Cactus Top Dressing: Everything You Need to Know / Cactus Care Ep. 04

[@theastromotif1330]

I'm happy that you're back. Please don't ever leave us again. Your videos are therapeutic.

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi 👋🏻 Thank you for your continuous support. I appreciate it so much 🤗 I’ve been busy the past months, that’s why I was not able to make and upload videos. Thank you again for your support.

[@teresobenitoyap7488]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🙏

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you for watching!

[@maelayag6441]

Thanks for sharing this idea, very helpful spl for beginners like me😊

[@theplantprinceph]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching.

[@JuanRuiz-hu2jw]

Excellent video man, keep em coming, cheers from México 🙌

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi 👋🏻 Thank you for your support! 🤗 Mexico is one of the place I want to visit. I want to see Mayan’s ruin and of course cactus at Tehuacán-Cuicatlán valley.

[@princejimenez3825]

Im waiting for this, for almost a month your back again,more content sir prince. Now I could say im a cactus and succulents addict because of you help. ♥

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi, thank you for your support. I appreciate it. 🤗 I’ll be uploading more videos in the coming weeks.

[@rosecastillo1031]

Welcome back!... you're the one who inspired me to take care of astro and hybrid aloes

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi, thank you for your continuous support. I appreciate it so much 🤗. I’m glad that I helped and inspired you on your journey. Happy gardening 😊

[@l1ndstrom]

Protecting the soil micro biom from the sun is one of the most important reasons for top dressing if you are growing organically

[@nawazsharif5551]

I was the one who wanted to buy cactus on your TikTok the other day . Was waiting for your new videos, welcome back 🤍

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi 👋🏻, thank you for your support. It means a lot to me. 🤗

[@yaddahaysmarmalite4059]

if I could get it, tumbled lava rock would be my preference. tumbling the lava rock would smooth down the sharp edges.

[@theplantprinceph]

Ohhh never heard of tumbled lava rock. I just googled it and it looks nice.

[@swatigokhale9495]

Please don’t stop making videos. You have one of the most detailed, informative videos that are very useful and cover the subject in totality! Thanku. I used washed sand stone chips for the top dressing in my succulents. Pumice stains after some time but use pumice in smaller ones

[@theplantprinceph]

I appreciate that! Thank you for your support 😊🫶🏻. I agree, pumice does stain after a a few months.

[@marlon5272]

Welcome back, i miss your videos🙌🏼

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi 👋🏻 Thank you, and Thank you for your continuous support! It means a lot to me. 🤗

[@tsubameimnida4498]

Just found out you're back! Thank you! I love lava rocks as I have more graptos and echeverias than cacti. It's easier to keep plants upright 😊

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi 👋🏻 Thank you for watching and for your continuous support. 😊

[@TrenT83]

привет бро использую диатомит....спасибо за видео)

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you for watching!

[@bgg7518]

Amazing video, it was so useful!! Thank you very much ❤

[@theplantprinceph]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@acebalwayan]

Glad you're posting again. Your videos have been really helpful especially when I started collecting astros and gymnos.. I've been taking notes from all your videos for my Astrophytum and Gymnocalicium plant care. :) I use red lava rocks as toppings for my favorite cactus and succulents; marble or white pebbles for my haworthias; for the rest, I use pumice. I use a soilless mix (alnus, cocopeat, carbonized rice hull, pumice, perlite) for all my plants. They get easily blown away if they don't have toppings. I don't have toppings for most of my plants, so I have to deal with the soil getting blown away or displaced during watering. Although all three are readily available in my area, lava rock and marble are quite expensive so I only use them on my favorite plants. haha I'd love to use akadama as well, but it's hard to find and most of the time, the shipping fee costs way more than the price of 1 sack of akadama. :(

[@theplantprinceph]

Hello, thank you so much for you support! I’m glad that my videos have been helpful in your journey. 🫶🏻😊

[@marieangeliquealayon2391]

I’m a new planter and I just discovered your channel. Been watching your videos po and learned a lot from you. Super helpful ng mga tips nyo po. 😊 Ask po ako if ano po better na top dressing sa medyo humid na area and hindi po masyado yung direct sunlight po for Aloe Vera, Cactus and Succulents po? Hope you’ll notice my comment and get a reply from you po. 😊

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi, maraming salamat po. 🫶🏻 You can use pumice, akadama, or lava rock. These top dressings are porous kaya hindi mag-stay wet ‘yung soilmix for a long period. If in a tight budget, okay ‘yung pumice. The problem with pumice lang is kapag tumatagal minsan nag-stain ng yellow. Akadama is ‘yung best option kaso medyo pricey siya. If benefits, budget wise, and aesthetic, go with lava rock. Mayroon din added na minerals ‘yung lava rocks and super useful niya para tumayo ‘yung mga succulents. Lava rock gamit ko noong nagstart ako magcollect ng mga cactus and succulents. Avoid using sand, marble rocks, and gravel since nakaka-trap ng moisture ‘to lalo na if hindi maaraw and hindi mahangin sa location ng plants.

