What healthy cactus roots look like. Planting and replanting cacti. Drainage in a pot

It is not difficult to ensure the propagation of cacti at home; you just need to know the rules and follow the planting technique. We will learn about this from the article.

Cacti - description

Cacti are succulents, that is, plants that store water in the stem. Instead of leaves, they grow spines, which can be hard or soft, straight or with a curved end. The thorns grow in bunches. Some species (for example, pereskia) also have leaves.

The most dangerous spines are curved ones; they can easily dig into the skin and are not so easy to pull out. Therefore, be sure to wear protective gloves when working with cacti.

• The Cactus family contains about 300 genera and 2500 species.
• The homeland of cacti is America, some species grow in Madagascar and Sri Lanka.
• Preferred climate: semi-deserts, dry steppes and deciduous forests.

The surface of cacti is covered with a wax-like skin, which almost does not allow water and gases to pass through. The pubescence on some types of cacti is a kind of “sponge” for absorbing water. Cactus spines perform the same role - to collect moisture from the air.

Most cacti have spherical or columnar stems. Prickly pears have flat stems, consisting of segments that can be ovoid or cylindrical.

Flowers in cacti appear on their areoles - axillary buds. The areoles also produce hairs and spines. On some cacti, one areola can have about 100 spines!

Cacti bloom for a short time. Flowers can be self-pollinating or require cross-pollination. After pollination, fruits are formed in place of the flowers, in most cases edible.

Prickly pear is grown for the industrial production of fruits that have various medicinal properties.

• To grow a cactus, you need: a minimum of water, a lot of sunlight and a certain temperature during the growth and dormant periods (there are features depending on the species).
• Pots for cacti should be shallow, with good drainage.
• For planting, use special mixtures for cacti: loose, rocky (with sand) soil with a low organic content.
• Watering from spring to winter is needed as the soil dries out.
• In winter, most cacti are kept at low humidity, without watering and at a temperature of 8–15 o C.

How do they reproduce?

Methods of propagation of cacti:

• children (shoots);
• cuttings;
• seeds;
• vaccination.

The simplest methods are propagation by children and cuttings.

• Many types of cacti produce babies.
• Species without producing children can only be propagated by cuttings or seeds.
• Cacti are propagated and grafted in spring or early summer, during growth.
• Seeds are sown in January-February.

Propagation by seeds is the most difficult method, which requires heating, sterility and frequent picking. Not all seedlings survive.

When breeding, you need to know 2 important rules:

• never use nutrient soil, it increases the risk of seedlings rotting and mold;
• use soil with a large (1/2 or more) amount of sand and be sure to disinfect it (calcinate it or scald it with boiling water).

Reproduction by children at home

In species of cacti that form babies, it is enough to detach them from the mother plant and root them in the substrate. Cacti do not root in water.

You should not unfasten a baby that is too small; wait until it grows a little (1.5–2 cm).

You can root the baby directly in the ground or use this method:

1. Secure the baby to a glass filled with water. The distance from the bottom of the cactus to the water is 5–7 mm.
2. As the water evaporates, add it to the glass.
3. It is advisable to maintain the water temperature from 25 to 30 o C.
4. After the roots have formed, plant the baby.

• For rooting and planting, use non-nutrient soil with sand. For example: leaf soil 1 part, sand 2 parts.

It is necessary to plant a cactus without under any circumstances deepening the root collar! To prevent the cactus from falling, pour gravel around it on top: vermiculite, zeolite, coarse sand or small pebbles. Gravel will also better retain moisture in the soil and protect it from mold.

You can plant several cacti in one pot, including different types and varieties, but they must have the same care and feeding requirements. It is necessary to plant at a distance, taking into account the growth of each cactus.

As pots for cacti, it is better to use plastic ones with small drainage holes at the bottom or without them, but with an increased drainage layer (by a third of the pot). Plastic pots cool less and retain moisture longer.

Step-by-step instructions for rooting a baby

• You can water the cactus only a week after planting.
• After three days, place it in a bright but not sunny place until it takes root.
• When the cactus takes root (visually begins to grow), you need to accustom it to the sun.

The cactus is replanted as it grows. The root system of small cacti is small, so the pot should be shallow with good drainage. Even in adult cacti, the roots do not grow too deep.

• Cacti are fed with inorganic fertilizers with a minimum nitrogen content starting from six months of life and only during growth. Study your type of cactus, because some species do not feed at all, while others have their own specific characteristics.
• In winter, cacti go dormant: in September, feeding ends and watering is reduced. In the first two years of their life, they should not be watered at all in winter!

The same rules apply to other types of cacti propagation.

Propagation by cuttings

For propagation by cuttings, you need to select only healthy and strong (non-flaccid) parts of the cactus.

The top part of the cactus is cut off, sharpened, dried for about a week, and rooted in the ground, just like a baby. The cutting should be inserted into the ground vertically to avoid the appearance of lateral roots on the stem.

