Glued Soil

Question

I got this cactus for my mom, and the people who sold the cactus to me said they glued rocks to the soil so the cactus won’t sink in the soil. They used a polymer glue. I don’t know much about plants. Is the cactus going to be okay? If so, why would someone glue rocks on the soil?

Answer 1

Generally, this is done more for aethetic appearances. Many people choose to remove these stones, especially when repotting. While there is nothing that will dissolve the glue well that won't hurt the plant, you can try to scrape or file away some of it, though you would be best leaving some of it there. Just remove what you can without damaging the plant. It is ok if some remains. After that, you can just care for the plant (or repot) as normal.