Cactus Plant Care

Another perennial plant type that is quite famous all over the world is cactus. Cacti are also known as low maintenance plants. It is the best indoor plant type, as they require little attention for their healthy growth. There is a wide variety of shapes, sizes and color of cactus. Cacti are called as perennial plants because they will be growing year after year.

Cactus plant care

Potting
  • Cactus should be placed under adequate sunlight.
  • They should be sowed in pots having a good drainage system.
  • Remove one inch of soil form the top. Replace it with gravel.
  • The soil should be a mixture of sand, peat and perlite.
  • Cactus growing vertically should be sowed in container whose diameter is half the height of the plant.
  • Cacti that are growing breadth wise should be grown on containers, which are having 2 inches of diameter extra than the plant.
  • Recently sowed or repotted plants have more chances of getting rot.
  • The soil should be dry enough while the sowing or repotting is been done. Watering should be done after a week so that the roots are healed within the time.
Cactus grows very slowly. Some cactus takes a year to germinate and to know how they look like it takes again some years. They can breed through branches or from a part of the plant. The part of the plant is removed from the main plant and dried for 2 weeks. After the cut portion is healed then it is planted in shallow soil.

Watering
Cactus needs less watering so water them when they dry out. It is better to use clay pots without any glaze, as it needs less water than glazed or plastic pots.

Most of the cactus plant type requires a period for rest so that they can flower the rest of the year. The exact time required for cactus plant keeps varying but in general it is within three months. They are quite friendly to the chill weather and during the winter they should be watered less with no fertilizer application.