LITTLE CARE CACTUSES

What cacti require little maintenance

In the incredibly diverse family Cactaceae (Cactaceae) several thousand species.

And most of them need "freedom" - plenty of sun and fresh air.. However, there are those, which is quite. adjust to life on the windowsill.

CEREUS

A slender "line" of columnar specimens adorns the interior all year round. All kinds of cereus are often found in the assortment of stores. The more sun, the more even and powerful their stems are formed.

MAMMILLYARIA

A characteristic feature of the representatives of the genus is the blooming "wreath", and the more suitable conditions of detention, the thicker and more beautiful it is. The stem is "mobile" - in a short time it bends significantly towards the light source. For uniform development, the plant must be turned.

REBUTION

Blooms willingly in indoor conditions, especially on condition of cool wintering. The color of the flowers is varied. Rebuts are susceptible to attacks by spider mites and red mites - preventive treatments are required.

GYMNOCALICIUM

In nature, these plains dwellers hide from the burning sun among the grass., therefore, at home, too intense lighting will not be required. They keep their shape well, do not tend to stretch, bloom willingly. Resistant to pests and diseases.

What cacti require little maintenance

CACTUS CARE – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, REVIEWS AND ADVICE

SUMMER "HOT" TIME FOR CACTUSES

Dear connoisseurs of succulent plants! How your cacti spend their summer? Hopefully, in the spring they woke up safely and are now enjoying the sun, fresh air and delight you with flowering. And if something went wrong, write, ask - we will look for answers together. Today Natalia GUBANOVA answers questions about summer care for succulents, Minsk cactus lovers club.

CACTUS CARE

CORRECT IRRIGATION

Recently "started" from the heels of cacti. Transplanted according to all the rules, but I don't understand with watering: friend says, that they hardly need water, almost once a month a tablespoon. Is it so? Olga TISHCHENKO

Sure, cacti are excellent at withstanding long periods of drought and, eg, in the winter period of rest they do without water. Summer is another matter: they are active, ready to grow, blossom and multiply… Where to get the strength for this? Therefore, moisture is also necessary for cacti., like most other plants, the main thing is not to overdo it.

Watering cacti rarely, but abundantly, soaking the whole earthy ball, so that the water appears in the pan, then the excess is drained. It is in the lower part of the pot that thin suction roots are usually concentrated., and if you wet only the top layer of soil, the plant will not fully quench thirst.

Let the soil dry completely between waterings.. Focus on the weight of the container. And if in doubt, stick a wooden skewer against the wall of the flowerpot to the bottom, then extract: if raw, it's too early to water. However, keep thorns for a long time without

watering in the summer is also undesirable. Otherwise, they will fall into stagnation and after that they will be forced to spend energy on the restoration of dry small roots.. Average watering interval in warm weather (mostly sunny days, +22-26 city.) may be 7-10 days. In the cool cloudy - until 14-16 days.

TRANSLATION REQUIRED

In the spring I woke up my small collection of cacti as usual: sprayed, gradually started watering. But the parody of golden spiky never woke up, and wrinkled even more. How to help this "sleepyhead"?

Marina KRAVTSOVA

When a cactus does not respond to watering, this is a sign that, that the roots don't work. It's better, without delay, remove the plant from the pot, shake off the soil as much as possible and check the condition of the root system. If you take action in time, will be able to prevent serious problems (stem decay). Most often, most roots are dead.. They will have to be removed, sometimes almost to the root collar (the main thing, so that it remains firm and dry, then everything is fixable, new roots will grow back). Then submerge her on 0,5-1 cm in clean coarse sand (or its mixture with fine gravel) and put the cactus pot in light, place without direct sun. Moisten the substrate periodically, alternating with dryings (dried up - watered in a day or two). Do not cover for high humidity, but you can spray it once a day. At signs of awakening (the top of the head started to grow, the stem has recovered in volume) plant the plant in a more nutritious mixture.

FORGED PLIER

Reddish spots appeared on the cacti on the crown and at the root collar. What is the disease and how to treat?

Tamara SHVETS

Likely, this is a tick - a cactus flat heifer. Insidious pest, almost invisible to the naked eye. Produces quickly, especially in dry hot air without adequate ventilation, and noticeably spoils the appearance of plants (they grow slowly, so the damage remains for a long time). Use special preparations-acaricides against the tick: "Phyto-verm", Aktellik, "Neoron", "Oberon" and others. (according to instructions).

Photo by the author

CACTUS AND THEIR COLLECTIONS

Before Carl Linnaeus introduced the word "cactus" into scientific circulation in the middle of the 18th century, no one came up with, that cereus, mamilaris, melus and echinopsis have something in common, except for the country of origin - they are so little alike.

Cactus – NAMES AND TITLE

To imagine the vastness of the cactus family, suffice it to say, that the works of various taxonomists include in it from 100 to 300 childbirth. Some genera popular with amateurs consist of hundreds of species.: prickly pear and mammillaria, there are three hundred each, hymnocalyciums and melocactus - more than a hundred, telocactus and ferocactus fifty species each… And there are also crystals, monstrous, chlorophyll-free, thornless, long-spined, curly forms and other garden variations. Cacti have enormous potential variability - this is what allows them to survive in nature.!

To our regret, no traces of the presence of cacti in prehistoric times have been preserved. Therefore, it is unknown: where did they come from and where are they going, which groups of plants are descended from which. All these circumstances make any taxonomy of cacti very conditional., and most importantly - not evolutionary. We cannot arrange known plants in the form of an orderly family tree..

