Recently I was gifted a very large barrel cactus, approximately 30 years old. It’s a healthy specimen of what I believe is Ferocactus emoryi, which is native to Arizona and Mexico. Once it flowers, I should be able to get a more definite confirmation of what it is.
When I received it, it was in a wide shallow pot and leaning to the side due to it’s weight (it’s a heavy one!) The pot, on first look, almost appears too shallow for the size of plant but the plant was obviously healthy – proof that cacti usually like their roots confined. I wanted to stand it up straighter and perhaps move it to a slightly deeper pot. After much fruitless searching for a pot just the right size (not too deep), I thought I had found one but it ended up being not wide enough. So, I decided to see if I could straighten it while keeping it in the original pot.
I wanted to clean up the pot and give it a coat of white paint as well, so that it would fit in with the other pots in the sunroom where the cactus will be residing. How do you unpot a two foot high cactus with 2 inch long spines? Very carefully. With an old towel and the help of my wife, we were able to gently uproot the cactus (did I mention how heavy it is?)
A cleaning of the pot was next, and then a thorough covering of white spray paint. Carefully we lowered the cactus back into it’s pot and after a fair amount of struggling to get it positioned correctly in the centre (long cactus spines not being helpful!), new soil mix (commercial cactus soil mixed with equal parts perlite and pumice) was added as well as gravel topping.
It will be interesting to see how the repotting of this Ferocactus, which has been in the same pot for decades, will affect it long-term. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t flower next summer, due to the relative shock of the transplant, but it will hopefully continue to thrive in it’s new pot home.
The Green Windowsill 