TAKING CARE OF YOUR CACTI

SOME BASIC RULES

       LIGHT       

• South, west or east exposure.

• Special attention should be given to young plants, or plants that have spent most of their life in shade as exposing them to the sun may cause sunburns.

• If they are in shade, turn them around, towards the light, every now and then to maintain even growth.

• If you notice elongated growth, your plants need to be taken in a position with more light

       AIR 

• Cacti need to be placed in spots that have good ventilation

       WATER

• The worst enemy of cacti is over watering

• Place a thin wooden stick or a pencil in the soil.  If soil sticks to it when removed, DO NOT WATER.

• When watering, give them plenty of water.

• Empty the saucers of any excess water, cacti hate having “wet feet”

       SOIL

• Cacti prefer well drained soil

• We use a mix of two parts compost, one part red soil and half part sand.  It is a mix that we use after experimenting since starting our own collection and it proved to be appropriate for our plants as it provides adequate drainage and enough air for the root system

       FERTILIZER

• As a general rule, cacti do not need a lot of fertilizing.  However they do appreciate it occasionally.

• Our practice is to provide with a general purpose fertilizer (soluble 20-20-20) in spring, middle of summer and autumn. 

       PESTS AND DISEASES 

• Prevention is the best cure.  Examine your plants closely every now and then in order to spot in time any insects or fungi.

       TRANSPLANTING YOUR CACTI 

• Do not transplant them in pots much bigger than the ones they were already in as the soil may be too much to drain sufficiently, something that equals to over watering.

• Treat them as cuttings in the beginning.  Do not water as soon as you transplant, do it after a few days.

• As much as we love them, their thorns make our life difficult when we try to handle them.  One thing you can do when transplanting, after you “loosen up” the soil a little, put a plastic pot on top of the plant and tip it over.  Now plant in the new pot.

• Always plant at the same soil level, do not plant too deep as they is the danger of rotting and do not let the roots exposed.

       PROPAGATING FROM CUTTINGS

• Cuttings are an easy way of propagating cacti

• Take cuttings from healthy plants.  Use a clean, preferably sterilized knife or shears

• Let the cuttings dry (10-45 days depending on weather conditions and thickness of cutting).  The wound should be healed before the cutting is planted.

• Keep the cuttings in a shady warm place (not direct sunlight)

• Place the cutting in dry soil and do not water for another 2-3 weeks.

       TREATING ROTTING PLANTS 

• Turning brown and softening usually means rotting

• The rotting of cacti is an irreversible damage

• The only way to prevent loosing the plant is to cut away the rotted part and clean what’s left.

• The remaining part should be thoroughly cleaned so that no rotting should be left.

THE MOST BASIC 

Love your plants and take care of them, they will reward you handsomely!