For better rooting, the following technique is used: the lower part of the cut cactus is placed in a warm Kornevin solution for several hours. Then it is dried for 2-3 days and planted in the ground.

• Kornevin consumption: half a teaspoon per half liter of water.

Step-by-step instructions for cuttings

1. We cut off the selected cuttings with a sharp, disinfected tool. The cut is made quickly and evenly.
2. We sharpen the cut into a truncated cone, without touching the cambium (rings in the middle).
3. Sprinkle all the cuts with crushed coal. If you use Kornevin, then you do not need to sprinkle the bottom cut with coal.
4. Place the cactus in a vertical position to dry for 5–7 days.
5. We plant according to the same pattern as rooting the baby, filling in the cut part. Stick a stick nearby and tie the cactus so that it does not fall.

You can water the cactus after 2 weeks. Before watering, it is useful to spray the cactus a little with a fine dispersion sprayer so that only fine water dust falls on it and does not drain water.

Methods of propagation of forest cacti

All genera and species of forest cacti are also propagated by cuttings: Schlumbergera, Ripsalidopsis and others. Unlike regular cacti, they can be rooted in water.

Forest cacti are epiphytic plants with leaves that consist of segments. They grow mainly on tree trunks and roots.

Important differences between forest cacti and other cactus genera:

• at home they are grown in very loose, breathable soil with the addition of nutritious peat;
• forest cacti do not tolerate either excessive moisture or drying out;
• It is useful to spray them with warm and soft (without lime) water.

Step-by-step propagation of cuttings in substrate

1. We break off the desired stalk (it can even be one segment). We do this by simply pinching it off between the segments with our fingers. It’s good if it already has aerial roots (it will take root faster).
2. We dry the cuttings for two or three days in a warm and dark place (not in the sun, but not in complete darkness).
3. We place the cuttings superficially on a moistened substrate (this can be soil for succulents, cacti, or just peat with half the addition of sand).
4. We fix the stalk. For example, tie it to a stick stuck in the ground.
5. Build a greenhouse: tie it with cellophane or cover it with some kind of lid.
6. Place the greenhouse in diffused light in a warm place.
7. Don’t forget to ventilate the greenhouse a little every other day and spray the cuttings and the ground around so that it doesn’t dry out.

The covering is removed when you see that the cutting has taken root - that is, it produces a new growing segment. After removing the cover, you can water the cuttings little by little so that the soil is moist but not wet.

Tips for rooting cuttings:

• It is useful to spray with the addition of Kornevin (or another rooting agent) + Fitosporin (powder or paste): dilute each product in half a liter of warm water on the tip of a teaspoon;
• do not spray too much, just keep the soil around moist (not wet!);
• It is advisable to plant the cutting immediately in a small pot with drainage, so that after rooting the cactus continues to develop there. Transplant it into a larger pot as the root system grows (when the roots begin to emerge from the drainage hole).

Rooting cuttings in water

There is another “water” method, but using foam rubber:

You can propagate forest cacti by seeds just like any other. When planting seedlings, take into account their generic characteristics.

Propagation by seeds

Propagating cacti by seeds is not always effective. You need to know that not all hatched seeds will survive. Fungi appear on some, others lose roots, dry out or rot.

Cactus seeds can be quite large or quite microscopic, like dust. Depending on the size, before planting they can be soaked in some solution (for example, Micrass) or planted dry. In practice, the difference in germination between dry and soaked seeds is almost imperceptible.

For proper sowing you need to prepare:

1. a low container with holes in the bottom, washed in water and soda (for example, a plastic container or a box of cotton swabs);
2. a cover for creating a greenhouse;
3. spilled boiling water or calcined substrate with sand (one sand can be used);
4. drainage for the bottom of the container: fine expanded clay or perlite;
5. cactus seeds;
6. a ruler or stick for creating grooves in the ground;
7. a disinfected needle (or toothpick) for spreading seeds;
8. warm boiled water to wet the substrate if you calcined it;
9. thermometer for measuring temperature;
10. a means for heating the greenhouse (for example, a fan heater with a thermostat) to 28–33 degrees during the day and 22–25 degrees at night.

If there is no means of heating, place the greenhouses in the warmest place, for example, near the heating. But make sure that the temperature drops a few degrees at night.

• The soil should be moist, but not wet. When filling the container, it must be compacted so that it does not sag when watering. The height of the soil including drainage is approximately 3 cm (1 cm per drainage).
• For sowing, it is convenient to use plastic containers with lids, in which you need to make holes at the bottom with a distance of 1.5 cm. Water the seedlings by immersing the container in water.
• To water the substrate, you need to fill the tray with boiled water at about 40 o C and place the container there until the substrate is completely wet.
• Next, watering the seedlings is done in the same way. Do not overdry the substrate.
• When submersing watering, add some biofungicide to the water (for example, Fitosporin, Fitolavin) to prevent fungal diseases: half a teaspoon of the drug per liter of water.

