Transplanting Cacti and Succulents

Cacti and succulents are both normally slow growing plants. They sometimes need to be re-potted, or put in a larger pot. Cactus growth is limited by the size of the pot it is in. It is false that cacti like hot, bright sun, and only grow in sand. In their natural environment, cacti sometimes grow in the shade of other plants, or rocks. A good mix of potting medium for such plants is 60% regular potting medium, with the additional 40% mix of some combination of sand, perlite, coarse sand, small gravel, small crushed stone, paver base, etc. The idea is that the medium needs to drain quickly to avoid plant rot. Cacti & succulents do not like to sit in wet soil.

Always handle cacti with leather gloves, or for larger specimens, wrap a piece of folded newspaper around the plant, hold the ends together with a gloved hand to hold the plant while repotting. Applying some small gravel on top of the soil not only gives a neat appearance, but keeps the soil from drying out too quickly from evaporation, and protects the plant by keeping it above the moist soil.

Using plastic pots will mean that you will need to water less often, so are good for beginners.
Using clay pots will mean that you will need to water more often, as the clay absorbs some of the moisture.