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RE: Sowing Mammillaria Glassi cactus seeds
it came out a pleasant reading, tho I am not a cacti hoarder. perhaps I just love your attitude to this deal.
the crappy soil from the garden and sand is better for cacti than any ready made cactus mix you buy in a shop.
do you have any ideas, why is that so?
ps.
you have double posted the title pic, me thinks.
I am glad it did :) Even though it is a lot of cactus-geeky gibberish :))
I read an interesting article that cacti are "stone eaters". They get all the nutrients (and they don't need much) from the minerals in rocks and sand. Also they do not like to have their roots went for long, or they will rot and the plant will die. In nature most cacti grow on poor sandy soil or between rocks, so not much water is stored around the roots.
Now if you look at those shop mixes they are full of peat moss and/or compost. Which is not suitable for them. It is simply not what they need. They will live if you are careful with watering. Some types might even enjoy it. But it is not good for most cacti.
Thanks! Fixed :)
a! well. uhm, I totally got the idea now. reading your text, 1stly, I got it in that way, that 'specialized soil for cacti-growing, that the shops are selling, is shit and ordinary rocks from the garden is far better'.
It kind of is :)
There is also a difference between specialized soil for cacti that you can get in specialized cacti nurseries, as they probably do know what is right, and the one you can buy in regular garden center or supermarket that says "cactus mix" on it.
that is the trick!
wanna have it better? do it yourself!
old, as the world itself.
:=)