Cactus advice please!

[SVDWoodson]

I bought these cacti from Next in a pack of three for £1, so I thought they were fake, but they started growing after a few weeks. The picture shows them as they are now, but I've no clue what I am doing. I water them weekly, and they live in the kitchen window, but that's all I know.

Please, can anyone tell me, do they look okay? Do I need to do anything with them? The soil is running low; any idea what I should buy?

Check the bottom of the pots, once the roots start to come through they will need potting up (not too big). They need soil that drains well, a mixture of peat and sand should be fine or some sort of grit/perlite/coir. Make sure not to over water them. Hope that helps.

How the heck do you repot a cactus without getting spines stuck in you?

My only cactus tip is, if you knock it down fgs don't instinctively catch it. (I once did this when looking at some in Sainsbury's)

@ErrolTheDragon You wrap the cactus in a narrow, thickly-folded strip of newspaper, and hold just tight enough. Or use barbecue tongs if it's a skinny cactus.

@SVDWoodson Lots of garden centres and shops sell cactus compost in small bags.

They could do with repotting in slightly larger pots. Commercial cactus compost isn’t the best, but you could use it with extra grit 50/50%. Better to use JI2 with 50/50 grit, if you can get a small bag. As already mentioned, wrap folded newspaper to handle the plants, and gently unpot. Once repotted, wait a week before watering to allow roots to heal, and place on your sunniest windowsill. Good luck!

Bottom R one is lovely- just look at that spine formation!

Don’t water if the compost is still moist from the last watering. Remember, they’re well designed to cope with drought. Give them as much light as you can.