How to water a cactus at home in winter. Cacti: care and replanting at home. Serious mistakes gardeners make when watering cactus

Among the huge number ornamental plants, cacti occupy a special place. Cacti were brought to Europe from the countries of South, Central and North America. Plants are resistant to desert climates and lack of moisture. Therefore, many people have the impression that the cactus is an unpretentious plant. It is this erroneous point of view that leads to inaccuracies in care and death of the plant. We will tell you how to properly care for home cacti.

Choosing a pot

The best material For a cactus pot there will be plastic. When choosing a pot for a cactus, it is important geometric shape. Considering the characteristics of the plant’s root system, it is better to choose tall pots. If the height is one and a half times greater than the width of the pot, this is perfect ratio. A plastic pot prevents water evaporation, thus protecting the soil from salinization.

Selecting soil for the pot

For growing cacti, special ones are usually selected. soil mixtures. You can take a mixture that contains in equal proportions: leaf, sod land, river sand. The composition of the soil in the pot depends on the type of cacti. For cacti that have white spines, you need soil that contains lime. Old cacti need recharge in the form of peat or humus. If the composition of the soil in the pot is not correctly selected, root system the cactus may begin to rot. If this happens, you should clean the root system by removing the damaged parts.

Planting process

Having chosen a pot and soil, let's move on to planting the cactus. It is better to transplant and plant the plant in the spring. A layer of drainage is placed at the bottom of the pot ( fine expanded clay, coarse sand). A third of the height, the pot is filled with the main soil mass, and the roots of the plant are lowered into it. Do not compact the soil too much. Upper layer The soil can be sprinkled with river sand or small pebbles. It is necessary to ensure that the soil does not contain a large amount of moisture.

Correct lighting

In summer, the plant can be moved to a well-lit place. If you live in a city, you should cover the cactus with film - this will protect it from dust, ultraviolet radiation, and rain. If you notice “burns” on the cactus, treat it with a special mixture of magnesium sulfate. It is better to keep young plants in partial shade, if the plant begins to change color - this is the first sign of sunburn.

Watering

Watering a plant depends on many factors. Do not water cacti during rainy periods or in winter. In spring, it is better to spray the plant (especially if it begins to grow). From the end of summer it is time to prepare the plant for winter and gradually reduce watering. If your plant has a large number of thorns, it is useful to spray it regularly with water. When using fertilizer, you need to act carefully. Typically, fertilizing is used during the period of active growth. The most common is Kadatsky's feeding: 40 g of saltpeter, 25 g of potassium phosphate, 15 g of 20 percent superphosphate, 10 g of potassium sulfate, 9 g of potassium chloride, 1 g of magnesium sulfate (based on 1 liter of water).

Winter care

In winter, plant growth stops. To get a similar result at home, you need to fence off the plant with film or glass from the rest of the room (or balcony). Should be observed temperature regime- about +10 degrees. At temperatures of +5 degrees and below, the plant may freeze.

How do cacti reproduce?

For planting, you can use cuttings or seeds. The easiest way is to use seeds. The process of propagating cacti using seeds requires careful care. Seeds are grown in greenhouses under lamps. During growth, you need to provide a very humid atmosphere - you can cover the greenhouse with glass. Sow seeds at the end of winter so as not to disrupt the wintering cycle. In the greenhouse, you need to control the lighting; the lamps should be at a height of more than 5 cm from the young plants.

Propagation by cuttings is more complex and is not available to all cactus species. The cut cuttings are planted in the ground vertically in moist soil (preferably with sand), after which they are covered with film or a glass. The cutting develops at a temperature of about +25 degrees.

Care by month

1. March is the beginning of spraying and watering season.
2. April - preparing plants for transplanting, removing film protection.
3. May and June - increase in irrigation intensity. The plant can be taken out to the balcony.
4. July - the plant should be moved to partial shade. Water once a week.
5. August and September - protect from rain. Reducing watering, treating with pesticides.
6. October and November - cacti should be kept outside as long as the minimum temperature is +3 degrees. As soon as it gets colder, move the plants indoors for the winter.
7. December and January are wintering, we monitor the temperature conditions.
8. In February, inspections are carried out for pests and seedlings.

Video lessons

All cacti prefer watering with soft water that does not contain chlorine. The water must be clean, i.e. do not contain any impurities or salts. Ideally you would use rainwater or melted water, but you need to have patience to collect it, so you can use water that has been standing for at least a day or boiled, you can also use water filtered using household water filters. The water temperature for irrigation should always be equal to room temperature or slightly higher.

