Up, Up and Away

[Mariam]

I am a big fan of cacti, and this is one my husband bought me. It started out tiny and the next thing I know it is huge! I know I should probably move it to a bigger pot now, but I am afraid of breaking or killing it. What do you think?

By the way, sorry for the bad pictures, I am no photographer and had to use my camera phone.

 

[claudine]

Wow, it's a giant and beautiful cactus!
I'm not sure if it's true, but I was told that plants grow slowly if you plant them in big flower pots. They start developing huge roots instead of stems and leaves.
I'm scared of repotting my miniature roses too, I don't want to harm them.

 

[Mariam]

I have just had bad luck when it comes to transplanting. Most things I have tried to re-pot die, I guess I do not know the secret to doing it right. The cactus seems to continue growing and it looks healthy, so I think I will keep it in the pot until it protests. I was just amazed that it got so tall!

 

[Trellum]

In my humble opinion, I think your cactus looks fine where it is If I were you I'd wait to transplant it a bit more, at least isn't getting thicker and thicker, isn't it? When it does, then you might have to transplant it, but meanwhile... let it grow

 

[Pat]

Your cacti is beautiful. I agree I would wait a bit to move it. It seems to be very happy where it is. I didn't know it could get that large in a pot. Some times when my plant is in a terra cotta pot I will break the pot lift out the root ball and set it in the new pot, that way I have not damaged the root ball at all. The other concern is to avoid the root ball being exposed to air without water very long.

 

[gata montes]

I was looking at the picture of cactus and am wondering if its actually one one those plants, that looks like a cactus but doesn't actually belong to cactus family, especially as you said it grew quickly. So as your photo is a little dark and I can't quite see your plant properly, am posting a picture, to ask you if in real life - does your plant look like this one, which is a Euphorbia rather than a cactus but is commonly known as a Candalabra Cactus

These plants although not a true cactus are succulents, so in terms of re- potting they are treated in exactly the same way. They grow best if re potted every two years and this is best done during the active growing season which is late spring or early summer, so I wouldn't advise you to do it now, unless it is totally root bound and you have lots of roots coming out of the bottom,and the plant appears to ailing because of it.

When re-potting you will need to water the plant two days prior to doing it and once re- potted don't water immediately, but wait at least one to two weeks before doing so. you will also need to make sure that you give it plenty of drainage, by choosing a sandy or gritty based compost and placing crocks, pebbles or small rocks in the bottom of the pot, plus make sure that the new pot has adequate drainage holes in the bottom.

You are unlikely to kill your plant as they are pretty hard to kill and if you should accidentally break some of it, it will soon grow again and you can always use the broken piece to propagate another by placing it in some dry soil.
Everything I've mentioned applies to both succulent and cactus plants, so whichever type of plant yours is, this has hopefully solved your dilemma

 

[Mariam]

Quite possibly, gata, you might be right. I will be honest, I am a grower but rarely remember the names. I often get plants without the name tags, too. Three of my plants do have those little leaf things, but not a lot. My color is not as bright, too. There are also no definitive markings in the middle area, like the above picture. All in all, though, I think they might be a Euphorbia. I am in the process of finding my real camera, so I can get better pictures on here.

Thanks so much for the information!

 

[Trellum]

I was looking at the picture of cactus and am wondering if its actually one one those plants, that looks like a cactus but doesn't actually belong to cactus family, especially as you said it grew quickly. So as your photo is a little dark and I can't quite see your plant properly, am posting a picture, to ask you if in real life - does your plant look like this one, which is a Euphorbia rather than a cactus but is commonly known as a Candalabra Cactus

View attachment 1536

These plants although not a true cactus are succulents, so in terms of re- potting they are treated in exactly the same way. They grow best if re potted every two years and this is best done during the active growing season which is late spring or early summer, so I wouldn't advise you to do it now, unless it is totally root bound and you have lots of roots coming out of the bottom,and the plant appears to ailing because of it.

When re-potting you will need to water the plant two days prior to doing it and once re- potted don't water immediately, but wait at least one to two weeks before doing so. you will also need to make sure that you give it plenty of drainage, by choosing a sandy or gritty based compost and placing crocks, pebbles or small rocks in the bottom of the pot, plus make sure that the new pot has adequate drainage holes in the bottom.

You are unlikely to kill your plant as they are pretty hard to kill and if you should accidentally break some of it, it will soon grow again and you can always use the broken piece to propagate another by placing it in some dry soil.
Everything I've mentioned applies to both succulent and cactus plants, so whichever type of plant yours is, this has hopefully solved your dilemma

Omg!!!!! Those little cactus imposters are so adorable with those little leaves!!! I'd love to get one of those. By the way, great advice on drainage. I read about putting pebbles in the bottom of a pot, but I've never tried it. I might really give this a try once I get new plants.

 

[Trellum]

Quite possibly, gata, you might be right. I will be honest, I am a grower but rarely remember the names. I often get plants without the name tags, too. Three of my plants do have those little leaf things, but not a lot. My color is not as bright, too. There are also no definitive markings in the middle area, like the above picture. All in all, though, I think they might be a Euphorbia. I am in the process of finding my real camera, so I can get better pictures on here.

Thanks so much for the information!

I really think your ''cactus'' is the same one that appears on the picture. I'm almost 100% sure, I just took a look at the picture, and I do see those small leaves that can be seen on gata's pictures. Just follow her advice She knows a lot about gardening! I'm sure your plant will be allright, specially now that it has been correctly identified

 

[gata montes]

Mariam, - My pleasure - am glad the information has been helpful and will look forward to seeing some more pictures of your plant, especially as I'm more than sure that it is a Euphorbia rather than a true cactus, with regard to color, having seen them in real life, would say that the ones in the picture I posted are actually much greener than they should be.