GROWING CACTI & SUCCULENTS

Cacti and succulents are some of the easiest plants to grow but many people still have trouble keeping them alive through the changing seasons since they are not aware of the changing needs of this group of plants.  If you are used to watering at a certain time every day or every week it is very easy to kill a cactus once cool weather arrives.   The better way to water cacti and succulents is to first of all use a very porous cactus mix or if you are lucky you can use a sandy leafmould mixture.  Half sand and peatmoss  (or perlite) also works well, being sure to place broken clay or gravel to cover the bottom drainage hole.  Then when watering make sure the whole pot of soil is soaked, by watching the excess water drip from the bottom.  If not, after a few months of light watering, excess salts will begin turning parts of plant black.

You will also need to water cacti and succulents a bit differently than other houseplants.  Schedules simply will not work with this group of plants unless you err on the dry side.  Just as temperatures vary throughout the year so does the rate of evaporation change for a potted plant.  Most houseplants do best  with  regular moisture,  but soil of cacti and succulents needs to dry to almost 2 inches deep before rewatering.  For that reason it's best to scratch the soil a bit to be sure it's dry enough before watering again. 

Perhaps the worst mistake a cactus grower can make is to continue watering the same way through the cooler winter months.  Even tropical cactus and succulents will quickly rot if kept too wet in winter so it's best to keep them on the dry side and withhold water completely once it turns cooler. However it usually doesn't hurt to give them small doses if leaves begin to wilt or stems shrink.

It's also important to remember that cacti are plants, too and need regular feeding.  But this should only be done during the warm parts of the year or it can cause stems or roots to rot.

Another problem people have with cacti is assuming that they are cold hardy just because they see other cacti growing outdoors.  Most cacti for sale are in fact not hardy but are tropical and will be killed with the first freeze.  Many cacti that are hardy are not hardy in all areas.  So it's important that you know your zone and Google your plant to be sure it will adapt to your area without being killed if kept outdoors.

So really cacti and succulents are about the easiest plants to grow if you just keep in mind that they originate in the drier areas of the world that have sporadic rain in the spring and summer along with drier winters.  That way you can keep them longer and grow them out into large specimens instead of paying a premium price only to have them turn to black mush.