Me in Texas watching Michiganders repotting cactus with a paper bag =D Great content man! My family has learned so much from yours, and that trifecta plus! *insert italian fingers* never had such lush tomatoes!

I was taught to use a page of newspaper folded over and over to create a 2" to 3" band or larger for larger cactus and then wrapping it around the cactus and using the excess as a handle to hold the cactus tight. Works well and I've done some big ones.

Great information! No wonder I keep killing my cactus and aloe plants lol over watering and no sand in the soil. Thank you for this great information

Thank you! Definitely helps cause my aloe is outside in potting mix but not mixed with sand and it’s overwatered when it rains and starts turning brown, gonna redo the pot mix now thank you 😊

Luke, it might be time to do a video on citrus and maybe add in graphting.

I see that you have pebbly sand. If someone can't find sand like that, they can use some pea gravel for part of that. I have a bedraggled pot of cacti babies that my cat knocked over a couple months ago, which I told them I would get to them after Christmas. They're all doing fine, but there are too many in the pot, and they are every which way. This inspires me to get to them sooner than later.

I like the repotting idea.

I love cacti. I have alot of rare ones. Thank u for teaching me how to make a really good soil. I did ur recipe to the soil and added lava rocks on top. My Hoodia loves it! Thanks again!

A handful of lava rock in the base before the mix works well if you can't keep your mitts off the watering can!

This was so great! Aren’t cacti such interesting plants???

Luke, you've done growing guides on beets, radishes, carrots when are we going to get the turnip growing guide.

Thank you for a very informative presentation. I learned a lot about caring for desert loving plants.

Thank you, anxious to try my new seeds from Migardener!

Don't, don't, don't, DO NOT, plant a desert plant in a pot with no drainage holes. You can get small diamond drills and drill them yourself if you have an undrained planter. Read the ingredients before using any potting soil. If it contains peat, make sure it also has a wetting agent. Better yet, use coir. When peat dries out, it will not absorb water unless it is boiling hot. Coir is sold bone dry, and it absorbs water instantly Run your sand through a tea strainer or a sieve made from window screen. The particles that go through the screen are waste. They do not contribute to the drainage in the soil. When you water your plants, make sure that the entire soil mass is moistened, this is why you need well drained pots and soil, so that the excess can drain out. Then wait until the top inch of soil is dry and water again. If any part of the pot is continuously dry, the roots of the plant will not penetrate into it. Do not rely on a schedule to water your plants. Different pots dry out at different rates. A desert plant in a ten-inch pot may only need to be watered once every six weeks. The same species in a two-inch pot will need to be watered daily if it sits in a sunny window. Check your plants often, but water only when the pot is dry. Desert plants do not go without water for months or years. They have evolved to collect water every time the dew falls, and the dew falls heavily every night in the desert. They have evolved to collect that water very fast and hold on to it tightly. Google CAM (Crassulaceae Active Metabolism). Do not water cacti in winter. This is their dormant time and they need a dry, cold period to set buds for next year. Some other succulents (From the Southern Hemisphere) grow in winter. Make sure that they have very bright light to prevent etiolation. Your crested cactus is reverting to type. You may want to cut off those cylindrical branches and root them. They will make a perfectly normal cactus. I have been growing cacti and succulents for fifty years and these are some of the lessons I have learned. PS. Here is my favorite recipe for desert plant soil. One brick of fine coir two scoops of Coarse vermiculite, my scoop is the kind Walmart sells for scooping out pet food, it holds about a liter. One scoop of earthworm castings. the brand I am using has live earthworms still in it, and is kind of clumpy, so I run it gently through a 1/4-inch sieve and return the worms to the bin. If they're still alive, they're still pooping. Two scoops of coarse sand. I run my sand through a 1/32-inch sieve. I discard the fine and use the coarse grains. You can get this already screened online, but it's very expensive. One scoop of 1/4-inch screened pumice. I get mine from Bonsai Jack One scoop of 14-inch lava rock. Also, from Bonsai Jack . Lava rock and pumice are interchangeable. you could also use pea gravel or natural aquarium gravel one tablespoon greensand. an organic mineral adds potassium and trace elements. one tablespoon gypsum adds calcium and sulfur without changing the PH. This is a very well-draining soil and works well for most desert plants. If you are used to other soils, you may need to water more often.

