Potting questions

Hi all,
I've been chatting to a few people recently (who all know much more than me) about how they pot their cacti, and was just curious what ideas are floating out there.

I've got everything of mine in terracotta pots because I like the look, but as someone pointed out to me they will get heavy as I add more to my collection. What do you guys do?

Hey mate been a while since we talked.  

I like terracotta as well and I do have a number of plants in it but the majority are in square plastic to save on space.
I thought you were talking about limestone in your mix which I personally don't like the idea of but as a top dressing I would think it shouldn't change your PH to much. I will be interested to hear what other people think.

Ps I think I can put together a few different seeds for you to play with I will send you a PM once I get them sorted.

Cheers
Midlife

Haha too long.
I was talking about putting some limestone in the soil, I was generally crushing up some limestone and sprinkling it into my mix. I also had some larger pieces in the bottom of the pots for drainage. (Though the more I read about it the more it seems that it may only be a good idea to do that for certain cacti)

Maybe I will invest in a PH tester just to put my mind at ease.

The other thing I've been using is crushed red brick which can look really quite good too. I would also be interested in what other people think.

Have a good one mate. 

I would not recommend putting anything that grows large fast in terra cotta because you'll have to keep repotting it and that can be hard with terra cotta. The roots stick to the inside and getting a heavy plant out can easily result in severe root loss. That said, it looks great as a final home.

For soil pH you could use rainwater or aerate the water you use to make it slightly acidic. Everything gets carbonic acid in the wild through rainwater.

Good point Cereoid,
I wasn't thinking that far down the track, thanks for the heads up.

I'll go stick a bucket outside now, it's been raining here for ages now, at least now I'll be happy about it  

A PH tester is a good investment just be sure to get one of good quality as incorrect reading will cause you no end of problems down the track. I personally add lime to my potted plants at the start of every growing season I find it really helps kick them off after the dormancy.