Help!

[mfaris]

Well I just moved in to a new house and I left my terrarium outside while I could fine a place in my new home, well it rained while at work, I have only been in my house for two days... I have had my terrarium for two years now and it was flourishing, my plants were swimming when I came home. please give me some advise.. (when i finally thought i could keep a plant alive...).. que estupidez



Melissa

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I am confused....you have cactus in a terrarium? If so, and the terrarium was flooded then this is bad mojo for the cacti which do not tolerate soggy roots and especially not this time of year. I would remove the specimens at once, and put them into an appropriate (and drier!) mix, allow the terrarium to return to an appropriate level of moistness, and then replant. This should affect cacti little since this time of year they aren't much into growth - but if you leave them in a wet tank I think they will soon rot.

 

[mfaris]

yes I got miniature succculents and some others in total 6 of them. Im not an expert, so I dont know scientific names or even the common ones. My husband gave them to me because I was really sad when I was not able to help some baby cps they had given me, I guess I was not able to replicate the right environment. Well first time I was succesful with some type of plant......... Again I called it terrarium, when people saw it they thought I should place a tarantula or some reptile in it.... I was on my Dune stage when I was organaizing it....Its open so its needs very little moisture because like you say they can rot easily. And that is where my problem is, I already took them out and tried to dry them but I have no clue wherter I did a good job or not. How to dry a cactus wehn is so wet and they can rot so easily w/o messing the roots. Im in Louisian so its still pretty hot. ... It rained so bad it was more like a cacti freshwater tank....

 

[superimposedhope]

For drying I would:
1) Remove plant and roots with soil intact with as little disturbance to them as possible.
2) Lay them out in partial shade since terrariums rarely are bright enough to allow a plant to go to direct sun.
3) Wait till soil becomes dry, you can help this process by placing a fan blowing on them.
4) Since you are in Louisianna they should be fine as we up north are putting them to bed for the winter.
However without dormancy they will not likely bloom for you, BUT you do not want them to go into dormancy until they can stay dry and cool (40's F.)
As for the terrarium dry it out with a towel or whatever and if there is substrate you can either 1) place a fan on the substrate and add heat.
2) change out the old and start over with new dry substrate.

Joe

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

You could always call in the Bene Gesserit...........!  Sand Trout would also take up the water, but I think the import costs from Arakis would be high.

 

[mfaris]

Thanks Joe actually I didnt know about dormancy. Last winter , and I wish I had taken pics of this, they had little gorgeous flowers, pinkish and white color and the smallest one had like a baby. The other ones have grown a lot for been miniatures trying to get of the tank in srange shapes I guess do to the lack of regular sunlight. Im waiting for my soil to dry little bit in order to start again and yes Im going to get some more coz I put lots of sand soil in it too..

Tamlin...
cactus would be like the old wild fremen, who will only take as little as water as possible to survive. Even under extreme conditions they are tough, dangerous and beautiful. Now in this case I would recite the lethany of fear from the bene gesserit. Hmmm,... anyways, wouldnt it be nice to get some sandtrout ?..though I wonder how my terrarium could hold shai hulud...

Melissa

 

[superimposedhope]

I'm lost.........perhaps before my time, or a social/culture difference. Maybe its a hippy thing, Tamlin is an original hippy.

Take care
Joe

 

[mfaris]

No ..Joe I think is a little bit.. messed up.. u know how some people get into star wars or the lord of the rings,, same way here, with dune... sometimes I wonder how i get to know such useless things, probably if you start chatting in your "plant" slang Id feel as lost.

Now going back to my terrarium issue, my cactus look really good, there is only a succulent that got cut off almost at the bottom, top part no roots....I wonder if I plant both sides, will it reproduce like most plants, or is different in succulents, could that happen Joe? Also, could you give me some advise about a website now I wish I knew what type of cactus and succulents I got...

 

[superimposedhope]

For the succulent with no roots; If it is already callusing then leave it be but if not make a clean straight cut and I personally use rooting powder, but its not a must, leave it in bright indirect light for 1 week. (un-planted). After the week is up then place it with the cut end down, burried 1" (1 inch). Leave it like this and dry for 2 more days then water and resume normal care. (OIt does not have roots yet so watering will be less frequent than the others who still have roots. Make sure it is drying out within 4 days, you don't want the cut to be soggy.
* After you figure out what it is post back here, as I may need to adjust what I just told you, if it is something more delicate.

Heres a good site for finding out what you have. It is a large site, but with some time you'll find your cactus/succulent.

Cactus Info.

Good Luck
Joe

 

[superimposedhope]

Also you may post a pic and I or someone could at least send you in a direction as to what it is. Sometimes I'm off on the succulents but you can't get a cactus by me.

Joe

 

[mfaris]

Well I did part research, Im just tire today, cant be infront of a pc any much longer...

It has to be from the family of adromischus, seems to be adromischus fragilis. This succuletn is very delicate when you touch is very easy to take leaves off. I also have an aeonium dauabrabwelli, which losses leaves very fast and it has grown tall, almost havent produce extra leaves since I got it. I have a common one chile de perro and a echinopsis glaucina.
I have to find what the other ones are.
The one that got cut off the delicate one I mnetioned.
Oh and what is that growing power, where I can find it?

I was impressed to find a cactus from Colombian origin, my country is a biological paradise, its a shame I didnt have interest in such things when I was there,,, and now I wish I can get that type of cactus acanthoceneus colombianus..

Just let me know wht you think
and when I get a camera ill take pics of my terrarium

Melissa:laugh: