Repotting cacti

[Reyes Vargas]

Hello cacti loving guy's and gals.  When you guy's repot your cacti do you completely remove the old potting mix from the roots and spread the roots in the new pot and potting mix or just leave it?  If I remove the old soil will that harm the cacti? Thanks.

[Silas_Sancona]

54 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Hello cacti loving guy's and gals.  When you guy's repot your cacti do you completely remove the old potting mix from the roots and spread the roots in the new pot and potting mix or just leave it?  If I remove the old soil will that harm the cacti? Thanks.

Question #1:   Unless i'm potting up something directly from a nursery and getting the plant out of the terrible soil most places put their plants in, i'll keep it in the same basic soil mix it was growing in.

Question #2:  Most cacti shouldn't suffer any issues if you gently/ lightly spread the roots a bit when repotting. That said, be careful with / no need to spread the roots apart when planting any that form taproots/ have thicker roots ( want to avoid damage to those as much as possible )

I'm sure there are a few out there that you'd have to be really careful with, but those are going to be the rarest types vs. anything common.

Remember too that for many cacti, don't step up a small plant happy in 1gal, into a 5gal..  Many like to be a little snug in their containers. Go wider vs. deeper if possible, unless the cacti specifically requires a deeper pot to accommodate a thick taproot.

Once repotted, soak thoroughly.. then leave 'em be..  Most stuff  gets a thorough soaking once every 10-15 days or so, even most new stuff, unless quite small.  I'll also put newly repotted specimens in a place where they'll get lots of filtered/ shifting light through the day until i know they're rooting in... which can take a few weeks, to a couple months, depending on the species/ time of year.