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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 26 days
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Long Tom 1
#22456573 - 10/31/15 05:48 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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WARNING: Only read this thread if you are really bored and have nothing better to do.

The standard 4" terracotta pot has an internal diameter of 4" (no surprise there, then), an external diameter of 4 3/8", and a height of 3 7/8" - I know that because I just measured one.
So it is not an ideally shaped container for many of our cacti that have deep taproots, like Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Pelecyphora, Turbinicarpus and others. In fact I recently repotted my Ariocarpus trigonus because its taproot had ´bottomed-out´ and was pushing the plant out of its pot.
 Some L. williamsii
These cactus genuses do better in a pot that is deeper in comparison to its diameter

what British horticulturists call ´Long Tom´ pots.
So I embarked upon a quest to acquire some ´Long Toms´.
No garden centre around me here in sunny Spain had anything like, and an internet search of Spanish suppliers came up with zilch, although ´half-pots´, the opposite requirement, were available.
So they had to be sourced from the UK - but even there your common or garden centre did not stock them, and I found they had to be ordered from a specialist supplier. An online UK horticultural supplier called ´The Plant Directory´ had the business, but would not deliver outside the UK.
BUT I had arranged to visit the UK for 12 days - my kid sister, who is a US citizen, and her husband were visiting our mother, then going to a NFL match at Wembley stadium (long way to go for a football match!!), so before I left I ordered a selection to be delivered at my son´s house near Southampton, where we were going next.
The most common size I use is 4", so I ordered 15 of them, then smaller amounts of 3.5", 6", 5" and 8" Long Tom pots. A total of 43 pots in all. So how to get them back to Spain?? Road hauliers wanted 120 UK pounds to deliver a pencil - so the cheapest option - and the most convenient, was to fly them back with me and Mrs. Fly.
They all came in boxes and wrapped in tubes of 5 or so, very well protected by ´The Plant Directory´ in bubble wrap and foam padding. So keeping them in the as received units I packed 10kg of pots, the smaller ones and the weight limit, into my carry-on cabin bag.
A tube of pots went in each of our two suitcases, protected by clothing, and I made up a large cardboard box for the largest pots (ensuring it was well padded with clothing and paper) - I had to book and pay for an additional item of baggage - 30 UK pounds, as I said, easily the cheapest option.
After unpacking on arrival here is the consignment

After removing the bubble wrap I had:

every one of these fragile pots arrived intact - remarkable as Spanish baggage handlers are not renowned for their delicacy of touch.
So mission accomplished !!
And ready to accommodate a pair of Ariocarpus scaphirostris sprouts.

-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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Toadstool5
A Registered Mycophile



Registered: 01/22/15
Posts: 1,359
Loc: The Golden State
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Great article! I need to find some of these in the states for my simmondsia chinensis, many people suggest starting the seeds in 4" PVC pipe cut to 4' lengths because blocking vertical roots will really stunt plants.
Here's an example, each plant was started in a different depth pot and now has the same pot size, soil, and fertilizers but they have yet to match eachother in terms of size, almost a year later.
-------------------- If you do not know where the mushroom products you are consuming are grown, think twice before eating them. - Paul Stamets AMU Teks Stro's Write Ups
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 26 days
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Good luck locating them. In some places they are called Rose pots.
-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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Toadstool5
A Registered Mycophile



Registered: 01/22/15
Posts: 1,359
Loc: The Golden State
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Thanks, i'll ask around for rose pots since i'm so far from the UK.
Where i live there are a lot of custom ceramic pot companies so its more a matter of affording them for me.
-------------------- If you do not know where the mushroom products you are consuming are grown, think twice before eating them. - Paul Stamets AMU Teks Stro's Write Ups
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