Seems like all the cool kids are using this with amazing results. https://a.co/d/10Klan1 I’m stuck in my ways I guess and use putrid smelling Alaska brand fish fertilizer mixed with different blends of Roots Organics. I’ll also throw in some Recharge with every feed, but don’t over do it bc it can raise soil PH. Oh yeah I throw in a few table spoons of epsom salt with every feed and sprinkle Diamond K soluble gypsum over the soil 3 or 4 times a year. Epsom salt and soluble gypsum provide your cactus with much needed magnesium and calcium without altering soil PH so you don’t have to be too precise. Trichos like to grow in a lot of organic material. They are absolute nitrogen hogs. Not what you typically think with a cactus. You may read some outdated post with some old head claiming he’s got the magic tricho mix and it’s 70% mineral and full of bullshit like sand. Please ignore that. My optimum mix is 60% Fox Farm potting soil, 20% coco coir (this seems to dramatically improve root development and gives the soil structure), and 20% earthworm castings. I’ll then mix in some extra perlite and pumice. Perlite aerates the soil and pumice provides water drainage. Some will say they’re interchangeable, but they accomplish different things and I’ve always had best results with a mix of both. I use only fabric pots. Your optimum soil mix and feeding schedule will depend on many factors, your climate being the main one. We get a lot of rain in the summer and they seem to respond well to it as long as I feed after every heavy rain. Usually once or twice a week. I like to let the soil get flushed out by the rain at least once before I feed again. You can run into some major problems if EC levels get too high. My way is just the best way I’ve found for my climate. There’s no one right way to do it, but there are a lot of wrong ways. It will take some experimentation to find what works best for you. I prefer fabric pots over anything else, but have seen people get incredible results with terra cotta or even plastic. If you’re getting a lot of fungal and bacterial pathogens, it’s best to check soil PH (they like slightly acidic soil) and EC levels. Maybe mix up your feed ratios a bit. This will address the root issue instead of just blasting your cactus with fungicides. You will get to where you can just look at them and know if something’s off. Your plants will talk to you. You can tell when they’re happy bc they have a glow to them. Trichos for the most part are not desert dwelling cactus. In their native habitat of the Andes it can rain off and on, everyday for a month straight. They like mild temps and high UV levels. 6-7 hours of direct sunlight is the bare minimum required to have healthy trichos. They are not windowsill plants. If you do it right they grow fast. Harvesting a 7 foot column causes me no pain bc I know it will be back in two seasons tops. Sorry for the wall of text. Good luck happy cactusing
