Help with rooting a Pachypodium

[Paul S]

I think it is nicer to work with than perlite, which in a mix has a tendency to rise to the surface then go green :) It is very similar to Seramis in looks and how it works. I believe it does a similar job to both Seramis and perlite by providing drainage, aeration and water absorption in a mix. As I understand it moler clay was first championed by bonzai growers and, from there, spread over to cactus and succulent growers which is how I heard of it. I probably started using it around 10 years ago and think it is brilliant stuff, both as part of my general potting mixes but, in particular, on its own for rooting cuttings. Notably I rooted a 7ft 'cutting' of a 9ft Trichocereus terscheckii that had gone rotten at the bottom (not my biggie, I hasten to add, but a second). Stood it in a pot of Tesco's finest and it had completely filled the pot with roots inside 15 months.

I made a brief switch to LECA recently - A couple of years ago I had some raised beds built inside my greenhouse for planting cactus and succulent plants in and filled the beds with LECA. I over-ordered and had been using that in potting mixes. But for potted plants I still like to use an amount of moler clay and once the LECA has gone I'll go back to just moler clay. The LECA works fine in the borders, mind.

There is another cat litter product called Sanicat that is also moler clay but a larger grain size. I quite like to stick some of that in as well.

[kGarden]

Very helpful, thanks. I'll give it a go.

[AndyC]

Still no roots on the Kleinia but it is still alive.
The molar clay works a treat on Pachyphytum

It has also worked for a few Lampranthus, Oscularia deltoides and Aloe ciliatus

[Paul S]

Excellent. Smells nice, too, if you buy the cat litter incarnation of moler clay :)