Tip: if you are planting seeds of different cacti, then sign each groove with a piece of paper with the name glued on it, and cover it with tape (so as not to get wet). Subsequently, re-glue the strips with inscriptions in accordance with the transplant, so as not to forget where your cacti grow.

Step-by-step sowing instructions

1. Using the corner of a stick or ruler, make shallow grooves at a distance of 1.5–2 cm from each other. The seeds should lie on the surface and not fall into the ground.
2. Use a needle to pick up the seeds one at a time and place them along the grooves at a distance of 1 cm. No need to sprinkle them!
3. We close the container with the seeds with a lid and place the greenhouse under lighting lamps at a temperature of 28–33 o C.
4. At night it is necessary to create a temperature difference and reduce it to 22–25 o C.

For better germination, it is convenient to use wooden boxes in which you place containers with seeds and install fluorescent lamps on top. Such greenhouses can be covered with glass (lamps are placed on top of the glass) or covered with agrofibre (on top of the lamps).

• The substrate temperature must be measured daily. If it falls below the required level, it is necessary to either place the boxes near heating devices or heat them up. One of the heating methods: place an aquarium heater in a container with water with the required temperature set, cover the container with glass and place a container with seeds on it.
• Seeds, depending on the type of cactus, germinate from 3 days to a month. Particularly difficult to germinate seeds can take up to two months to germinate. It is better to remove the seed coat from sprouted cacti from the sprouts with tweezers so that it does not become moldy.
• Until the first pick, the temperature is maintained the same.
• After a month, cactus seedlings need to be planted in the same substrate. It is convenient to take them from the substrate for replanting with a fork-shaped skewer (which is for olives).

When transplanting, a small depression is made for each sprout. Make sure that the cacti do not have deep root collars, otherwise they will rot. Compact the sand around with a spoon.

The distance between cacti should be no less than their diameter. The picking procedure will have to be repeated every 1.5–2 months for the first year.

All drying and rotting sprouts, unfortunately, must be removed.

Cacti should be gradually accustomed to:

• open air;
• sunlight;
• drying the substrate.

Before the first picking, cacti are accustomed to the open air. Ventilate the greenhouse every day, increasing the time by 5-10 minutes. After the cacti get used to being outdoors for more than 2 hours a day, remove the cover completely.

After the first picking, keep the cacti warm, but there is no need to observe the temperature regime so strictly. The temperature in general should be between 22–28 o C. Keep cacti away from drafts and cold air!

A week after the second picking, gradually accustom the sprouts to diffuse sunlight so that by summer they are already accustomed to the sun. But do not place them in direct sunlight!

For the first six months, it is necessary to keep the substrate moist. After six months, gradually accustom the cacti to drying so that the substrate dries completely, and then just water it. You can water either submersible or regular, but be very careful not to erode the soil around the cacti.

Only after the cacti are completely accustomed to the sun and dry substrate should they be planted in pots in a permanent place and watered according to the usual scheme for this type of cacti.

Picking (seating) cacti - video

Graft

Most cacti are quite capricious in their maintenance and grow slowly. For very slow-growing cacti, the grafting method serves as a stimulator of growth and development. Grafted cacti grow 3–5 times faster.

Vaccination of cacti is needed for:

• growth stimulation;
• stimulation of flowering;
• growing seedlings;
• saving a rotten cactus;
• reproduction of rare and mutant species;
• colored cacti unable to grow on their own;
• spectacular appearance (some cacti look much better grafted).

The replanted upper part of the cactus is the scion, and the lower part with roots, on which the cut cactus is planted, is the rootstock.

The rootstock can be temporary - for rooting and growing cacti, or permanent: for all colored cacti, for those that have lost a large lower part and are unable to take root, etc.

Grafting can be used to combine cacti of any type, but there are two basic rules:

1. The rootstock must be absolutely healthy, with strong roots and match the size of the scion. The scion will grow much faster than the rootstock, so you need to calculate the size of the upper cactus so that it does not collapse the lower one with its weight.
2. The rootstock must match the characteristics of the scion, for example, lime content. If the scion requires a higher content of this element, then you will need to provide the rootstock with a sufficient amount of lime in the soil. Moreover, if the type of lower cactus does not tolerate high lime content, you can destroy both plants.

Study the characteristics of the cactus that you are going to graft and select the appropriate rootstock for it.

• Examples of rootstock: Cereus, Echionocereus, Selenicereus, Trichocereus, Periscia, Eriocereus, Myrtillocactus.
• Scion examples: Mamilaria, Lobivia, Rebutia, Gymnocalycium.

From experience: Echinopsis as a permanent rootstock is depleted in 3-5 years, so it is better to use it as a temporary rootstock.

