How to cultivate cactus?

Cactus flowers are divided into two types in cultivation: terrestrial cactus and epiphytic cactus. These two kinds of cactus flowers have very different requirements for temperature, light and water in winter. However, the author believes that the management of their wintering should begin in autumn. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, palm plants should receive as much light as possible. After entering the late autumn, we should gradually control the watering until it stops. When necessary, a small amount of potassium chloride solution can be applied to increase the concentration of plant body fluids and enhance the cold resistance. From late autumn to early winter, don't rush to let palm flower enter the room prematurely. Instead, we should try to let plants receive enough sunshine during the day and exercise at low temperature at night. If there is no cold wave, palm flower can go indoors when the minimum temperature drops to 4℃ at night. Don't break in the middle Generally, after this treatment, palm flower's tolerance to low temperature is enhanced, which is beneficial to overwintering.

Terrestrial cactus is native to arid areas, extremely drought-tolerant, and most of them have the habit of dormancy. It is absolutely forbidden to water after winter, and the soil in the basin is kept dry, so that it enters a dormant state. If the temperature is not lower than 2℃-5℃, you can safely overwinter. Because palm plants have the strongest cold tolerance during dormancy. If improper watering in winter breaks their dormancy and restores their physiological activity, the cold tolerance of plants will be reduced and they will be prone to freezing and rot. If the room temperature is too low during the winter, you can cover the plants with plastic to keep warm. Even when necessary, plants can be wrapped in cotton and straw, and flowerpots can be stored in wooden boxes and cabinets. Even if the temperature is below 0℃, it can safely overwinter. Sometimes when there are many flowers planted at home but the space is limited and the conditions are poor, after winter, when the soil in the basin is dry, you can take off the plants, wrap the bare roots with cotton stalks and put them in boxes or cabinets, which not only saves space, but also keeps warm. When the temperature rises to 10℃, remove the wrapping material of the plant, put it in a pot again, put it in a dry place indoors to gradually adapt to the sunshine, and spray water at noon to make it gradually resume growth. Although this will have some impact on the growth of plants in the coming year, it is also a good way to spend the winter for families with insufficient space and poor insulation facilities.

Epiphytic cactus is native to tropical rain forest with high air humidity, such as epiphyllum, lotus, crab claw orchid and so on. They also need higher temperature and air humidity in winter, and there is no dormancy period, so it is more difficult to manage winter than terrestrial cacti. We need to create an ideal winter environment for them. The author assembled a 5 cm thick glass box by the south window. The bottom of the box is covered with charcoal ash, and a light bulb of 100w is installed in the box to raise the temperature. The cactus is placed in a box, covered with plastic film, and the flowerpot is buried in charcoal ash. When the weather is fine, lift the film properly for ventilation. If the weather is bad, cover it with plastic film, if necessary, cover it with quilt or straw curtain, and light the bulb to heat it. Even on a clear night, the glass box should be covered with a straw curtain or quilt to keep warm. In this way, the temperature in the box is generally maintained between 65438 02℃ and 65438 03℃. Usually a small amount of water can be used to keep the basin soil in a semi-dry state. Usually, it is necessary to properly sprinkle water on the wall of the glass box to maintain a large air humidity in the glass box. This can meet the water demand of epiphytic cactus, so that the plant can maintain a low growth level, which is conducive to the growth and flowering in the next year. Here, if there is no glass box, using double-layer plastic film to build a heat preservation shed for the same management can also make the epiphytic cactus safely overwinter.

Many people are interested in planting cactus, because its fleshy flowers are peculiar in shape and easy to cultivate, which can purify indoor air. So, how can we raise cactus? The author believes that there are the following aspects:

Temperature cactus likes high temperature and dry environment. In winter, the indoor temperature should be kept above 20℃ during the day and not lower than 10℃ at night. Too low temperature is easy to cause root rot, and too high temperature is easy to cause scale insect damage.

Lighting cactus needs plenty of sunshine, but it can't be exposed to strong light in summer, so it needs proper shelter. Indoor cultivation can use light to make it grow healthily.

Soil cactus is suitable for growing in sandy loam with good drainage. Artificial culture soil is often used for indoor cultivation, usually mixed with peat soil and fine sand. It can also be planted by adding fine sand to crushed pine needles and mixing the prepared culture soil.

Watering cactus needs a dry environment, and it is afraid of water accumulation in the basin. Usually, we should keep the basin soil "dry and wet". It is best to water it with dry water.

When fertilizing cactus to change the soil, a small amount of base fertilizer, such as horseshoe slices, bean cakes or sesame sauce residue, should be applied to the bottom of the basin. During the growth period, the fermented organic fertilizer liquid fertilizer should be watered once every half month (the concentration is 20%), and the fertilizer concentration should not be too high.

Pest control in high temperature and poor ventilation environment, pests and diseases are prone to occur. The disease can be sprayed with carbendazim or thiophanate; Spraying dimethoate can kill pests. No matter what medicine is sprayed, it should be done outdoors.

Cactus can be propagated by grafting, generally by flat grafting, and the rootstock can be made of three-edged arrow or strong palm. The specific method is as follows: first, cut off the top of the rootstock, cross-cut the base of the scion, connect the two, and then tie it with a string. Two weeks later, take off the rope.

The aging of cactus begins at the bottom. When aging yellow appears, I painted Dayun 120 on the sphere several times without adding water with a brush to make the yellow fade and make the cactus rejuvenate. This is my experience. Dayun 120 is a plant growth regulator containing hormones, and high concentration is harmless to bulbs. It has less adverse reactions than other plant growth regulators.

