parodia herzogii

[sarracenia21]

I got a parodia herzogii at target 3 days ago. I cannot wait for the flower!!! I hope it will not rot.

 

[swords]

If it's potted in peat, water it rarely (monthly or every other month perhaps) and you should be OK, whenever the peat is bone dry. Peat takes far too long to dry out for me to be able to grow succulents in it (they melt/rot) so I don't use peat really at all.

I repot all succulents into a mix of NAPA floor dry which is expanded diatomaceous earth and pea gravel with a very, very tiny amount of peat or coco coir - less than 10% of the mix. Basically just enough to bind the minerals and keep them from falling out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. You can't see it in my mix but it's in there. This mix dries out totally bone dry in 2-3 days. You can also use Turface or Aquatic Plant Soil alone (or in place of the NAPA) both of these are tiny baked clay particles that absorb water and dry out in a couple days.

 

[sarracenia21]

It was in peat, but I mixed a couple handfuls of sand in.

 

[swords]

In my experience peat & sand just makes peat heavier more compacted but as long as you wait until the pot is very light/bone dry before watering again you should be OK.

 

[sarracenia21]

The area in CA is exremely hot, like a desert. Humidityin afternoon is about 30%. It never rains in the summer.

 

[swords]

The best grown succulents I've received by mail always came from areas in CA where it's punishingly hot and dry so in your case you should be OK perhaps even with an all peat substrate. Here in MN Peat is pretty much a death sentence for succulents (stays too wet too long) which is why I always talk against peat for them.

 

[sarracenia21]

Sometimes, cacti rot indoors.