Best Tips For Growing Cactus At Home

Growing cactus at home is great way to make your home area attractive and interesting. They are low maintenance, easy to grow succulent ( plants that store water in them) which also act as air purifier at home. They release oxygen during night rather than day time like other plants do. Cactus plant also comes in number of varieties and shapes. So select the varieties best suited to your home and follow below tips for best results.

Propagation

You can propagate cacti by seeds, cuttings or purchase a plant from  local nursery. Propagating from seeds is easy but it is time consuming. Cactus seeds can take up to 1 year to germinate and several years to flowers. Anyways  if you are choosing this method then purchase some good quality seeds from market or order some online. Late spring is best time to sow the seeds. Use clean pots to begin with seeds. Place the seeds on top of the soil and cover with just enough sand to anchor them. If seeds are sown too deep than there are less chances of germination. Moist the soil with mister, do not over water. Place a plastic wrap or glass sheet on container.

If you want to propagate cactus from cuttings ( offshoots taken off from  mature plant) then let cuttings dry and its cut edge to heal for few weeks. For quick results place the cuttings in rooting medium to encourage roots growth. Then place the cutting right side up in the container.

If you do not want to go all those trouble then just purchase a young , healthy plant from local nursery. 

Container

Use small to medium sized wide pots/ container for growing cactus. Do not go for tall, deep pots as they hold water and lead  plant to root rot. While using plastic/ glazed/ ceramic pots, do take care of not over watering it as evaporation rate is lower in these containers. Place coarse gravel at bottom of pots and ensure sufficient no of drainage holes are present .

Soil

Use soil mixture of garden soil , loam or clay soil with one third humus. Soil should be spread over deep layer of gravel or pieces of bricks to ensure good drainage.

Sun / Temperature

Maintain very bright light for cactus plant whether indoors or outdoors. 4-6 hrs of sunlight each day is required for cactus to grow.

Watering

Watering cactus in container is different from watering plants in the ground. Container dry out quickly if kept in full sun . Container / Pot kept in sunny condition needs watering once a week during hot summer months  and once a month  in winter. Containers kept indoors need less water , during hot months once in a two weeks and once in 6 weeks during winter.

Fertilizer

Cactus usually do not need fertilizer. Still you want then use general purpose fertilizer.

 

Check out another air purifier indoor plant Mother-in-laws tongue plant.