Regarding the method of watering cacti - from above or through a tray, sometimes there is a lot of controversy among cactus growers. Apparently, this is due to the fact that in cacti the main part of the roots that absorb water is located in the lower part of the root system. Undoubtedly, each method has its advantages:

Watering from above is convenient and familiar; you can see how much water is consumed; the entire earthen ball is wetted with water, but after a while, with this method of watering, nutrients are washed out from the upper layers of the soil. In order not to wet the cactus stem, it is convenient to make a watering bowl from the usual plastic bottle: take a segment flexible tube(for example, from a dropper) or a juice tube, using a drill or awl, make a hole of a suitable diameter in the lid and insert the tube.

Watering through a tray is convenient because the soil in the pot is not washed away, the soil nutrients are washed out much longer than when watering from above, however, with this method of watering, it is difficult to know how much water the plant needs, i.e. This method is more suitable for an experienced cactus grower. For some reason, the question of watering method can be very exciting for cactus owners, although in fact it is not fundamentally important, rather a matter of taste and experience.

How to water cacti

• When watering, water should not be allowed to fall on the stem of the cactus; pour it onto the soil from the edges of the pot;
• water should not stagnate in the pot; for this, each cactus must be provided good drainage, and when watering from a tray, after a while (after the roots absorb the water), the remaining water is drained;
• any cactus can tolerate a certain amount of time in completely dry soil, even during the period of growth and flowering, but excess water can be detrimental to it;
• the amount and frequency of watering directly depend on the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air; the lower the temperature and the higher the air humidity, the slower the evaporation of water from the substrate occurs, the less often you need to water. In addition, temperature affects the intensity of water absorption from the soil by roots. Cold water is practically not absorbed by the roots. But please note if for us cold water- this is 18-19 ° C, then for cacti it is still warm, and cold is from 12 and below. The cooler the ambient temperature, the less moisture the cactus requires. When there are hot, dry days in the summer, cacti are watered every day; on a cool and especially rainy day, it is better not to water the cactus;
• The time for watering cacti is morning or evening; it is believed that cacti should be watered in the evening in the summer, and in the morning at other times of the year, but this again is not of fundamental importance.

When to water cacti more or less

Almost all cacti prefer a cold (or at least cool) wintering, but not every owner can provide this and then the cacti overwinter at normal room temperature, which can be 18-25°C. With such a warm winter, cacti are watered less often than in summer (at the same temperature), the soil should have time to dry well.

For most cacti, flowering is not associated with the growth period, i.e. and in winter, during the dormant period, cacti can bloom. Since watering is sharply reduced during the dormant period, the question often arises of how to water blooming in winter cacti. In this case, watering should be a little more or more often than if the plants were not blooming, but you definitely need to water much less often than in spring and summer.

Very often, when watering with hard water containing a lot of lime, plaque forms on the cactus stem at the base. light brown, which over time turn into cortical growths and are not removed. Most often this happens in cacti that do not have spines or have small, sparse spines. This phenomenon is often mistaken for a disease, but these are deposits of salts from the water that eat into the tissue of the cactus. Therefore, it is recommended to water cacti with boiled or filtered water.

Air humidity

It is known that all cacti tolerate dry air well and are therefore considered hardy plants, but in nature most of them are refreshed by dew or fog in the morning and evening. Cacti are very responsive to daily spraying at their natural hours, but in order not to harm the plants, you need to spray only with a very fine dust-like sprayer, so that no streams of water go down the cactus trunk.

The water temperature for spraying should be slightly above room temperature, i.e. warm (30-40°C). On sunny days, spraying is carried out only when the sun's rays are already or have not yet hit the plant. With the onset of rainy autumn days, it is better to stop spraying, but in winter you can spray cacti at the end of a sunny day. Read more about. Cacti with leaves (rhipsalis, epiphyllum, etc.) can not only be sprayed, but also given a shower to wash off the dust and prevent the appearance of spider mites.

Cacti are quite popular plants that delight their owners not only with their beauty original look, but also with beautiful bright flowering. There are about 3000 varieties of cacti. This plant is mostly dark green in color. They have the shape of a ball or cylinder, with a ribbed surface, with large and small spines. The height of domestic cacti is usually from 10 to 60 cm. Cactus flowers can be white, light lilac, orange, pink, cream, yellow. Let's look at how often to water cacti at home.

1. How often to water cacti

In the irrigation process, the regime plays an important role. It is necessary to take into account periods of active growth and dormancy that coincide with the seasons:

1. In winter, there is no need to water frequently; cacti, being in a state of sleep, cannot absorb moisture in large quantities. Water lingering in the ground will lead to rotting of the root system. Moreover, if the room is cold (8-10°C), then it is better to refrain from watering again. Once a month is sufficient average temperature air.
2. In summer the situation is somewhat different. Land in flower pot It dries quickly, so full watering is enough for cacti once a week. Spraying can be done 2 times a week warm water(30-50°C). In this case, the sprayer must be finely dispersed; large drops that fall on the stem can cause the succulent to die.
3. IN hot weather Water in the evening, in cool weather - in the morning.

