How to care for cacti: three “whales” to be aware of

About fifty years ago, cactus breeding in our country rapidly gained popularity. Interest clubs were created for cactusists, lectures were given, books were written up that were instantly bought up, specialized stores opened. It seemed that no one asked - everyone thoroughly knew how to care for cacti. The traces of this craze are still preserved, although either the most loyal or the thorny handsome men inherited remained faithful to him: it seems that there’s no reason to throw them away.

They say that two identical cacti do not exist. Even "brothers in appearance" can have a different shape only because one got plenty of sunshine and the other hid in the shade. Nevertheless, all cacti, as on the three "whales", are based on soil, light and water. Consider these three factors correctly - and most of the problems will be removed, and your plants will be healthy and strong.

The soil

In the soil of dry desert areas where cacti live, there are a lot of mineral salts, and there is almost no humus and soil microflora. Be sure to keep this in mind when preparing the soil mix for cacti. Of course, they will only be glad to humus and will grow rapidly. But in the end, you will get by no means a giant, but a loose plant, a painful, barely blooming and poorly tolerating winter temperature drop.

When you learn how to care for a cactus, please note: the characteristics of the soil mixture for it should be similar to the natural conditions of their growth. This is, firstly, porosity, good permeability to water and air. Secondly, the mixture should be rough and lumpy. Thirdly, undecomposed organic matter should be excluded from it.

The following proportions are suitable for such a mixture: heavy sod land (2 parts), leafy earth (2 parts), coarse sand (1/2 part), brick chips or expanded clay fraction the size of a buckwheat grain (1/4 part), charcoal ( 1/6), lime (1/12).

Shine

It plays a crucial role in the life of any plant. In how to care for cacti, the light will be your faithful assistant, if you understand the important details.

Many types of cacti are residents of the highlands, the atmosphere there is sparse and, due to this, transmits ultraviolet rays more. During evolution, cacti have adapted to this, having acquired a dense cover of thorns and hairs. In the conditions of artificial cultivation, in the list of other problems regarding how to care for cacti, the question immediately arises: how to provide the "highlanders" with the right amount of ultraviolet rays? After all, they will have to spend most of the year behind glass that cuts off the lion's share of ultraviolet radiation.

You will have to take care of artificial lighting, and in the winter, you will also have to irradiate it with fluorescent or DRL lamps. In summer, cacti must be kept outdoors.

But there are also epiphytic cacti. Their home is tropical rainforests saturated with moisture. They should be shaded all year round in greenhouses.

Water

Of course, the cacti and succulents to which they belong have adapted to the water deficit of deserts and semi-deserts. But this does not mean at all that when asking experts how to care for cacti, one should not pay much attention to this topic.

Spraying is of great importance - after all, in natural conditions, cacti collect abundant dew in the morning, even where there has been no rain for years. Suitable for spraying morning and afternoon, warm sunny weather is required. This is especially important during the budding period.

If winter watering is usually reduced to a minimum, then in the spring and summer, make sure that the earthen lump does not dry out. When watering, a number of factors that are individual for a given type of cactus are taken into account. In autumn, the plant is watered less and less, already without spraying.

Gradually, you will get used to all these requirements, and they will not cause you any difficulties. And cacti will please you more than once with their healthy appearance and beautiful flowering.