Necessary conditions for vaccination:

• cacti should be in a state of growth (spring-summer);
• the stems should not be woody;
• a week before vaccination, cacti are not watered;
• the cutting tool must be very sharp and disinfected (for example, with alcohol or boiling water);
• if the rootstock has been transplanted, another cactus can be grafted onto it only a month later;
• It is desirable that the diameters of the combined sections be the same. If they do not match, they need to be combined in the middle so that the cambium rings match, and the open sections should be sprinkled with crushed coal.
• To fix it, you need to make 2 ropes (for example, use elastic bands or ropes). You can put some material on the top cactus so as not to push it through and tear the cords.

Attention! All actions must be done quickly, without delay. After an even and quick cut, you must immediately graft the cactus onto the rootstock.

Step-by-step instructions for plant grafting

1. Cut the top of the cactus into a rootstock.
2. We slightly bevel the edges of the rootstock. We make another thin, even cut and leave this piece on the rootstock so that it remains moist.
3. We cut the scion straight and bevel the edges. Before installing it on the rootstock, we quickly update the cut (the main thing is to cut off a thin layer on the cambium ring) and then proceed without delay.
4. We remove the cut layer from the rootstock with tweezers and press the scion against the cut of the rootstock to align the cambium rings as much as possible. Twist the scion a little, pressing it into the bottom cactus so that it adheres to it as tightly as possible.
5. We press the scion with prepared strands crosswise. If the scion has thorns, add material to prevent tearing the strands. Sprinkle the remaining open cuts with crushed coal.
6. We make a greenhouse by covering the cactus with some kind of glass, jar or piece of agrofibre.
7. Place the grafted cactus in a warm, shady place, away from sunlight, for 2–3 weeks.

Grafted cacti usually grow together easily 2-3 weeks after grafting.

The roots are the most vulnerable place of the cactus. But only in culture, not in nature. In natural conditions, the roots of these wonderful plants are a miracle of purpose and functionality.

The types of root systems of cacti are different, depending on the species and location of growth. Moreover, plants of the same species growing in different soils can have significant differences in the structure of the root system.

If the cactus grows in nutritious soil without a lack of moisture, it does not need to develop a long and powerful root system. Everything is right below it. Therefore, its roots will be short and thin.

Everything will change if the plant for any reason begins to lack moisture, mineral salts, or both at the same time. Little water means little “food”. With enough water, the cactus is able to extract salts found in the soil in negligible concentrations. When a plant is hungry, there is only one way out - to reach the water with its roots. In pursuit of scarce moisture, the roots of cacti can reach colossal lengths compared to the size of the stem.

There is one pattern: cacti are reluctant to grow in depth. However, they are able to cover a huge area around themselves with their roots, waiting for a few drops of rain or heavy dew that barely wets the surface of the earth.

Only in large plants, in order to stay in an upright position, so-called anchor roots develop, growing deeper. But sometimes they, having reached a certain depth and firmly established there, turn upward to perform another, more vitally important function - collecting moisture.

So, with a lack of nutrition, the cactus develops a more powerful and branched root system, which is capable of providing the plant with adequate growth. It should be noted that the growth of roots in length is not a whim of the plant, but a cruel necessity. In order to grow, roots need nutrients synthesized in the stem when exposed to sunlight. And even when they stop growing, they are a “heavy burden” for the stem.

Therefore, once again in favorable conditions, when there is enough water and salts, the cactus, oddly enough, will not grow much faster, using the capabilities of a powerful root system, but will simply get rid of excess roots. For him, this is less of a loss than the need to constantly supply them with nutrients, so the roots die off.

The same thing happens to cactus roots during drought. When there is no moisture in the soil and the plant exists due to the reserves and water collected by the spines, the roots cease to be suppliers, but become a burden that requires water and “food” - after all, only those roots that benefit the position of the cactus in space and pick up drops waters collected by the thorny garment. The plant mercilessly gets rid of the branched peripheral root system and keeps only the main roots closest to the stem viable. The rest dry out without receiving nutrition from the stem. The remaining roots form tiny shiny cones of waiting roots. When environmental conditions change, in a matter of minutes they are able, under the influence of moisture, to grow and develop a dense network of suction hairs, which very quickly feed the stem with water.

The process of absorption of water and salts by roots is very interesting and complex. Water enters the cell under the influence of osmotic pressure. Cacti have a much lower osmotic pressure than sclerophytes. This does not allow them to widely populate areas with saline soils and is a limitation on the use of mineral fertilizers in culture. The accumulation of salts in the soil will lead to the death of the plant.

This can be explained as follows: if the concentration of salts in the plant cell is higher than in groundwater, then the plant has greater osmotic pressure and is able to absorb water from the soil. If there are more salts in the soil, then they, creating greater osmotic pressure, are able to take away the existing intracellular fluid from the roots. And this is tantamount to the death of the plant.

So, with a normal osmotic gradient, water freely penetrates into the cell, and at a certain moment the osmotic pressure on both sides of the membrane, it would seem, should equalize, because the concentration of salts (that is, ions) in the aqueous solution inside the cell decreases with the flow of water, and the osmotic pressure decreases. But the above-mentioned ion pumps come into force, which are capable of selectively capturing and transporting dissolved salts into the cell. For this, the cell spends the energy of the sun, stored by the stem in chemical compounds during the process of photosynthesis. Mineral substances that enter the cell are transported to the stem and are included in the metabolic process. At the same time, the osmotic pressure is constantly within the limits that allow maintaining normal metabolism.