2. Watering cacti through a tray

The convenience of this method lies in the fact that during watering the soil in the pot is not washed away. At the same time, useful components can remain in the soil for a very long time. This method might suit experienced gardeners who know for sure required amount moisture for the cactus, because it is very difficult to find out on your own. For some reason, cactus owners are very sensitive to the choice of watering method, but this is not so serious problem. It all depends on the experience of the cactus grower and his personal preferences.

3. Watering cacti from above

A good method of watering, the uniqueness of which lies in the fact that the water consumption during the process is clearly visible. In this case, the entire earthen clod is wetted. Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting the leaching of useful components from the upper part of the soil, which cannot be said about the first method.

To protect the plant stem from water, you need to make a special device from a plastic bottle. It will play the role of a kind of sprinkler. To do this, you need to drill a small hole in the bottle cap and place two drink straws. A tube from an unnecessary IV may be suitable. Using this device it is convenient to water a cactus or other indoor plants.

4. Water quality when watering cacti

The water needed for irrigation must be at least settled for several days or filtered. It’s even better if you have the ability to collect rain or melt water. Distilled water is also suitable, but the method of its production is quite expensive, and you are unlikely to want to use it as a source of moisture for irrigation if it is available.

5. Watering cacti during transplantation

The first watering (if it is not winter) should be done after three days, this is necessary so that the roots damaged during transplantation do not rot. We do the first watering of cacti hot water, but moderately, not until water flows out of the drainage, and only after another five days we water it more thoroughly. The cactus needs time to “smell” the water and put out absorbent roots.

This is during a normal transplant, when the cactus is healthy. If during transplantation many roots were removed or signs of fungal infections were found on them, then the first watering should be postponed for at least 7 - 10 days. During this time, the thorn can be sprayed with hot water a couple of times. Cacti transplanted in winter are not watered at all, but are kept warm for 3-5 days, then sent back to winter. When kept on a regular, warm windowsill, even in winter the cactus will have to be watered a little so that it does not become too depleted. When replanting in spring and summer, do not place the cactus immediately in the sun and heat, for example on a sunny loggia, where the temperature can rise to 40 degrees. This will lead to severe burns and slow down the survival rate; young, small cacti may simply die in such conditions. So it’s better to keep it in the shade until the first watering and the cactus begins to grow. It is not difficult to determine that the cactus has taken root; it will become noticeably thicker, sagging and folds will disappear, and the top of the head will acquire a brighter color.

6. Feeding cacti

There is no consensus on fertilizing cacti. These unique plants require special feeding. Thus, the mandatory nutritional components include:

Nitrogen. For ordinary plants chemical element necessary for growth. Desert flowers grow slowly. If the soil is highly enriched with nitrogen, this will negatively affect the plant: the stems will become watery and loose, the skin will burst, scars and wounds will form, and the cactus babies will not be able to fully develop. You should not use a lot of this organic element as a top dressing, but you should not completely eliminate it, so that nitrogen starvation does not occur. The exception is fast-growing, epiphytic cacti.

Potassium. Vital necessary element regulates growth, forms a dense skin, stimulates ripening and flowering. Its deficiency can give the succulent a bronze tint.

Calcium. Indispensable construction material for spines, hairs and bristles. With its deficiency, the root system becomes weak, the spines become soft, and the plant itself becomes fragile.

Phosphorus stimulates root growth, affects seed viability and fruit ripening. Organic fertilizers flower growers rarely use it. Liquid solutions that are easier to dose are suitable for feeding. It is important to maintain the concentration - 1 g of salts per 1 liter of water.

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Fertilize the soil 2 times a month from March to September; during the rest of the period, the cacti are not fed. If the weather is rainy for a long time in the summer, then the amount of fertilizing should be reduced. Metabolism slows down and the plant no longer requires as many nutrients. When transplanting, fertilize the soil no earlier than after 20 days.

The cactus does not like frequent rearrangements. Do not turn its other side towards the light (put a mark on the pot so as not to make a mistake), for more even growth - you absolutely cannot do this during budding and the beginning of flowering!

At proper care behind a cactus, it will definitely bloom and will decorate the interior of any home with its appearance. This succulent is blooming beautiful buds, but the gardener will have to try hard to enjoy this amazing spectacle.