[@walterblanc9708]

Quartz rocks and Quartz sand, Brown sand and also shiny small rocks, I find Pumice just gets blown away too easily.

[@impact0r]

Really great tips for dressing my cocktus.

[@theplantprinceph]

Sorry for the inconvenience, you could always use closed caption to better understand the audio. Sorry for the mispronounced words, I’m not an American English speaker, and English is not my first language. Anyway, thank you for watching!

[@impact0r]

@@theplantprinceph it's not an inconvenience and I'm not a native English speaker neither. I simply don't believe you're unable to say "cactus" as this word sounds the same even in Chinese.

[@margaretneilson3301]

Wonderful information . Thankyou . I have liked and subscribed from Australia 🎉🌵👍😀🌳

[@theplantprinceph]

I’m glad you like it. Thank you so much for your support! I appreciate it.

[@tropicalheat1558]

2:05 I just discovered your channel and I am learning alot from you.

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you so much! I’m glad that my videos are helping you. 😊

[@tropicalheat1558]

@@theplantprinceph 😁👍

[@ShajedDue]

welcome back

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you for watching, and for your support! 🤗

[@jennybalatbat8611]

Thank you for this very helpful tip. It's just what I was looking for a few weeks ago. I started with succulents only last Feb2021 and with your help I've learned more about Astrophytums. I now have a few in my collections. Thanks to you. Question: Can I use aqua substrates as top dressing? if so, should I wash them first before applying them? Thank you 🩵💙🩵.

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you also for your support! I appreciate it so much. I’m glad that I helped you with my videos. 🤗 Yes, you can. My friends are using it, and they recommend it. Aqua soil is rich in organic minerals and acids which is a bonus since it will give your cactus its needed nutrients for awhile. In addition, it also lowers the pH which cactus loves. Regarding washing, you don’t have to since it’s organic and degrades slowly which means you don’t have to worry about the small dusty particles.

[@mackroot4679]

lava rocks are also quite heavy. i usualy mix pumice lava rocks and sand to have a natural looking

[@theplantprinceph]

That would look nice. I always wanted to pot them in a pot that would look like they are in their natural habitat.

[@popo7718]

I use decorative rock

[@spicychilicrisp]

Fantastic video! Do you mix fertilizers or pesticides/fungicides into the top dressing

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you for watching! I add slow release fertilizer and granular systemic insecticide to the soil mix before putting the top dressing. I’ll be covering/discussing fertilizer and how I apply it on my next video.

[@linjangiputepon7648]

i like to watch your videos about all of your plants, but Can u tell us about your pumice, lava rock and perlite size? coz they are looks great, specially for me. 😻

[@theplantprinceph]

The pumice and lava rock I use are 0-3 mm, and 3-6 mm in size. I use the 0-3mm for smaller pots, and 3-6mm for bigger pots. For the perlite I use 1/8 and 1/2 inches

[@billgolightly7203]

What type of spoon or trowel are you using in this video? It has a great shape.

[@theplantprinceph]

It’s a spoon for frozen yogurt in a store (BLK 153) here. I just reuse it.

[@hopedetour8397]

I use lava rock, common in indonesia called "pasir malang"

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi, thank you for watching!

[@emilianovalencia3421]

finally🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@theplantprinceph]

Thank you for your continuous support! I appreciate it po. 🤗

[@GoRodent]

I need help..now that I've dressed my succulent with pumice..I don't know how to tell when the plant needs water anymore because I can't see the soil. And when I try to move the pumice out of the way to stick my finger in the soil the pumice falls in the hole and on the table...big mess... There must be a better way to do this.. Moisture meters don't work well in my succulent soil because it has much gravel and things in it that the moisture meter hits and doesn't accurately tell the moisture so I can't use those.

[@theplantprinceph]

Hello, you can use toothpick and stick it at the bottom of the pot. You can watch this video, I hope this will help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6ampqeNg6l-nNk

[@leojagawaga6481]

Can You Use Orchid Soil Mix That Looks Like Gravel ? Thanks

[@theplantprinceph]

Yes you can!

[@aysenalp5341]

What about LECA for top dressing?

[@theplantprinceph]

I used to use leca as top dressing. But it’s quite expensive here and it’s hard to find a small size quality leca. But it works well as top dressing since it’s porous.

[@aysenalp5341]

@@theplantprinceph Thank you for answering...

[@christophercyle3824]

So, he's mentioned several preferred Japanese soils in this video and previous videos. But does not provide exact spelling for the pronunciation... cannot seem to find these. would help if you could at least provide the name spelling with a video or video information. looking for the one that changes color when wet

[@theplantprinceph]

Hi, all of my video have a Closed caption or subtitles so people could understand or even transtale it to their prefered language. The Japanese soil is Akadama.

[@jafersad312]

do you sell cactus

[@theplantprinceph]

Currently, I don’t sell cactus.