Cacti: Luxurious Flowering Of Thorny Plants

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Thorny, but at the same time touching cacti once a year, and some for just one day, reveal to the world the tenderness and charm hidden in them. Many show their special beauty with just one single flower, others are completely covered with a dozen buds. What green hedgehogs will delight us with their flowering in the summer?

Great variety of the cactus family

There are a huge number of different types of cacti in the world. They differ not only in their form, but also in conditions of detention, requirements for care. In some, you don't immediately recognize a cactus plant. For example, peiresquia, which belongs to the deciduous form, does not have succulent stems, and the branches of the bush are covered with full-fledged leaves.

True connoisseurs of cacti, at first glance, will distinguish almost the Ripsalidopsis twins from Schlumberger.

For many, it will be a discovery that cactus are not only elongated and spherical, but also graceful ampelous forms - this is an epiphyllum, a zygocactus. Rarely, many-stemmed species, such as echinocereus, as well as miniature, spherical, as if covered with down, - ailoster, echinopsis, are left indifferent. Let's take a closer look at those species that grow well in indoor conditions.

Flowering of candle cacti

In June-July, Cereus is preparing to bloom, which belongs to the elongated (or candle-shaped) group. In order to organize optimal conditions for this, in the summer months he needs to provide good watering and enough sunlight.

Cereus has been found to bloom better when grown in small pots and not transplanted frequently. The optimal transplant regimen is every 3-4 years. The nutrient substrate is prepared from:

• deciduous land;

• sod land;

• coarse sand.

All components are taken in equal proportions. During the summer, make sure that the plant does not stretch too much. If the cactus is excessively moved in growth, the top should be slightly shortened. Care in the autumn-winter period is different from the summer one. In autumn, watering begins to be reduced, and in winter the soil is rarely and moderately moistened.

You can count on flowering in June-July if you grow a large-angle Cereus, Spaha Cereus. In July-August, the serpentine cereus blooms. It is also called lash-like for its ability to form an ampelous shape. These cacti have red, pink, purple, purple flowers. Closer to September, the Peruvian cereus pleases with a large snow-white flowering.

Ball-shaped cacti

Echinopsis got its outlandish name thanks to the observation of the ancient Greeks. This name means "like a hedgehog", because it looks small, round, covered with sharp long thorns. As the young spherical baby grows, it acquires a more elongated, columnar shape.

During flowering, Echinopsis releases a long arrow, on which a large, like a saucer, pink or white flower blooms, which often exceeds the cactus itself in size. Unfortunately, this beauty is fleeting and rarely lasts more than a day, and then quickly fades. In some cases, flowering can take 3-4 days. Some species have fragrant flowers.

Another representative of the spherical shape of cacti is ailoster. This flower has a very attractive decorative appearance. It is small, about 3-6 cm in diameter, covered with the finest spines that look more like down. They are often grown in dozens of them in one pot. Huge bright flowers are orange, red, yellow, and also white. Several buds can form on one plant at once. Blooms from May to July.