Hydroponic...err wait DRY-oponic cacti

[test_subject421]

can cacti be cultivated using similar technique's as hydroponic or aeroponics
im leaning for the aeroponic misting/fogging but i really dont know much about cacti    maybe one day il try it with one of my less favorite's

if anyone has tryed or knows any thing id love to know




mmm dry-oponic lophophora williamsii     :idea:

[dergheist]

I have to ask why? IF you are after faster growth then just graft to a faster growing cacti as covered somewhere in the vast expanses of SPF archives.  Why go through the hassle and money to do this?  Not trying to shoot down your ideas, just wondering what your motives are.

[RifeHeretic]

Hold up, D. Say it something for form, such as Bishops Cap or some ornamental cactus. An oblong Gold Barrel wouldn't be a pretty site. Even our little brother Peyote, no matter how intensely sweet a columnar version may be, could be grown for its form.

There is a Japanese site that shows Hydroponically grown cactii. I think I made a post about it awhile ago, I know I did psot questions at Entheogen Dot.

Aquaculture Cacti:
http://members.tripod.com/~KeinHong/hydroponics.html

Japanese Site:
http://saboten.riast.osakafu-u.ac.jp/index-e.html

Some Random Site:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art39153.asp

*Some of the plants, especially on the Japanese site, look water bloated. Most look healthy.

I would be willing to expirement with this, but, alas, dont have any cacti to use.

Peace,

Rife

[dergheist]

Ifn I remember correctly, that Japanese person had some serious issues with those cacti.  He had one major problem in that they needed a dry spell and did not last long.  For form, Hmmm......could you not just take the grafted cactus and cut it once more and root it?  I have read of this being done with barrel cacti and peyote.  This way, once the cacti is of sufficent size, one could cut it from the faster growing cacti and root it.  Thereby regaining the natural form and nobody would be the wiser.  I think to have cacti grown through hydroponics would be a great deal of time and money, but I am not saying that it could not be done. To do it successfully you would most likely need to make a homemade mix of ferts for each cacti and would have to have a unique substrate to facilitate better oxygen exchange and would have to experiment with an acceptable loss of plants granted. Plus, one big obstacle, figuring out how to immitate a dry cycle.  I personally do not have enough cacti or money to play with this, but perhaps someone might have some money burning a hole in their pocket and could experiment and post their results.

[RifeHeretic]

If a cactus were to be grafted, wouldnt it grow longer? I've heard of some peyote that, instead of being circular form, turned into what represented barrels. I cant find the link that showed that.

Would the grafted cactus then return to formal shape, perhaps widening out a bit? Check the first link, the Guy, who's in Malaysia, says he build his for around $6.

Rife

[EA-1306]

It can be done but one thing that might be worth taking into consideration is the root biology of the plants. In many cacti there are main succulent roots and then temporary feeder roots, called ephemeral roots by some, that grow out when water is available and are shed from the main succulent roots when water is unavailable. This not only protects the plant from having to use water to sustain roots that take more water to maintain than they absorb, it also causes the addition of organic material in the root zone. The roots of cacti of several types have been found to respond positively to symbiotic microorganisms. It is likely the shed root material has an effect on the micro flora of the root zone and plays a role in retaining nutrition for the plants to absorb when water is available.

In hydroponic growth I'd assume that the symbiotic microorganisms are not ideal and with some species and media the ephemeral roots if shed may invite rot at some point. At the same time the plants often respond much better to wet and dry cycles than they do to continually moist conditions. A wet dry strategy seems ideal with some cacti and hydroponics but that same strategy might see some problems due to the buildup of root material that can invite rot. A plausible solution can be found in grafting the desired species onto rootstocks that have roots that are more forgiving, but that would require a lot of effort.

Grafting is not the only way to prevent some potential problems, root pruning might be very desirable and with an aeroponic system it might be less difficult than with a media or liquid based system.

I think the hydroponic aspect is neat and novel but I am curious as to what advantage it would confer in cacti? For faster growth there is the option of grafting on a rootstock or a larger photosynthetic stock as was mentioned. With the right conditions media and nutrition cacti can often grow surprisingly fast on their own roots. You don't even need to use a soil based mix, you could use coir and perlite in equal parts and use a general complete macro with micro with an NPK ratio (not %) of around 1:1:1. That type of media accommodates the root biology of cacti in a manner quite akin to soil and is well acclaimed by a number of cultivators.

[RifeHeretic]

Very good point, EA. I will have to come back and make a more full reply when I'm not running out the door  

What about a someting grafted on a Peresk. thats in an Aerochamber?

Rife

EDIT:  :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

[winder]

I didn't contribute here, did I?

Whoops on someone.   :lol:

[RifeHeretic]

have absolutley no idea why I said winder.....

[winder]

Because you are all into getting a SD plant from me, is my guess. :lol:

[RifeHeretic]

Haha, hook me up with some pics of your collection. My baby's growing slowly but strongly in this super dry air. Just moved her under a 400W MH  

In response to this post:

Aquaculture is very possible. There should be more research produced.  
I'm a bit afraid of these ephemeral roots though. Perhaps if the system was suspended, so the roots could shed them without being in constant contact with them. An aeroponic setup that mists once or twice a day? That should be adquate time for them to dry out.

Rife

[test_subject421]

thanks for all the feedback

i was just looking for info before i sacrificed a cheep home de pot cacti in my aeroponic chamber ( i guess i should sed aero in the first place but dry-o-ponic just sounded better to me )

i didnt know about the way that cacti shed rots thats news to me
and i figured with the dry spell ( im not a cacti grower just a lover ) you could  just not do your root wash (sorry for my lack of terminology )

and my whole idea was mostly novelty i just wanted to see if anyone knew
any thing about it or has tryed


i didnt know about graft cut root to get the added growth with out the old stalk


ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT        ALL OF YOU