stuff when it comes to cacti, but instead of helping others you post mindless bullshit.

Well see little dudes & dudette's its like this..... The best doctors in the county have given me, at best, 18 months to live.

So life can be pretty bleak at times if one cannot find humor in everything around them.


If you want fat cacti, there's really only one solution. Take them out of the restrictive confines of their potted environment and plant them in mother earth. If winter conditions are too harsh for their survival in mother earth, then build a greenhouse or whatever it takes to allow winter survival.

Only in mother earth can a naturally fat cactus plant seek out water & nutrients at its own pace & time line, rather than an artificial growth environment imposed by a person who thinks they know what the cactus needs.

Just answer yourself this one question:

Who waters & fertilizes those fat cacti found growing in their native environments?

[lapslideman]

Well see little dudes & dudette's its like this..... The best doctors in the county have given me, at best, 18 months to live.

Man...that's heavy...kind of puts things in perspective. I work in a hospital...doctors are wrong all the time...hope that's the case here.

[celphaware]

Originally Posted by Pandora

...if you want fat cacti, there's really only one solution. Take them out of the restrictive confines of their potted environment and plant them in mother earth. If winter conditions are too harsh for their survival in mother earth, then build a greenhouse or whatever it takes to allow winter survival.

Only in mother earth can a naturally fat cactus plant seek out water & nutrients at its own pace & time line, rather than an artificial growth environment imposed by a person who thinks they know what the cactus needs.

Just answer yourself this one question:

Who waters & fertilizes those fat cacti found growing in their native environments?

You make some excellent points. My goal is to make them feel as much at home as I possibly can. I've invested in artificial lights that replicate the sun, some that are only a certain wavelength, etc. Most of my cacti are in oversize pots as well for what its worth. The room they're in stays in the high 70's to 80's for temp.

Those are some of the things I think they need that I'm able to give them, I've been keeping cacti less than a year so I'm still learning. I was mainly concerned that it (they) would remain skinny. Heres a picture of the pach.

[celphaware]

I got my fert. mixed up, the type i'm using is schultz, it's a 2-7-7 liquid. The only other thing I can think of after adding better lighting would be to water twice as much. Thanks for the input.

Also would like to apologize, Pandora, for coming off the way I did. I suppose we all have issues huh? I'm working on not taking shit so seriously. Your post was humorous, btw. I edited my post. Tried to p.m. you but your box is full.