I use kitchen prongs when replanting cactus or pulling one out of the ground rather succulent or others I mostly grow succulent I live in Arizona we have plenty of cactus

Nice video. I always stay away from cactus for the same reason Luke mentioned, fear of being pricked. I learned something new with the bag handling technique. I got my trifecta plus and I’m ready to use it for the spring!

Thank you

Thanks 😊 🌵

Thank u. I need to make potting soil for my succulents. You could use an oven mitt to hold the cactus.

Yes 🙌🏻 (needed to know this!) Can I use this mix to start cactus seeds too??

I REALLY needed this video! Thank you so much!

Very helpful! I was recently gifted an extremely prickly cactus and have been scared to repot it, can't wait to try this trick! Also I love my Fresh Picked Apparel sweater! Its so cozy, I wear it all the time, even though my dog got some mud on it that won't come out 😅

Thanks for this! My succulents became slightly brown in the middle then soft and transparent. I think its the soil even tho i use cactus soil. 2 i know i watered too much but this last one this morning, idk😪

Thank you!

My favorite guy!!

Thank you for the great information! 💖🙏🏾

Helpful

Thanks for another great video!!

Thank you for this one. I have a cactus that is need for a re-potting. I do wonder if you use this same soil mixture for Christmas Cacti? I've got several in regular potting soil and they have done well.

Another great video ty 😊

I use Horticultural Charcoal for my planters with no drainage holes.

Can you suggest a plant I can put in my restroom? I would prefer a leafy flower.

Awesome helpful.

Nice video! Do they survive indoors without any grow lights? Desert plants seem to get a lot of sun.

Same for Aloe Vera as well. 👍

Thank you!! I have an avocado plant from Brazil that managed to grow from the pit and i moved it to soil after it had bigger leaves and now they're all sad looking down and very thin, I've watered it but doesn't seem to respond :( . It is rich compost soil so maybe I have enough time to save it????

From experience. Citrus and cactus that are mature prefer different mixes, and cactus once mature definitely prefer different mixes.

Best advice for growing succulents I’ve ever heard: Default to ignoring them. They’re not fussy and thrive in harsh environments.

I got a tip to use Chicken Grit. Basically any porous rock/gravel making up at least half the soil + regular potting soil is better than buying the "Cactus mix" at the store.

I'm trying to do that in 25 gallon pots can I supplement sand with perlite, sand is super heavy

Does salt content in sand from the beach matter to succulents? Should I wash it, first?

We need a video on ROSEMARY!

Question! Bc you know so much! We live at the beach. Is the salty beach sand good for your plants? I heard salt hurts your plants…

Would this work for aloe too?

I really love this guy soooo much, but I disagree with him on one point. Regular "sand", like beach or pool sand, actually drains poorly and will retain water. You could try using "horticultural sand", which has much bigger particles, but PUMICE or PERLITE are much safer amendments to cactus soil. This advice comes from cactus growers 🌵, and not from my brain! I really do love this guy even if I disagree on one small point.

Can I use "tube sand" for the sand?

Luke do you wash your sand first?

Do you know anything about air plants? I can't ever seem to keep mine alive.

Excellent info as always!:p Very much appreciated!! Quick question Luke: I bought Prickly Pear, the only Michigan native cold-hardy cactus, last summer at Eastern Market - but had not put them in the ground yet so brought the 6 inch pots inside instead for the winter. Will they still be hardy enough to plant outside in spring please? Or have I somehow made them more delicate to temperatures by bringing them inside over this winter?… 🌵🤔 Thank You kindly!: )

Avocado don't necessarily need good draining soil. Avocado's need to be planting on hill sides so water doesn't pool.

Luke, I just got a spam Facebook message from someone impersonating you. I now dont know which is the real account. Did anyone else get the same message and friend request?

Why do I feel like the succulent ( cactus) on the black pot is giving me the middle finger 😆😆😆😆😉😉

We water differently haha

ive watched all the desert succulent videos from crime pays but botany doesn't, and I'm sure that i would probably kill it if i tried to grow them...