The roots, which have begun to grow, transmit information to the stem: it is time to grow. This message is transmitted by growth hormones synthesized in actively growing roots. Therefore, metabolic processes in the stem are instantly activated, and the cactus comes to life.

The growth of roots and the entire plant continues as long as there is water.

This happens in most cacti: in drought, the stem waters the roots, and in wet times, vice versa.

In some species of cacti this rule is violated to some extent. There are plants that store the bulk of moisture not in the stem, but in the roots. Record holders in this matter are some South American neophytes. With a stem size of several centimeters, they manage to grow roots weighing tens of kilograms. Of course, such a “turnip” consists of 90% water. Both during drought and without it, the root decides how much water to give to the stem.

Plants with turnip-shaped roots have learned another “trick”: some cacti know how to hide underground during drought, away from the scorching heat. This occurs because the massive root shrinks in volume and pulls the small stem into the soil. This is how lophophora, for example, survives drought.

From a newly hatched seed to a very old age, the root system of plants provides them with constant nutrition with the necessary organic and mineral substances, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the stem, its readiness in due time for flowering and fruiting. The roots work in accordance with the duration and intensity of the light energy level, the temperature conditions of the environment and the humidity of the soil potting mixtures in which the plants “live”. Failure to comply with at least one of these components leads in the vast majority of cases to an imbalance in the conditions for proper maintenance of cacti. Lack of light causes deformation of the stem and reduction in the size of the spines; excess light can lead to inhibition of stem growth and its depressed state. High temperatures (over 30°C) for a long time are accompanied by the same effect, and in combination with “open” sunlight they cause burns and even death of the entire plant. Excessive moisture in the earthen clod often leads to rotting of the roots or disruption of the correct dynamics of stem growth. Prolonged dryness can cause destruction of the roots and, as a result, cessation of nutrition of the stem. All these “unfortunate problems” are well known to collectors; they are described in detail in specialized literature and should be taken into account by novice amateurs when purchasing their first and subsequent cacti.

Well developed roots of Chilean cacti

It’s easier if the plant is obtained in a pot with the “manufacturer’s” soil mixture. Such a specimen can live for a long time, but sooner or later the time will come to transplant it into a larger vessel, and the owner faces a problem: which one is most suitable for the grown plant? Armed with literature and computer recommendations, the amateur begins to understand: how many people, so many opinions - i.e. As many authors of articles, there are as many recipes for preparing the substrate. With a wave of his hand, he selects the first recipe he comes across that is suitable, in his opinion, and transplants his pets. But the worm of doubt in the soul of a true collector forces him to turn to fundamental literary sources and study the composition of soils in places where cacti grow. This is where a thorough analysis begins and it turns out that... Sandy-clay crust baked under the rays of the hot sun, crushed rock crumbs with organic remains of decomposition of vegetation not completely washed out by rain or carried away by the winds, filling cracks - these are the main soil substrates in the area distribution of cacti. Where do the powerful turnip-shaped roots of many species or the branched root system, often covering several square meters of area, come from? What do they feed on themselves, and sometimes even feed a very large stem?

Long roots of alpine tephrocactus

Soil scientists have long established that even the most fertile soils with a high percentage of organic components also include oxides of various minerals. Here is an example from the book by I.F. Garkushi “Soil Science” according to the composition of the main components of clayey chernozem as a percentage of dry mass at a burial depth of 0-30 cm: humus - 14.8 (pure humus up to 6.14%), nitrogen - 0.61, P2O3 - 0.22, SiO2 - 44.35, Al2O3 - 15.8, Fe2O3 - 4.52, CaO - 4.97, MgO - 1.55, R2O - 2.27, Na2O - 0.71.

As you can see, in addition to minerals such as silicon and phosphorus, the soil contains oxides of aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and even traces of sodium.

The soils of mountainous regions are characterized by a significant predominance of mineral components over organic ones. Under natural conditions, plants receive mineral nutritional compounds from crushed soil-forming particles obtained as a result of weathering of rocks during their “aging” under the influence of temperature changes, air oxygen and precipitation. Plants consume organic matter mainly from semi-decomposed or completely decomposed plant matter, as well as from the remains of dead insects, excrement of small animals and soil organisms. The mineral components of the soil are absorbed by the roots in the form of salts, while the organic components are absorbed in a non-salty state. Naturally, it is not possible to consume nutrients in a solid, dry form. Moisture is needed, which dissolves solids, and the assimilation of “food” begins. The roots, feeling the moisture, very quickly form sucking roots, which deliver nutrients to the stem.

New roots on the “baby” mammillaria

Long taproots are a sign that plants are waiting for moisture not in the form of precipitation, but in the form of deep-lying soil water.