You can buy this medicine at the pesticide store.

Nursing care of cactus

Cactus likes sunshine and is not afraid of dryness. So water 1 time in spring and summer and 1 time in winter. Pay attention to be watered thoroughly when watering; Changing pots should be done in spring. Don't water the newly changed cactus immediately, wait 1 week before watering it. Cactus should be cultivated in a flat-bottomed clay pot, and the soil in it should be mixed according to the ratio of 1 sand 1 soil 1 bone meal, and thin fertilizer should be applied twice a year/kloc-0, so that you can raise cacti well.

Cactus is a perennial succulent plant, native to Argentina and southern Brazil. Its stems are spherical, solitary or clustered, and the old plants are cylindrical. Flowers bloom in summer, and flowers bloom on the side of the sphere. Most varieties of flowers are trumpet-shaped, white, fragrant and fleshy. Cactus likes light, but it should avoid long-term direct sunlight and shade in summer, and should not be placed indoors for a long time. Medium fertile sandy loam with good drainage and ventilation is needed. The propagation of cactus is mainly through cutting and grafting. In the growing season, the young bulbs are peeled off from the mother bulbs and planted separately, or the bulbs can be grafted on top of other columnar or rattan cacti to cultivate a new landscape. Potted cactus can be planted with 3 parts humus soil, 3 parts garden soil, 3 parts coarse sand and plant ash 1 part culture soil. It is best to put and change pots in early spring. The size of the basin is best to accommodate spheres with tiny gaps. When placing the basin, the basin bottom should be padded with a layer of broken tiles or gravel about 3 cm thick to facilitate drainage. The suitable planting depth is that the root neck of the ball is flush with the soil surface. The newly planted cactus need not be watered, just spray water 2 to 3 times a day. After half a month, a small amount of water can be watered, and after new roots grow around 1 month, the amount of water can be gradually increased. Pay attention to watering the cactus when cultivating, and keep the soil not too dry. The lower the temperature, the drier the soil should be. With the increase of temperature, the dormancy of plants is gradually released, and the amount of watering is gradually increased. However, in hot summer, water should be properly controlled and potted flowers should be placed in the shade. After the dog days, when the weather turns cold, you can resume normal watering. Apply dilute liquid fertilizer or compound flower fertilizer every half month in the growing season, and stop applying fertilizer in winter and hot summer. In summer, besides shading, we should also pay attention to good ventilation. Insufficient light, excessive shading or excessive fertilizer and water will lead to no flowering in cultivation. In northern China, potted plants can be maintained outdoors in the sunny place after the warm weather in spring, and moved indoors in the sunny place before winter, and the room temperature can be kept above 5℃ for safe wintering.

The cultivation and management of cactus is simple, mainly to master watering. Change pots in early spring every year. When changing pots, cut off some old roots and dry them for 4-5 days before planting. Don't plant it too deep, and the root neck of the sphere should be flat with the soil surface. Don't water the newly planted cactus immediately, just spray water and fog 2-3 times a day. After half a month, you can water a little. After 1 month, when new roots have grown, you can gradually increase the amount of water. Proper watering should be done in winter to keep the soil dry. Rooms with good heating conditions can be watered normally in sunny mornings. Spring begins in Zhixia, and with the temperature rising, the frequency and quantity of watering can be gradually increased. It needs a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, but in the high-temperature rainy season, it should be properly watered and placed in a well-ventilated shade. After the dog days, the weather turned cold and normal watering resumed. Fertilize 1 time every 18 days or half a month in the growing season, and no fertilization is needed in winter.

After autumn, the temperature continues to drop, especially at night. When there is a cold current, the first frost sometimes appears at night. At this time, the physiological activity of cactus tends to be slow, and the water consumption of the sphere is also obviously reduced, so watering must be controlled. If it is sunny and warm weather, it is usually watered twice a week. In autumn, as the temperature turns cold, water it once a week or two. Water evaporation is slow in rainy days, so it is forbidden to water, otherwise the soil will be too wet and the roots will rot easily. After autumn, cactus can't be fertilized more. Generally, it is advisable to fertilize once a month. Fertilization will be stopped at the Cold Dew Festival. If fertilization is applied at this time, cactus will continue to grow, and the growing part of the ball will become tender, reducing its cold resistance. In late autumn, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and the delicate cactus ball is easy to cause freezing injury.

When the weather turns cold in early winter, the cactus will be moved to a place where the sun is common indoors. If the temperature is lower than 5℃, the smaller sphere can be covered with a can bottle, and the larger one can't be bottled, so the whole basin can be covered with a plastic bag. If there are many cactus balls, nail a wooden box (cardboard box is also acceptable) according to the number of balls, and then cover it with plastic film. Pay attention to the airtight seal of the box. It's better to put a 40-watt light bulb in the box. When the weather forecast temperature reaches zero, turn on the light at night to keep warm, and then use old cloth to make a cotton cover on the outer layer of the ball box to keep the triangle safe and warm for the winter. It is often suggested that sunny, warm and windless weather can be used to bask in the sun, thus forming a warm microclimate in the hood, and the temperature in the hood can generally be kept above 5℃. In cold weather, don't open the plastic film to watch the ball, because the ball and triangle will suddenly be attacked by cold wind, the ball will shrink and the triangle will freeze.

After the cold winter, cactus should pay attention to leaving the house in spring. Spring is blooming, spring is chilly and the climate is changeable. Don't rush out of the room too early, and don't water it in early spring, otherwise the hard maintenance in winter will be ruined. Before and after going to Grain Rain, when the temperature is stable, you can move outside for normal maintenance and management.