Understanding Cactus- Soil - Water relationships with local Tucson legend

Interview with Jon Weeks PHD owner of Landscape Cactus Nursery where we delve into topics ranging from Halophytes in Baja California - to how to water and fertilize cactus in pots and in the landscape. He has spent decades conducting a screening process in which he allows his seedlings to endure the full range of weather with no type of protection what so ever. His goal was to find uncommon desert plants that can thrive in Tucson Arizona with its patch work quilt of microclimates. Jon also lived out of a truck in Mexico for a decade studying plants in estuaries. Running his nursery single the early 70s he is a wealth of cactus knowledge and I'm grateful to have been able to connect with him for this video and hope you find it as useful and interesting as i do.

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THE QUEST CONTINUES.....

[usernamenotavailablee]

MAN I wish this guy was my teacher 😭 this video could have easily been 2 hours longer and we'd still keep teaching new things. One day I hope to be at least quarter as good and knowledgeable of a grower as this man is.

[tristanmereles]

This is a full blown documentary good stuff

[ianferguson]

We need a part 2 with John! What a wealth of knowledge.

[lisandrocombin]

You are the best Hunter!! This old man is full of knowdeledge

[charlesfichter]

Oh boy I wish this video was twice as long ! Absolutely amazing content, those calm explanations are just so interesting !

[wisconsinaquatics]

49:00 and that is why our plants act like they're in "shock" or take long periods to grow again after an aggressive repot, we ripped off the root hairs that are absorbing water and nutrients and they need to regrow before the plant itself will show happy results. Keep learning Keep growing 🌵 🌴

[BrendaRuiz]

This was so interesting, thank you i learn a lot today ☺👌❤

[careyjohnston]

Very informative. Thank you. Many people don't understand when I try explaining what it is that causes damage from freezing temperatures in plants . And how to prevent excessive damage when they have absorbed so much here in the southeastern us . Telling them that the desert southwestern us gets freezing temperatures also but that the amount of moisture in the soil and plant tissue is much lower and so concentration of sugars keep cells from freezing solid. As with conifers the thick sap helps them . Going back to the problem of salts in soils I find it so interesting that some plants will take the added salts and move into the tips or entire leaves that are going to be discarded. Plants are so smart . So are you 😊. Happy New Year

[delfic]

Happy New Year Hunter. That was the most interesting video ever. I appreciate your guest John's special knowledge that he has acquired through a long and meaningful life and how effectively he is able to teach and communicate complex information and life processes so well. John is a valuable Elder to learn from. Thank you for sharing him with us. May you be blessed in 2025. BYW I love your art/pottery.

[carondelet]

Fantastic video with such valuable information! Thanks for the awesome content.

[cactusgardener]

For watering potted plants, using collected rain water stored in tanks seems to be an excellent practice here in Arizona where we have very hard tap water.

[martarodriguez-lv]

Learn a Lot in this video, very interesting! 🥰🥰🥰Love his garden and house!🥰🥰very natural!

[themossynook]

So much useful information! Thanks to you and to Jon.

[JohnPMcCoy]

Found this discussion endlessly fascinating! The germination rate from those 34 year old boojum seeds is unreal, especially considering they lived in his freezer 😲. As a fellow AZ cactus collector, this motivated me to jump more into plant physiology and how it correlates to growing here in the Southwest. Thanks so much for featuring Jon on the channel. I need to check out his nursery sometime soon!

[lorirober]

❤ Excellent video. This man is an incredible wealth of knowledge, I learned so much from him. I appreciate your in depth interview and then seeing his Boojum growing experiment. So fascinating! Glad to see your 2025 vid. 32:31

[jeffreyd-vmpg]

Great video. I've forgotten a lot of my cell physiology, your video was a good refresher course. Thanks for what you do!

[Hardworkandrealestateprofits]

This was a very interesting video thank you.

[MatteBlob]

Lovin the music choices in this one Hunter. Last few shots are also very beautiful! Please make more of these awesome videos brother.

[jordanbarrs]

Man I've been checking every day for a new video, Thank you Hunter, Happy New Year 🎉

[blakevsblake]

Quality content. Thanks for sharing your knowledge