Breeding prickly pets is often perceived as a simple game that does not require regularity or increased attention. However, when people understand how reluctantly and rarely a cactus blooms, they urgently need professional advice and clear instructions. Almost all species of this plant have no leaves and can be of various shapes. Healthy stems are usually fleshy, with a unique pattern for each type on the stems.
Blooming cacti. Types and Features
Appearance can significantly differ in different varieties: the surface can be smooth, with tiny tubercles, covered with pits or ribs. Habitual needles can also look different, spines can be thick (up to 1-2 mm) or similar to soft curly hair. If a cactus blooms, its buds can have absolutely any color - from white to crimson and dark purple. The shape of the flowers is tubular or funnel-shaped. The plant is a self-pollinated species that can give good seed planting material. Some members of the prickly family bloom only at night, others only in the morning. A well-chosen collection can always present a colorful corner in an apartment or mini-greenhouse. Growing blooming cacti, the names have to be remembered in Latin, so as not to accidentally spend a lot of time on an uninteresting variety. It is necessary to try to select such varieties of pets so that you can keep them in the same conditions. It will be quite difficult to equip a personal greenhouse for each tiny pot.
So different spines
There are two large groups of cacti: desert and people from tropical forests. Accordingly, the conditions of their detention will be different. For home cultivation, any dwarf species that does not have to be attached to a clinic or post office in a few years is suitable. If the florist has a desert cactus, it blooms well and for a long time, but in the second or third year. Forest representatives require more moisture and shade, but also delight their buds much more often.
Popular desert varieties of prickly pets: a family of cereus, echinocactus, prickly pear, rebutia, and lash-shaped aporocactus. Forest options for greenhouse residents suggest zygocactus or ripsalidopsis. A unique representative of the desert group is Pereskia, it has glossy leaves and, of course, this cactus blooms with delicate, pleasantly smelling pale yellow inflorescences.
Views suitable for beginners
Epiphyllum is the easiest to care for and abundantly blooming cactus. The color of the buds can be from crimson to purple, white or pale blue. In the summer, the plant is placed in a bright, but not hot place. Once every few days you need to spray with not very cold water, otherwise the cactus will lose all color. When the last petals fall, watering is reduced. If a transplant is required, then it is best carried out in the month of April, when the natural growth of the cactus begins. The plant can be propagated by cuttings in light soil from leafy soil, turf and clean sand. Almost any sort of cactus can be made to bloom, you just have to make a little effort and be patient.