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Some weeks later, I received a completely encouraging photograph : as can be seen on it, the stems had well reinflated and taken a beautiful bright green colour. It was even possible to notice the birth and the growth of new stems which had a more tender colour.
So I thought it was now the right time to proceed to a crucial step whose
objective was to accelerate growth : the repotting of the plant
whose underground state we still did not know anything about, as far as soil
as well as roots were concerned.
I then sent Alain the following message, to prepare repotting :
“For repotting, you will need horticultural compost, heath-mould,
perlite or siliceous sand (sold in stores which keep tropical fishes),
quartz gravel (same stores) and garden soil.
All these ingredients will enable us to make a both nutritive and well drained
compost. I will indicate the proportions to you.
Repotting must be done when the compost is dry,
and as I think that the plant will not leave easily its pot, you will have
to lay the whole pot aside and break it gently with a hammer.
Like the previous one, the new pot will also be a nonvarnished terracotta
pot, to better air the roots ; it will have the same shape and a slightly
bigger size.
What will we exactly find in the pot ? That is the mystery, but there will probably be little ground left (a photograph will be welcome). It will be necessary to slightly draw aside the roots and make the remaining old soil fall while slightly shaking the plant.
The hole in the bottom of the new pot will be covered with a curved and cleaned piece of the old pot, then by a 0.4 to 0.8in-thick large gravels layer, then a 1.2 to 1.6in-thick compost layer. The plant will be posed on this soil and you will delicately fill all the empty spaces between the roots with new compost while slightly shaking the whole pot so that the compost falls well and is slightly packed.
The compost will be prepared a few days in advance and will have to be dry on the day of repotting ; it is not recommended to water the plant for one or two weeks after repotting, therefore you have to put the plant in a fresh spot to avoid dehydration. However it is recommmended to sprinkle the stems with water. Waterings will be done little by little after one or two weeks.
As for the ingredients of the compost : a third or a little more horticultural
compost, a third of heath-mould and a third of fine quartz gravel
to which you can add a small amount of garden soil.
"I hope that I haven't forgotten anything !"
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PHOTO GALLERY OF ALL MY CHRISTMAS CACTI FROM 2002 TO 2010
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