HelpfulGardener.com

Hello,

I have 1 mother plant Nopalxochia cactus and some cuttings I took in September. Please can anyone tell me when I can start fertilizing the cuttings? I have images but I do not know how to add them to this message. Thank you for your hlep.

Kind regards,
Edwin

Hi. Here are the instructions on posting photos.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... php?t=3724

Here are the photos taken by webcam.





Edwin

They are looking good, Edwin. Are they well rooted? What kind of fertilizer do you plan to use?

Fertilize monthly May through October. I start out fertilizing with fertilizer diluted to half strenth and usually continue with that. Some people go on to full strength of the fertilizer but it's generally better to be safe than sorry.

Thank you for replying and for letting me know when to fertilize. Unfortunately I did not succeed in adding the picture of the cuttings. It is the mother plant only in that picture. That is why they look so good. Here now is the photo of the best of the cuttings which are definitely growing. It is the only cactus that has survived for me. Since I like its splendid, large, vividly red flowers and once I had a cactus of this kind which was covered in flowers and buds I decided to take cuttings and try and grow more specimens of the cactus. I intended to add pictures of both the mother plant and the best of the cuttings but as it is the first time I have used Photobucket I only managed to add the picture of the mother plant. That said I find Photobucket perfect. As of February his year I have started to fertilize all my houseplants with urine diluted 1 to 20 water except my orchids which I shall fertilize with 1 to 30 water starting in March. Last year I fertillized my tomatoes with 1 to 10 and the results were amazing. Should I use dilution 1 to 20 or 1 to 30 for the cactus?

I thought the plant looked awfully good for a "cutting".

I know urine can make a great fertilizer but I have never used it myself. I think a ratio of at least 1 to 30 would be best, even 1 to 40. It needs to be more dilute for the cacti than for the other houseplants, I think.

Thank you. I shall take your advice and make a dilution 1-40 for the cacti. Can I start fertilizing the cuttings this May or should I wait until they are stronger? I think they must have rooted okey since they are definitely growing with new growth at the top. I recommend urine for tomatoes. I have plum tomatoes and they were prolific and delicious last year when I fed them diluted urine 1 to 10 water every week. My balcony is inglazed and I got the 3 tomato plants from a Kurdish friend late in the season. I picked the last tomatoes the last day of November when it was zero centigrade or colder outside with little light. The plants were still growing larger and producing flowers and fruit when I decided to shut the balcony door and expose them to temperatures below the minimum requirement for tomatoes, 10 degrees above zero. Because of that I googled to see if urine could be used for my houseplants including orchids and what dilution was needed. I got very positive replies from the Swedish Allotment Society and several other experts so I decided to start using diluted urine to fertilize my potted plants too.

Yes, dilute fertilizer is recommended for cacti so I would start out slow. If you just recently put your cuttings in that soil, they can wait awhile to start fertilizing them. Or at least until later in the year. If they are well rooted, they should be okay.

Are there any problems with using urine as a fertilizer?

As far as I know there are no problems using urine to fertilize with. From Scientific American: "Urine is chock full of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, which are the nutrients plants need to thrive—and the main ingredients in common mineral fertilizers. There is, of course, a steady supply of this man-made plant food: an adult on a typical Western diet urinates about 500 liters a year, enough to fill three standard bathtubs. And despite the gross-out potential, urine is practically sterile when it leaves the body, Heinonen-Tanski pointed out. Unlike feces, which can carry bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, urine poses no health risks" If someone has a urinary tract infection, or is using medications, they should avoid using their urine in edible gardens. I use my own urine only so I know it is safe. Since I pee directly into a plastic bottle for fertilizing with it never comes into contact with feces. Also I am the only one who eats my crops so no-one objects. If anyone wants to eat them I tell them that I have fertilized them with my urine so they do not need to eat them if they find it disagreeable. When I had an allotment I used undiluted urine to speed up composting. I prefer using diluted urine as a fertillizer. It is a direct effect fertillizer not a long-time one. The plum tomatoes were tastier and more prolific than using commercial fertilizer. Beans, cucumber, basil, eggplants, beetroot, cucumbers, squash, hot-pepper, broccoli as well as tomatoes are some of the vegetables I have read that thrive when fertillized with diluted human urine.

Very interesting. I will keep this in mind.