Description
CACTUS CULTIVATION: TRICHOCEREUS- FREE EBOOK!
Table of Content:
Finding the ideal germination temperature 10
Avoiding direct sunlight while germinating 11
Finding the right amount of humidity 11
Finding the ideal container 12
Providing fresh air 14
Finding an ideal medium for sowing out 14
Viability of cactus seeds 15
Using gibberellic acid to improve germination rates 16
Hardening Up your Seedlings 17
Singling out and separating seedlings 20
2. Cactus soil and minerals 22
Pumice 23
Lava 26
Coir aka Coconut Fiber 27
Zeolites 27
Sand 27
Perlite 28
Expanded Clay 30
Sowing out with topping layers 31
Growing seedlings in high humidity 33
3. Growing adult Trichocereus and similar columnar cacti 35
Watering your plants 36
Finding the right amount of water 37
Pots – plastic or clay? 37
4. Pests and annoying insects 40
Root mealies / mealy bugs 41
Scale insects 45
Thrips 50
Spider mites and red spiders 56
Centipedes 59
Ants 60
Fungus gnats 61
Nematodes 62
Worms 63
Caterpillars / grubs 64
Moths 65
Snails and slugs 68
5. Infections and other health problems 72
Orange rot 72
Benign black rot 78
Witches’ broom disease 78
Mildew 83
Tobacco mosaic and similar viruses 83
Other fungal infections 87
Partial removal of infected ribs 102
6. Fertilizer, nutrients and additional products 104
NPK fertilizers 105
Micronutrients 107
Phosphate fertilizers 107
Coconut water 108
Effects of coconut water: 110
7. Light, sun and forces of nature 112
Natural sunlight 116
Artificial lights and growlamps 118
What to consider when buying a lamp? 119
Don´t use total lamp wattage for comparisons! 119
Don´t use lamp lumens for comparisons 120
Do not use Wattage of the LEDS for comparisons either 120
Be wary of marketing claims 120
What really matters? 120
Sowing out with cheap LED panels 121
Water management 127
How often should you water? 128
How many waterings per week? 129
The problem with shelves 132
8. Why is fresh air so important? 134
Flowering 135
Trichocereus, Lobivia and Echinopsis flowers: Differences and commonalities 142
Echinopsis 142
Trichocereus 147
9. Crossing, fruit formation and seeds 170
Fruit removal prevents infection 185
Ripe versus unripe seeds 187
10. Overwintering in a cold climate 189
11. Skin discolorations, nutrient deficiencies and other blemishes 199
Sun burn and chemical burns 200
Insufficient light and etiolation 212
Nutrient deficiencies 222
Frost and cold damage 239
Scarring and corking 248
Mechanical injuries and spine wounds 255
Slug and snail damage 259
Splitting 261
Water spots and mineral deposits 262
Neglect 264
Sudden environmental changes 271
Terminated growth and pupping 272
12. Pesticides, chemicals and treating illness 274
Neem and neem oil 274
White oil 274
Sulfur 276
Powdering cacti with sulfur 276
13. Grafting 277
Rubber bands 280
Choosing grafting stocks? 284
Types of grafting 294
Cutting stock edges 295
Grafting on clumping Echinopsis 300
Failed grafts 305
14. Inducing pupping 307
Cutting 307
Coconut water 308
Fertilizer, phytohormones and cytokinines 309
Removing pups 309
Sudden rib growth 312
15. Treatment and prevention of infections 316
Aluminium / silver spray 316
Tree grafting wax 316
Heat treatment 318
Fresh air 318
Sunlight 319
Fungicides 320
Hydrogen peroxide 320
A growlamp directed at the wound 320
16. Rooting 321
Species that root poorly 324
Problems during rooting 324
Preparing a rooting field 326
19. Useful tools and little helpers 329
Potting up, pots and soil 330
20. Soil recipes 331
21. Liam Engel´s Coke bottle tek 335
Despite the fact that I mostly publish printed books, I like the eBook as an art form and it was always my plan to write an eBook at some point in my life. The hard copy cactus books I´ve published are not cheap and it was important for me to publish something that everyone could access and afford.
There were many times in my life when I struggled financially and I know very well how it feels when you cannot afford something you´d like to have. Because of this, it is not really my plan to earn a lot of money with my TRICHOCEREUS CULTURE eBook. Right now, the plan for this eBook is to either give it away free or sell it at a price that´s so minimal that everyone will be able to afford it. It really is important to me that these books get to the community and making money is not the plan here. I still need to make sure I am not going broke during all my projects and if you want to support me you can do that via Patreon.com/cactusjerk or by buying stuff from our website at Trichocereus.net. Please consider subscribing to my newsletter and engaging and sharing my content online.
It took a long time to complete this book and it will be updated on a regular basis. TRICHOCEREUS CULTURE is an extensive guide, useful for all cacti growers out there. This is not a completely and professionally published book and I want to point that out! While this eBook may not be perfect, it will help people all over the world and we will constantly edit this eBook with new stuff, photos or corrections.
After publishing this eBook, I am working on the third and final volume called THE GENUS TRICHOCEREUS. This book is shaping up to be massive, with over 500 pages and a complete revision of the genus. As there were some problems with American Crowdfunding services during my campaign for the second book (these service didn´t like the genus Trichocereus), we will probably only print a very limited run via preorder and if you want to get on the preorder list, make sure to email me via EG@trichocereus.net
If you want to donate photos for the book or just share your thoughts please send me a message. I am always happy to help. So yeah, this is it! Enjoy the book!
Best wishes, Patrick Noll
You are free to share this book with your friends, but please consider making a donation via Patreon.com/cactusjerk. It costs money, time and effort to offer this eBook for free and your support means I can continue doing this work in the future.
