Mineral substrate does not only have excellent drainage, as plants can feed on it too, so I include some variety in the mineral mix. Even my first sowing was done in 100% mineral substrate, and with success. It is the perfect substrate for those who grow in colder climate regions. I currently add a percentage of organic material, higher on smaller plants and lower on larger plants. My biggest williamsii is in 100% mineral substrate, the one in this video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n7V-ptubyt23h5s.html when i bought it, he was completely scared by an attack of mites, and recovered quickly. The mineral substrate can be enriched with a liquid fertilizer suitable for cacti. I use it once a month at the beginning of the growing season. Rocks absorb nutrients and slowly release them. For more information on the topic, I suggest searching: The-Stone-Eaters.pdf - Xerophilia

Try to use 80 to 90% mineral as this will increase your chances of success. Expecialy if you live in a very humid/cold region.

Unfortunately my computer monitor, just four years old, stopped working. Now I can record footage but cannot edit it. I am trying to repair it... 🥺

The boxes are made for transporting frozen food. I get them when I buy food for my pets. But my supplier obtains the boxes from a bakery that receives them with pre-baked and frozen bakery products. :)

@@lophoflora very smart! Are your lops always in a growing phase or do you ever let them slow down for winter? Thanks forsharing! Love your videos!

@@ryansabstractart3518 Thank you. I try to keep them growing continuously but not always with success. Sometimes they start to grow very fast for a few months and then, in two or three weeks, they start to deflate. Sometimes, after repotting, they grow very fast, other times they shrink. The ones on the bottom shelf were huge, the pots even burst, so I separated them into smaller groups and placed them in larger pots but they stagnated. I believe that the change in environmental conditions (temperature and humidity) must be the biggest culprit. I've been moving them around and changing setup frequently over the last year. The seedbed of which I made a video, also went through a bad period, but once the problems were solved, they started to grow a lot. Edit: This is valid for seedlings. Plants with/or more than 3cm in diameter, I keep as adults, with a winter rest.

@@lophoflora I just repotted 3 lops. One is about 8 years old and it had an amazing underground stem, I was shocked! Along with healthy roots, I then potted up 2 little guys that I just got mailed from Germany to Los Angeles where I live. They were in a box for a few weeks (3) and I think they took a small hit from the cold. The smaller one I have looks in better shape than the bigger one that I got. One is about 2.5cm and the bigger one is 3.5 cm. I potted them up in a limestone, granite, calcine clay, pumice, and Coral calcium grit mix. With the idea that through the times when I see them growing I'll give them a little cactus fertilizer for macro nutrients (similar to how i grow my lithops and how ive been growing my oldest lop for many years.. I'm thinking the one I had with the healthy roots will pick up real fast, but since I just repotted the ones that traveled all this way I was gonna wait 4 or 5 days and then give them a small drink. I'm scared because they were bare root and the roots were so dry, do you think I should wait longer than 4-5 days before giving them a drink of water?

@@ryansabstractart3518 I would wait longer, one, two weeks, assuming they are in a warm environment. But it's hard to give an opinion without seeing the plants. Deep green plants grown in a very nutritious medium and gray plants, grown in a more mineral medium and slower, will react differently. Some of my plants like the one in video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itd4jNGcuJ7Nfnk.html have their heads reduced to a third of their size at this time of year and will only receive water in mid-February, weather permitting.

TLED 6500K by Secret Jardin.