Cacti - varieties and care

Cacti - the plants are peculiar. Virtually all of them do not have leaves, and their thickened green stem can have a different shape. Cacti are ribbed and smooth, wrinkled with notches or papillae. Instead of leaves, they have spines, hairs and setae, which grow from pubescent pads.

Many cacti can bloom. Their beautiful flowers can vary in shape, size and color. Some of them smell nice. There are plants among them that bloom only at night.

A variety of cacti and their names

All cacti can be divided into two groups:

• Desert, whose homelands are deserts and semi-deserts;
• forest, which in nature grow in the tropical forests under the trees or on them.

The desert earthen cacti include Echinopsis, Echinocereus cristae, Espola woolly, Opuntia, Notoktus and many others. All these desert cacti can bloom if they are provided with proper care.

Representatives of forest indoor cacti are zigokaktus or decembrist, ripsalidopsis, epiphyllum.

Proper care for the cactus of the house depends, in part, on its variety.

Cacti - growing and care

Cacti need winter peace. At this time, their growth is suspended. If you do not provide proper rest to the plant, it will stretch out and will have an unsightly appearance. In addition, many species of cactus bloom only after the winter they had a "cool" period. To provide a period of rest, forest cacti can be kept on cool windowsills with a temperature of 15-18 ° C. For desert cacti is not terrible winter temperature decrease up to + 5 ° C.

Such cacti, such as Notoktus, parody, ripsalis and some others, can bloom after wintering in a warm room. However, for them it is necessary to create conditions of rest and minimize irrigation.

Winter care for cacti is a rare watering: a maximum of once every ten days. The water for this is taken 2-3 degrees warmer, than the ambient temperature. In winter, we must carefully watch that during watering the water does not flow on the stem of the plant, as this can lead to its decay.

The exception is the cactus of the slumberberger, which should be watered in winter time once a week or even less often.

In spring, the time of rest for cacti ends. Their irrigation is gradually increased. In summer, cacti are watered often, as the soil dries up. During this period, the plants should be protected from sunburn.

Care for a flowering cactus should be the same as for its non-flowering congeners.