Mammillaria tap root

Superficial, highly branched roots are a sign that life-giving moisture is absorbed from dew that falls during temperature changes.

Superficial, branched roots of Notocactus

Powerful turnip-like roots are a sign that it is difficult for the plant to wait for mercy from natural precipitation and, like the humps of camels, it stores up a supply of ready-to-use nutrients accumulated during short rainy periods.

Lophophora turnip-shaped roots

In the absence of moisture, the sucking roots die and are born again with the next portion of H2O. In nature, the roots of cacti are maximally developed, because... The surface layers of the soil, heated by the sun, prevent the appearance of any, and its porosity eliminates any stagnation of moisture. In rare cases, cacti grow in dense, humus-rich soils and tolerate prolonged moisture without harm. In cultural conditions, the water regime of the collection and the composition of potting substrates are regulated by the collector himself, therefore, for the healthy condition of the roots, several strict rules must be followed:

Correctly developed root system of a rebutia seedling

1. The earth mixture must be porous due to the mineral components and loose structure of the soil. The volume of organic matter must be reduced as the cacti grow when they are transplanted.
2. Watering plants (except for seedlings) is done only after the earthen clod has dried out.
3. Feeding with mineral fertilizers and microelements can be done only during the period of maximum growth of cacti (mid-spring, early autumn), remembering that it is better not to feed more than to over-feed.
4. The spring “awakening” of the roots after a cold and dry winter is best done by spraying the stems, which will “pump” some of the moisture to the roots and prevent them from rotting.
5. When replanting, monitor the absence of root pests, and for prevention, add pesticides to the irrigation water twice a year.
6. Constant access to fresh air, sunlight and changes in daily temperatures are the key to the health of not only the stem, but also its roots.

Prickly pear is a very interesting plant. This cactus blooms beautifully, is highly decorative, edible and has medicinal properties. If you don’t already have this cactus representative, think about adding to your collection. And caring for prickly pear cactus at home is so simple that even a beginner can handle it.

Evergreen perennial. Belonging to the cactus family. The habitat is in the temperate, tropical and subtropical climate of America. Sometimes found in India, Australia and even in southern Russia.

It grows as a shrub with creeping or erect shoots, sometimes as a tree. Stems are jointed and flattened. The areoles have spines and hook-shaped setae. The leaves are succulent, small, awl-shaped, and quickly fall off. The flowers are bisexual, arranged solitary. Colors - red, orange, yellow shades. After flowering, edible fruits with hard seeds ripen.

Interesting! In folk medicine, the prickly pear cactus is considered a medicinal plant. It is used for obesity, stomach problems, and diabetes. The high potassium and calcium content stimulates insulin production. The flowers contain astringents that have a hemostatic effect.

Types and varieties

In indoor floriculture there are different types of prickly pear. Among them there are many hybrid, artificially bred varieties. Some of them are especially popular.

Important! Not only the prickly pear fruits are edible, but also all other parts of the plant. In Mexico, the cactus is freely sold in food markets and stores. Prickly pear is eaten raw and used for desserts. The taste is mixed - reminiscent of pear and strawberry. It is not advisable to eat houseplants. During feeding, substances harmful to humans accumulate in the pulp.

Rules of care and subtleties of cultivation

An easy to grow cactus. Even at home, the prickly pear cactus grows quite quickly and rarely gets sick. By adhering to basic rules of care, you can grow a beautiful, healthy specimen.

• Lighting. Bright light with sun protection. The need for lighting is high all year round. When located on the north side and in winter, it is recommended to use artificial lighting.
• Temperature. Not critical. In summer it adapts to any temperature. In winter, the plant should rest at +6°C. Higher temperatures lead to stretching of the cactus and deterioration of its decorative qualities.
• Watering. Watering is careful and moderate. Excess moisture quickly causes root rot. Water only after the top 2-3 cm of soil has dried. Use soft acidified water - add a few drops of lemon juice or grains of citric acid. Preference is given to bottom watering through a tray.
• Humidity. Reacts normally to low air humidity. There is no need to spray. Rare spraying to remove dust is allowed. Frequent ones lead to rotting of the base of the trunk.
• The soil. Use slightly acidic, light, loose soils for cacti. The soil mixture includes deciduous soil, turf, sand and clay. All components are taken in equal shares.
• Transfer. Prickly pear does not like to be disturbed. Transplanted in extreme cases. Good reasons include cramped pots, acidified soil, rotting roots, mealybugs or nematodes. Before transplanting, the soil is dried and planted in dry soil. The transplanted cactus is placed in the shade for 2-3 weeks. The first moderate watering is a week after transplanting.
• Feeding. Fertilizers are applied once a month during the summer. Use special complex mineral fertilizers for succulents and cacti.

Advice! Prickly pear does not like frequent changes of environment. When choosing a place for it, take into account all the requirements for growing conditions. It is advisable that she constantly stands in one place.

