Holiday on the windowsill: how does a cactus bloom? Photos, process descriptions, and care tips

Cactus flowering is an amazing and bewitching sight. Many lovers of prickly plants believe that they bloom once in a lifetime and, as a rule, die after flowering.

Others believe that cacti do not bloom at all. All of these opinions are erroneous. When and under what conditions do cacti bloom? How to care for them during this period?

This article will give a detailed answer to all these questions, in which you will also find the names of species and photos of a flowering plant and get acquainted with its features.

Are all species blooming?

If the conditions of detention will meet the basic requirements, then the succulent will please the owner with its flowering more than once.

But still, not all plant species safely dissolve buds in captivity. Like other plants, cacti among representatives of the same species also have both good and poorly flowering specimens. Such types of cacti as bloom at home:

• Mammillaria
• Rebucia
• Peyote
• Isloster;
• Cereus
• Echinopsis;
• Gymnocalycium;
• Euphorbia.

Their complex names must be remembered when going to the store for those who want to buy a cactus, which will certainly produce flowers sooner or later.

In what year of life does this period begin?

All of the above types of cacti become capable of flowering only after reaching a certain age and certain sizes.

1. Some Rebucius, Aylostera bloom already in the first - second year of life.
2. Mammillaria, Astrophytum, Echinopsis and Hymnocalcium - in the third and fourth years.
3. But Ferocactus or Trichocereus bloom for the first time only after 10 - 15 years from the time of sowing.

It should be noted that the bulk of prickly pets will drive out buds in the fifth year of life.

How often and when?

Consider how many times a year flowering occurs and after what period of time. Almost all types of cacti bloom annually, it all depends on the conditions of the plant.

There are species that will never bloom at home, no matter how much effort the flower grower makes to their development, for example, all varieties of forest cacti.

What time of year does it start?

Most cactus varieties bloom in spring after waking from hibernation. It is in the spring that active metabolic processes begin to occur in succulents, which gives an impetus to budding and subsequent flowering. But for the flowering to come, the summer and winter periods must go through correctly: in summer, the plant must stock up the necessary amount of nutrients, and in winter it should be at rest.

How long?

How many days will succulents please buds? The duration of the flowering period for each cactus is different. A lot of things affect the duration of this process, including the weather outside: in cloudy and rainy weather, the flower will delight others for quite a long time, but in bright sunshine - 3-4 days.

The main function of cactus flowers is reproductive. A fruit is formed in place of the flower, but only if the pollen has matured. And for this, the flower of the succulent, depending on daylight, should be open most of the time. For full disclosure of the flower, sufficiently intense lighting is necessary.

Features of the process and its features

How to determine that a cactus is blooming, by what signs? The flowering process begins very imperceptibly: a cactus slightly increases in size, and then a small tubercle appears from its body, which is a bud, or gradually grows and gains strength, gradually turning into a long tube - a flower stalk, at the end of which a bud develops (it all depends on the type succulent).

The grower just needs to know what the buds of a certain type of cactus look like when they appearso as not to take them for something else (illness or baby).

What a flower looks like: description and photo

Cactus buds look different: they are naked, with scales, fluffy, with hairs and even with real thorns - it all depends on the type of succulent.

The buds are able to appear from different parts of the plant: so the apical buds appear at the very top, the basal ones from the lower sections, the lateral ones from the lateral.

For some cacti - it all depends on the species - the bud becomes of the color that the flower should be, and for others - first green, brown or gray, and only before the flower opens it is painted in the necessary color. Therefore, they are easily confused with the processes of succulents.

In the spring after wintering, cactus flowers appear on the shady side, while its “children” appear on the lighted side of the plant. In most species of cacti, the bud develops within a month.

Cactus flowers are day and night: the first bloom only when there is enough sunlight, the second does not need daylight. Daytime flowers (from 3 days to a week) live longer than nightly flowers (about 2 days).

The size of the flowers depends on the type of cactus. The average performance is from 15 mm to 30 mm. But the diameter of the flowers of Mammillaria is less than 15 mm, but the flowers of some varieties of Echinopsis reach simply gigantic sizes - up to 15 cm in diameter.

The color of the cactus flower may change as it matures. But more often night flowers differ in light shades and white color, and day flowers - red, yellow, green and others.

Nocturnal flowers emit the subtlest aroma. After flowering of some species, fruits are formed that, with their taste, resemble strawberries, raspberries and other berries. The fruits, of course, have seeds from which a new plant may appear in the future.

You can admire the flowering in the photo.

How to extend the process at home?

For cacti with day flowers, it is necessary to provide sufficient lighting so that they open completely.

But nature still takes its toll: cactus is succulent, its main task is to survive in extreme conditions, therefore, he will not maintain the flower for a long time, because enough moisture is also spent on his food.

Rules to look after during this period

In order for the cactus not only to bloom, but also to preserve its flowers, certain conditions must be observed. Consider how to care for a plant that is in the process of flowering.

In no case, during the budding period, you can not change the location of the pot in which the cactus grows, otherwise it can "turn" its buds into "children" or simply drop them. To prevent this phenomenon from happening, some flower growers mark the pot and put it on the windowsill, given the location of the label.

• Mandatory requirement - access to fresh air. For this purpose, the room in which the plant is located must be regularly ventilated, and you can also put the pot on the balcony.
• As for watering, it is carried out in the same way as before flowering. But if the succulent belongs to cereus, then it can simply be sprayed with standing water at room temperature.
• If the cactus pleased flowering in the winter, then it must be fed. This requirement does not apply to other times of the year. And one more thing: cuttings and “children” cannot be cut from a blooming cactus, as as a result of this there is a violation of the normal vital activity of the plant and loss of buds.

What to do after?

After flowering, you can’t forget about the cactus, continuing to provide them with the necessary care.. Proper watering, spraying in the hot season, access to fresh air, and fertilizing with complex fertilizers - these are the requirements that must be observed to maintain a plant that has just faded.

A cool and dry winter for a cactus is the key to future lush flowering in spring.

Why doesn’t he plant buds?

If the cactus blooming at home still has not bloomed, then most likely the reason lies in the improper care of the succulent. Most often, this is non-compliance with the dormancy period necessary for plants.

In almost all types of cacti, flower buds are laid during the winter season, the main conditions of which are lowering the temperature in the room and reducing or completely stopping watering. Sometimes this period lasts until the succulent releases the first buds.

Those cacti that grow in a nutrient-free substrate will never bloom., and still never fertilizing. But you should be careful when choosing fertilizing: a fertilizer containing a large percentage of nitrogen will stimulate the active growth of the green mass of the plant, but will not contribute to the formation of buds. For more information on why a cactus does not bloom and what to do to make it bloom, read in a separate article.

A cactus blooms only when it is provided with the necessary care. Although this plant does not require special skills from the florist, a significant portion of its time or large cash injections to maintain the condition of the succulent. The cactus is unpretentious, but sooner or later it will reward an unprecedented beauty with flowering, even if so short-lived.

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