Cacti: Tips & Care (2nd part)

There are two groups of cacti. The desert cacti which is basically the one that comes to your mind whenever you think of “cactus”, but there are also the so called “Jungle Cacti”, which grow in the rainforest (So everyone would think they don’t belong to the cacti family).

The three variants that we need to consider in order to grow cacti are the following: SOIL, WATER AND LIGHT. That is why growing cacti is relatively easy to do and can be quite rewarding.

Most Jungle cacti are either Epiphytic (grow in trees) or Lithophytic (grow in rocks).This type of plant gets its nutrients from the air or from dead leaves and other debris that may have collected in cracks.It is important to note that there are no parasitic cacti. Those that grow in trees do so for support, but do not sap nutrients from their host. The perfect mix for a Jungle Cacti would be to include: orchid bark, perlite, potting soil, peat, coir, pumice, and oak leaf mold. You can start with some coarse orchid bark (about 25%), mix in some potting soil (25%), peat (25%), and the rest mostly perlite with maybe 5% coarse gravel. What really matters of the mix is for it to have a good drainage. The perlite helps create this by keeping the soil loose and ventilated so does the orchid bark. Additionally the orchid bark tends to hold more moisture than pearlite or gravel. Rememberhat the orchid bark will eventually break down into soil. This will create a very rich soil that may not be as effective in keeping the roots healthy. It isn't a bad idea to re-pot these plants every 2 or three years with a fresh mix. The best time to do this is shortly after your plant has finished blooming. 

This is when it will be ready to start growing again. You might also add some fertilizer to the new mix such as bone-meal or some commercial brand for re-potting.A well drained soil is critical for keeping the water from rotting the roots off the plant. With the proper soil, however, watering is really quite simple. You should water your Jungle Cacti about once a week. This is a good rule of thumb, but there are exceptions. During extended hot, dry periods you may water twice a week. But if it cool and rainy you can switch to every other week. For those living in colder regions, you may find that you have to water your indoor Jungle Cactus more in the winter than in the summer due to the dryer air from the heater.  

So, you may wonder when to water your cacti, well I am going to tell you an easy, common sense method: stick your finger in the top 1/2 inch of soil. If the soil is dry, go ahead and water. If it's not, Hold!! If the stem segments are contracted, dehydrated and the soil is cracked, it is time to water. But, be careful, If the plant is over watered, the stems will also look shriveled, but the soil will be damp. If this is the case, do not give it more water. An over-watered plant will start to turn yellowish, then it will turn dark reddish-brown like a rotten apple. This is because the cells took in so much water they broke and are now dead and rotting. This usually happens from the ends first. This will continue even after you stop watering too much, but often you will have enough plant left to start over.

Jungle Cacti can survive in a wide range of light conditions. For the plants to thrive the amount and intensity of light are key ingredients. The ideal condition is full morning sun and then shade for the afternoon and you will have cacti with robust and healthy growth. It may seem that shade in the morning and full-sun in the afternoon should produce the same results as full morning sun/afternoon shade, but it doesn't. This is because the temperature is cooler in the morning than the afternoon and for many plants the afternoon sun is too intense and plants will often take on a yellowish appearance and may develop spots. In full-sun these symptoms will be even more apparent. In full shade the plants will don a dark-green healthy appearance, but the stems will be stretched out long and thin in an attempt to reach more light. Light also triggers blooming in many species. In ideal conditions a particular plant may exhibit fantastic growth with many show-quality stems, but they won't bloom. In this situation exposing the plant to longer and more intense sunlight will trigger it to bloom. Desert cacti hail from throughout the arid regions of the America's and surrounding islands. 
Despite this, many people picture cacti growing in the Sahara Desert sands with practically no water. This common thought should not be in your mind when you are preparing an environment for your desert cacti. Let’s try to generalize as much as possible for a successful all around growing environment.

It is not true what you have seen in the movies of growing cacti only in sand because most cacti prefer a nutrient rich, rocky soil with good drainage. To create a suitable growing median for our desert cacti we'll use some of the same ingredients that we used for jungle cacti as well as some new ones. These are pear-lite, pumice, potting soil, rocks, sand, peat, coir, and gravel. After trial and error and advice from other growers, We came with a good recipe for an easy, well-draining mix. This mix consists of around 50-60% pumice, 20% coir, 20% topsoil. For larger pots you may like to add 1 to 2 inch lava rocks from anywhere between 5 and 10 percent, but it can make digging or transplanting more difficult because you'll hit rocks with your trowel or shovel. Some people use earthworm castings for extra nutrients. Remember, there is no one mix that is the perfect mix. Ultimately, you'll want to experiment with different ingredients until you find one that works for you. Just remember that cacti roots need a well-draining soil that will wet easily. Use whatever materials are most readily available to you locally. A simple observation to determine if your mix is cacti-suitable can be made each time you water. The water should not sit on top of the surface and eventually drain down through the mix. Instead the water should very quickly soak down through the pot and out the drain holes at the bottom. Always make sure that your pots have good drainage holes and that no water is able to sit in the bottom of the pot.

Their ability to survive in extremely hot, dry habitat is a truly fantastic capacity of cacti. But obviously the idea that cacti must avoid water in order to survive is obviously false. The reality is water is essential for all cacti to live. Most desert cacti can sustain long periods of drought. This is because the last time water was available to them, they stored as much as possible in their tissues. Additionally cacti contain many features that enable them to keep that moisture and not dry up in the heat of their environment. A good time to water desert cacti is whenever the soil is dry. In hot, dry areas watering once a week is acceptable. In more humid or cooler areas, it may be three to four weeks before the soil dries enough to need more water. The key then isn't to avoid watering, but rather just don't over-water. Avoid watering if the soil is still moist .

Desert cacti typically prefer a lot more light. My potted plants, seedlings, and newly rooted cuttings only get sun for half a day. The sun would make short work of plants that are not established. Therefore it is not wise to move cacti into the full sun until they have a healthy root-system. Even if potted plants are established, full sun should be avoided. This is because the sun will heat the roots in pots to temperatures much higher than roots in the ground. This is not a natural condition and the roots are not made to survive high temperatures so make sure your potted plants don't get too hot. One way to prevent this is by using white pots instead of black.Once you find the best soil, water, and light mix for your location the cacti will do the rest. To learn more about how to grow Cacti, I recommend this book, simple, easy to read, inexpensive and with good tips...