Reproduction methods

Prickly pear is easily propagated by seeds and cuttings. Growing from seeds is a more labor-intensive method.

• Seeds. Each seed is in a dense shell. To speed up germination, the seeds are scarified - the dense shell is sawed off. The seeds are immersed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 15 minutes, then soaked for a day in plain warm water. Sow in sterile soil. The temperature is maintained at 20°C, kept under film, periodically removed for ventilation and spraying. Coarse sand, leaf soil and crushed coal are mixed as planting soil. The seedlings are placed in a well-lit place and, if necessary, artificially illuminated. Grown cacti dive into separate pots.
• Cuttings. Using a sharp knife, cut off part of the stem at the narrowing point. Keep for two days in a well-ventilated, dark place. The base of the cutting is buried 2-3 cm in slightly damp coarse sand. The sand is pre-sterilized in the oven. Keep in the light and water periodically. Roots appear in 3-4 weeks.

Typical problems

Some varieties of prickly pear can be grown not only at home, but also in flower beds. When well cared for, they bloom profusely with beautiful yellow flowers.

First, once again about the soil for cacti. It should be loose and allow water and air to pass through well. One of the main loosening components of any substrate is sand. But we often omit the postscript, taking it for granted that the sand should be river sand, well washed, and sifted from dust. If this is not done, the sand will add cementing properties to the entire soil rather than loosening. Look, there are two types of sand in the photo, one was taken from a sandbox near the house (it got there from a construction site), the second is river sand, washed and coarser (sifted), they even differ in color. After wetting, the first sticks together in lumps, the second, on the contrary, does not hold its shape - it crumbles, and, naturally, only this one is suitable for us.

Another component is zeolite granules from cat litter (“Barsik-standard” or any other, but always non-clumping litter). They are also added for loosening, but they are prepared for this: they are thoroughly washed and then sifted. A coarse fraction is added to the soil. The remaining components of the substrate are traditional: garden soil or universal soil from the store and fine expanded clay. The soil can be replaced with coconut substrate, whose main advantage is its looseness, it does not stick together into a monolithic piece, allows the roots to breathe, and its acidity is close to neutral. When adding coconut substrate from briquettes, it must be taken into account that it swells when it first gets wet, increasing in volume three times. In order not to make a mistake with the quantity, and to ensure that the cacti are not “kicked out” of the pot after the first watering, it is better to wet the coconut substrate in advance and dry it again, and then mix it with the soil.

Suitable ziolite (clay) fillers for cacti.

Drainage in a pot

For cacti, drainage is a must, especially if you don't know how to choose the right pot size, if you are planting in a pot with small holes in the bottom, or if you are planting an arrangement of several cacti in one pot. Even drainage holes will not prevent stagnation of water in the roots, because excess water remains in the pan, from where there is not always time to drain it. The dimensions of the drainage are relative - at least 1/6 of the volume of the pot, maximum - 1/3.

For drainage, you can use expanded clay, small pieces of broken red brick, small crushed stone, as well as pieces of foam plastic, or a wine cork cut into small pieces. With cork it is easiest - it is easily cut into pieces of about 5 mm. But when replanting, the old drainage needs to be thrown away - it accumulates salts. To ensure good drainage from the roots, water the cactus thoroughly before replanting. But after you shake off the old soil, leave the succulent to lie in the shade with the root system open for two hours. It is also a good idea to add broken egg shells to the cactus drainage.

Preparing to transplant cacti

The best time to transplant cacti is the end of March, April, beginning of May, i.e. when plants are just starting to grow. But if necessary, you can replant cacti throughout the growing season. When transplanting healthy cacti with a noticeably grown root system, the new pot should be slightly larger than the old one. The old pot should fit freely into the new one. If rotten or dead roots are found during transplantation, they must be carefully removed with nail scissors. In this case, the pot is taken a little smaller than the old one, and more sand and pieces of charcoal are added to the soil. Slowly growing cacti, which have not grown much of the root system since the last transplant, can be planted in the same pot, just replace the soil with fresh one.

Before replanting, it is better to disinfect both the pots and the soil. The pots can be doused with boiling water, and the soil mixture can be kept in the oven for about half an hour. Before transplanting, cacti are not watered for 2-3 days, because part of the wet soil will inevitably remain on the roots, and if the roots are injured, cracked, or broken, moisture quickly leads to rotting. The soil mixture for planting should not be cold, dry, but may be slightly damp, but in no case soggy. Let me explain what slightly moist soil means - this is exactly the moisture content of soil purchased in a store when the package is opened. It does not dry into dust, but when clenched in a fist, it clumps slightly, but quickly disintegrates.

The stem of a cactus can be held with tweezers

If you don't have tweezers, use a strip of paper

A healthy cactus has such a powerful root system that it is not so easy to remove it from the pot.

