In nature, the cactus grows in hot tropical conditions with dry land and a small amount of precipitation a year. Therefore, if this plant has appeared in your house, your task is to create similar conditions for it. The basic rules of how to water a cactus, it is important to know that it is healthy, strong, and also grows well and blossoms.
How to water a cactus at home?
The first rule that you need to remember - watering cacti should in no case be frequent. Remember that this tropical plant will feel better if you forget to water it, than if you do it again just in case. With a lot of moisture, the root of the cactus begins to rot, which is fraught with diseases and even the death of the plant.
Do I need to water the cactus?
Knowing that cacti in nature grow in the desert, many ask the question, do cactus water at home? After all, the deserts are dry, so they live perfectly well without water? But this dangerous delusion, the moisture of cacti is necessary, but in very small quantities. There are two ways to water the flowers - on top or through a pallet. Both options have their undeniable advantages and are applicable to cacti.
- Watering the cactus from above has the advantage that we can visually see how much water the plant has received. But, watering in this way, it is important to make sure that water gets only to the soil, not to the stem of the plant. It is easy to provide this if you use a lily or a tube from the dropper for watering. This method of irrigation has a bathroom drawback - gradually the water washes out all the nutrients from the soil.
- Watering through a pallet is good because the earth is not washed away, nutrients remain much longer. The downside of the method is that it is difficult to understand how much water a cactus needs, does it have enough moisture, or on the contrary, is excessive. Watering through the pallet is often used by experienced cactus lovers.
What water to water cacti?
To the question of how to properly water the cactus, include the rules for choosing water. These plants are very unpretentious, and even if you pour them with ordinary chlorinated tap water, this is unlikely to cause them serious harm. But for good healthy growth of cactus water should be used clean and soft, without chlorine and impurities of salts.
The ideal option, what and how to water the cactus - rain or melt water, but it is hardly convenient for everyone. A good alternative is boiled water, or ordinary water, which was allowed to stand for at least a day. You can also use water from a conventional kitchen filter. The water temperature for irrigation should not be lower than room temperature.
Cacti - watering fertilizers
On the topic of feeding cacti there are a lot of disputes, the main argument of which is that in nature they grow in uneasy conditions in the desert where there can not be any fertilizers. But in the sand contains mineral substances, which most likely in the soil at home there, so, like any other plant, a cactus may need fertilizing.
If the plant is healthy, it needs fertilizer only during the growth period, often for this purpose the salts of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and calcium are used. Under no circumstances should the plant be fertilized during sleep, which can be not only in winter, but also in summer heat. In the best case, watering will cause the cactus to wake up, at worst it will lead to decay of the roots. You can not feed a plant if its root system is damaged. How should you water the cactus with fertilizers to give the plant the component that is missing? Let's consider, for what these or other top dressings are applied.
- Potassium affects the growth of the cactus, makes it stronger and more resistant to diseases. Deficiency of potassium in the soil is easy to notice - the plant is covered with yellow spots, loses color. Excess of the same substance, on the contrary, slows down the growth of the cactus.
- Calcium is necessary for the formation of the skeleton of the cactus, the formation of needles and hairs.
- Phosphorus ensures the normal development of flowers and seeds, the formation of roots and cuttings.
- Nitrogen provides the growth of the cactus. If the cactus is not transplanted for a long time, nitrogen starvation may occur, but it is important to remember that the excess of this substance is more dangerous than its lack, and it is necessary to use nitrogen with great care.
And, perhaps, the main rule - it is never worth to feed cacti just in case - they will not enhance the growth of a healthy flower, can not contribute to bloom or reproduction. Use fertilizers only when you are sure that the plant is now vital to this or that component.
How to water a cactus to flowering?
Flowering cactus - it's almost a holiday, because even with painstaking care is not the fact that the plant will please you with a flower. But it is possible to make a cactus blossom, and watering in it plays not the last role. The reason that the cactus does not want to blossom may be too comfortable conditions, and this plant gives offspring more often in conditions of extreme. Therefore, to stimulate flowering, watering cacti should be done less often, and you can use for this only water, without various fertilizers.
Should I water the cactus after a transplant?
For most plants, the transplant looks like this: we plant the flower in a pot, cover it well with water and water it with water, but for cactus this option will be extremely unhelpful. Immediately it should not be watered in any case, watering the cactus after the transplant is made no earlier than four days later.
How to water a flowering cactus?
For the first time seeing a beautiful flower, often the question arises, watering cacti during flowering? Flowering cactus moisture is necessary, the way of watering and the amount of water should not differ the mouth of the regime before its flowering. Do not forget the important rule - excess moisture is more harmful than its lack, this applies to flowering plants.
How often should I water the cactus?
As it became clear earlier, the most important factors of cactus health are good soil and watering regime, and the question of how often to water a cactus can not be neglected. We already mentioned casually that cacti have periods of growth and periods of sleep, often coinciding with the seasons, and it is important to take this into account when watering.
During the sleep period, watering the cactus should be minimal, no more often than once a month. This is connected with the fact that, being in a state of sleep, the plant is not able to absorb water in large quantities, which is fraught with decay of the root system. How to water a cactus during the growth period, very much depends on the air temperature in the house, humidity in the room and directly from the kind of cactus - some varieties in nature grow in conditions of the nebula, others in dry air. It is important to observe the rule - the soil must be dry and firm, watering should be carried out not more often than once a week.
How to water cacti in winter?
To understand how often to water cacti in winter, you should consider whether the plant is asleep or growing, and the temperature of the air. If the room is very cold, it is better not to water the cactus at all - very cold water in the pot will kill the plant. With an average temperature of air and humidity, the optimal regime for watering a cactus in the winter is once every 3-4 weeks.
Cacti - watering in summer
Summer can be different, with different temperatures and humidity. In any case, the earth in the pot dries up at times faster than in the off-season and especially in winter. How often to water a cactus depends primarily on the condition of the soil - it should be dry, but not over-dried. Many types of cacti respond well to spraying with water at room temperature 1-2 times a week, a full watering of the plant should not be done more often than once in 7 days.