Oh.. not sure if it has been mentioned but many cactus die if you turn them around.
I have always been told to 'mark' the cactus so you know which direction was facing south and ensure it is still that way when finished. I assume if your buying baby cactus from a market it would not be as much an issue, but if your transplanting them from one part of the yard to another it can kill them to spin them around.
Draven and I went to a class in Sabino Canyon once and were told the reason some cactus point south is due to the evaporation caused by the southern sun. The cactus skin is affected by this over time and if the cactus is spun around it causes too much stress on it and the poor whittle ting will wither and die.
I was raised and am a big do-it-yourself-er (as is my husband), but
digging holes (of any size, that is) is something that I rate high on
the "hire out whenever possible" list of tasks.
:)
-Lisa
Will wrote:
> Soak it with a water hose on slow drip for a few hours, let it soak
> in for a few hours after turning off the slow drip so it's not mud
> when you dig, and... use a pick axe. You may hit impenetrable layers
> of caliche that you can only get through by brute force.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* az-geocaching-bounces@listserv.azgeocaching.com
> [mailto:az-geocaching-bounces@listserv.azgeocaching.com] *On
> Behalf Of *Richard Daines
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 12, 2007 8:25 PM
> *To:* listserv@azgeocaching.com
> *Subject:* [Az-Geocaching] Digging holes
>
> Not a geocaching question since we are not allow to dig or use
> pointy objects to make holes but I can't see that that is a
> problem for Arizonans in the desert areas since I find it
> virtually impossible to dig a hole in this caliche soil. I
> believe it's also known as hardpan. Just how to you guys dig a
> hole, my gosh, I just wanted to plant a few cacti before the temps
> went over 100F one morning.
>
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