How to plant a cactus

To remove a cactus from an old pot without hurting your hands on the thorns, it is very convenient to use plastic tweezers. But there is another way - the plant is wrapped in a strip of paper folded in several layers, then the pot with the plant is turned over, and lightly tapping on the bottom, it is removed. As the famous Zaletaeva I.A. wrote, a healthy cactus must have a very strong root system, and this is defined as follows: if you take the cactus by the trunk and lift it, then it must either rise with the pot, or be taken out of the pot with the entire earthen lump, entwined with roots. If the roots break off, some of them remain in the pot, and the rest remain with the plant - then this is a sign that your cactus was not feeling well or was sick. Most likely, some maintenance conditions were violated, possibly waterlogging, which led to poor growth of the root system, or its rotting and partial death.

If the cactus is “stuck” to the ground and the pot, you need to squeeze the sides of the plastic pot with your hands, or separate the soil with a knife along the wall of the pot.

If, on the contrary, the cactus easily fell out of the old pot, revealing fragments of roots, all rotten areas must be removed and the sections sprinkled with crushed charcoal. If the root system has been significantly damaged and many roots have been removed, then the new soil mixture should contain more sand, and the pot should be smaller than the previous one.

Proper planting of a cactus - small pot, top and bottom drainage

Incorrect planting of the cactus - poor drainage at the bottom, deepening of the root collar into the ground

Stem rot from constant contact with wet soil

Drainage is poured into the bottom of a new pot, then a little substrate mixed in a bowl, and then the plant is planted, carefully straightening the roots and evenly adding soil between them. There is no need to compact or press the soil hard; you can only knock on the wall of the pot so that the soil falls between the roots. When replanting a cactus, it is important that the stem (trunk, body) is not covered with soil; the soil is only filled up to the root collar. If the stem ends up in the ground, then when the cactus is watered, it will begin to rot, which will lead to the death of the plant, or when it comes into contact with wet soil, suberization begins on the cactus stem - the formation of a dry brown crust. Schematically, the correct transplant is shown in the figure above, which shows a cross-section of the pot (the dimensions and ratios of the pot-cactus are almost life-size). As we have already correctly mentioned, do not forget that the frequency of watering depends on the temperature.

Since the root collar is narrow, and the stem further expands greatly, the plant will sit quite unstable in the soil. Therefore, you need to strengthen the cactus in the pot by surrounding it with pebbles or decorative stones (from an aquarium store). This is called top drainage. The pebbles should not be too small, as they create a too dense layer, and the soil breathes less well and dries more slowly. It is very difficult to hold long large cacti with pebbles; then they have to be tied to a support. The pot for large specimens of cacti should not be taken too large, otherwise the soil will turn sour. And so that the pot is stable and does not overturn the prickly giant, a large stone is placed at the bottom of the pot among the usual drainage.

When replanting, it is recommended to shake off the old soil from the roots of the cactus, doing this as carefully as possible. But if the roots have densely intertwined the earthen lump and formed a kind of root felt, then under no circumstances should you dig out the old soil. It is necessary to transfer it to a new larger pot with the addition of fresh soil. But for cacti bought in a store, it is advisable to shake off all the soil, since they are planted in pure peat, which is in no way suitable for. From my own experience, I can say that in some cases it is easier to get rid of store-bought soil if it is dry (for large cacti), and sometimes you have to soak the root ball in warm (almost hot water), and then carefully remove the peat fibers from the roots.

After transplantation, healthy cacti are not watered for at least 3 days; if the plant has many damaged roots, then it is not watered for 5-7 days. If the temperature indoors or outdoors is not lower than 20°C, then the cactus can be sprayed with a very fine spray, preventing droplets from forming and flowing to the ground. In addition, a newly transplanted cactus cannot be placed in direct sun; it is usually shaded for 4-6 days.

Young cacti, up to three to five years old, are replanted annually; older plants are replanted every other year. Epiphytic cacti are replanted annually after flowering. Also, after flowering, all cacti that bloom in early spring or late winter are replanted.

Root bath for cacti

A special treatment method (or root bath) for cacti with damaged root systems, used during replanting. I once read about this method in an old book about cacti, I used it myself and had positive results (with the exception of epiphyllums and decembrists). It happens that a cactus is apparently healthy, but grows very poorly, and the roots turn out to be poorly developed and weak when transplanted. Then you can try the following procedure. After the cactus is removed from the pot, shake off the old soil; you can even wash the roots in warm water, but carefully so that there are no breaks. Then hot water is poured into a cup or glass, at a temperature of about 50-55 °C. For this you will need a thermometer.

A dense material is taken and fixed on a glass above the water. A hole is made in the middle and a cactus is placed there, while the roots up to the root collar should be in hot water, but neither the stem nor the root collar should touch the water. The cactus is kept in this hot water for up to 15 minutes. It is important that the water does not cool down, but is at the same temperature all the time; you can wrap the glass in a woolen shawl, or add hot water, monitoring the temperature with a thermometer, but under no circumstances cover the glass with the cactus. This procedure stimulates root formation in cacti. After this, the cactus roots must be dried for 12-24 hours, and then planted according to all the rules.