Get Your Hands Dirty! How To Repot Your Cacti and Succulents
Often sold as the low maintenance option, most of us will have had at least one little cactus or succulent in your life at some point. Whilst the low maintenance thing is mostly true (at least when it comes to watering), that doesn't mean you can completely forget about your cacti and succulents when it comes to repotting, and they do call for some fairly specific needs in this area.
That's where Soil Ninja comes in! As things (hopefully) start to get a bit warmer, you can start to think about tackling this task, and a good, gritty, sandy soil mix like their Cacti & Succulent blend is exactly what you need,
These desert natives are spiny, lumpy and thicc. They like to be warm, dry and droughty. With a blend of coco coir, sand, grit, pumice, activated charcoal and some more loveliness (if you're a plant), that makes sure no residue humidity sticks around for too long on the very sensitive and tender roots of your cacti and succulents.
Even if you do over water a little (who amongst us hasn't been guilty of loving our plants too hard?) the added support of activated charcoal doesn’t just improve drainage but also fends off nasties that can lead to rot.
So how to repot? By in large, cacti and succulents are slower growing and won't need their pot sizing up too regularly, which is fortunate because some them can be a real pain to tackle!
We recommend repotting cacti and succulents when they've got dry soil, so hold off watering for a week or two before you got for it.
As always, prepare your fresh pot with a layer of clay pebbles to the bottom of your pot for drainage, then a layer of your lovely Cacti & Succulent soil.
Next up, gently loosen your plant out of its current pot. As with other plants, try lift from the soil rather than tugging on the stem. Some varieties of cacti and succulent grow in clumps that can come apart as you remove it from the pot, so be sure to support the plant as you take it out of its pot!
If you've got a spiky plant to tackle, then try hard-wearing rigger gardening gloves (not the cotton or rubberised types - trust us they won't work). These gloves can make your hands a bit clumsier, so be very careful with your movements here!
One tip for tall thin cacti is to use an empty toilet roll to support the plant as you move it without getting spiked! This is also why we say to let the soil dry before repotting, as it makes wiggling out of the pot a bit easier and less risk of impaling yourself.
Pop it in its new pot and backfill with more soil. Give it a little water (but not too much) and return to a nice warm, sunny spot.
This soil blend is great for all of the common varieties of cacti and succulents, but is also great for snake plants, jade planta and some bromeliads too!