RARITIES AND PRIORITIES

Carl Linnaeus did not have a living collection of cacti, nor herbarium. He did not see cacti in nature, but based on sketches in European collections of medicinal herbs, predicted the existence of a grandiose family, occupying vast expanses from Canada to Patagonia! When Linnaeus took the ancient Greek name of the artichoke - cactus - for the name of a new genus and wrote it down in Latin, no one disputed his right to do so. As the scientific community developed, it became a tradition to accompany Latin names with the names of scientists., who established them: if the genus Mammillaria was transformed from the Linnaean species "mamillaris cactus" by the Englishman E. Haworth, then in the official, the only correct and always Latin spelling would be Mammillaria Haw.

This balance has been maintained among cactus lovers for many decades.. But the classics are gone, and new generations of botanists also wanted to see their names next to the names of cacti. American, Mexican botanists put forward their arguments, why this or that cactus should bear such a name, then the British joined them… And the cactusists realized with horror, that lovers have ceased to understand each other, and plant dealers used the entire arsenal of synonyms, to diversify the offer, the more confused the already not untangled network of genera and species.

WHAT ARE THE CACTUS COLLECTIONS?

Mexico is traditionally considered the epicenter of cactus speciation.. The classical taxonomy of cacti by the German cactologist Kurt Backeberg describes three subfamilies. Pereskaceae - a very small group of plants with real leaves, trunks and thorns, like citrus. Prickly pear - a huge tribe in terms of species diversity with a distribution area from Canada to Patagonia, including the islands of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Their main distinguishing feature is the harpoon-like spines-glochidia.. And Cereus (actually cactus) - familiar to us spherical or columnar plants, covered with ribs, faces, nipples and thorny. TO. Bakeberg divided all cacti according to two common characteristics for most genera.: in which of the Americas do its representatives live, day or night the species bloom, its components - after all, plants, blooming at night, difficult to cross-pollinate with plants, blooming by day. Получилась стройная красивая система, в которой иногда очень близкие растения оказывались в разных родах — но ведь всякая систематика до известной сте пени искусственна. Кроме такого ботанического деления, кактусы можно группировать и по экологическому принципу — на обитателей степей, deserts, гор, тропических лесов и морских побережий. Или разделить кактусы на гигантские и миниатюрные, теплолюбивые и морозостойкие.

Существуют коллекции, объединяющие всего три рода растений, формирующие истинный цефалий (видоизмененный ствол), из которого появляются цветки и плоды, а есть коллекции, в которых собран один-единственный род, но полностью, со всеми видами и подвидами. Появились даже коллекции, состоящие из одного-единственного вида, но представленного во множестве локалити (группы растений одного вида, но растущие в разных местах и не опыляющиеся между собой) и множестве экземпляров.

Но какое бы деление ни было положено в основу частной коллекции, все они имеют право на жизнь. Однако любая коллекция должна иметь точную атрибуцию каждого экземпляра, then even a private collection acquires a commercial, and scientific value!

MODERN TRENDS IN THE SYSTEMATICS OF THE FAMILY

The taxonomy of the family is currently being constantly updated.. Reformers simultaneously increase the number of subfamilies and reduce the number of genera and species. To avoid confusion and stick to at least some system, it is better to follow Bakeberg - then everyone will understand you, including ardent opponents of Backeberg. It's harder to understand those, who uses new or old, pre-backeberg, American systems. In their list of seeds or seedlings, you can easily find Ferocactus emory and Ferocactus kovilei at the same time, and it's the same kind!

SCIENTISTS AND DISSIDENTS

Taking advantage of the sudden transparency of borders and the easing of political regimes in Latin America, Hundreds of amateur cactus growers moved into the already known habitats of their favorite plants and discovered many new places and species along the way.. people, who spend their money studying cacti, interesting to meet the plant and in nature. And in order not to conflict with official science, all these naturalists, referred to simply as "seed gatherers", by default, they rely on the most stable unit of taxonomy - the species. Botanists increase the number of subfamilies, merge and separate genera, establish varieties or lower them to the form, but once found and described, the true species remains so. Therefore, Gymnocactus valdesianus, renamed Normanbokea Valdeziana, и даже телокактус вальдезианус всегда остается вальдезианусом. Неважно, гимнокактусом или турбиникарпусом записан он на этикетке вашей коллекции, важно, чтобы рядом с несменяемым видовым названием стоял акроним известного специалиста, номер сбора и указано географическое название точки на карте, где была обнаружена природная популяция этого вида. for example, надпись на этикетке «Coryphantha palmeri SB 984 San Luis Potosi» рассказывает о том, что знаток кактусов, владелец питомника Mesa Garden Стивен Брэк (акроним SB) нашел в штате Сан Луис Потоси это растение, которое он считает Корифантой палмери. Если вдруг кто-то решит ликвидировать род Корифанта, то видовое название «палмери», акроним SB и связанная с ним точка «984» на территории штата Сан Луис Потоси не изменится.

ЧТО ДЕЛАТЬ ЛЮБИТЕЛЯМ КАКТУСОВ?

Как в этой ситуации с названиями кактусов быть любителям? Firstly, при создании коллекции придерживаться какой-то одной широко известной системы: Бакеберга, Бриттона и Роуз. Андерсона или Ханта. А не так, that the Ferocacti in our collection are recorded according to Britton and Rose, and Notocacti and Parodies - according to Backeberg… If you stick to one particular system, then your colleague. who follows a different system, will always understand you, and you too.

Secondly, starting acquaintance with some kind of cactus family new to you, figure it out for yourself - even before, how do you get the first copy or the first crop. Find out from the books, conversations with colleagues, social networks, Who else is doing these plants?, check out their collections, выделите для себя авторитеты и первое время придерживайтесь уже установленной традиции, а когда во всем разберетесь и всему научитесь — вы сами станете авторитетом для последователей.

© Author:Александр МЕЛЬНИКОВ, cactus collector