In the generally accepted sense, cacti are an exceptionally thermophilic culture, and it must be grown indoors, while creating conditions close to those in which these succulents live in their natural environment. But it turns out that it is possible to cultivate cacti in the open field, however, not all. You will learn about cacti growing on the street and agricultural techniques for caring for them in this article.
How to grow cacti in the garden (with photo)
Have you ever held in your hands a multi-headed rebutia weighing half a kilogram, or even larger echinopsis, or pseudo-lobivia twice as large as their fellow tribesmen of the same age, vegetating in pots? And all this is not somewhere in the warm regions, but in central Russia. Such a contrast can be observed between cacti growing in cramped pots on the window, and cacti in the open field.
At the same time, many cacti bloom well during the summer, delighting their owners and decorating the site. I would like to wish everyone who has a piece of land near the house or outside the city to try growing cacti right on the street: perhaps this will bring more pleasure than growing them on the window.
The technical side of this case is simple and quite solvable. It is best to grow cacti in open ground in the Moscow region on the so-called rocky or alpine hills. The decorative design of the slide is a matter of taste for its owner, but some conditions must be met that do not allow the efforts expended to be nullified. Based on my own experience, we can recommend the following. First of all, you need to choose a suitable sunny place for the cactus on the street – such that the cactus hill serves as a decoration for the site. It is better if it is protected from the north winds, for example, by some kind of building. To create a slide, you will need large stones, fine gravel or sand, broken bricks, fertile soil, and some peat. To cover the soil between planted plants, it is good to have multi-colored gravel or small stones.
Based on the available opportunities, the dimensions of the slide are determined. At the place chosen for it, the turf is removed and a layer of brick rubble 15-20 cm thick is poured, it is desirable that it be slightly higher than the selected recess. Along the edges, brick rubble is covered with large stones. From the inside, the holes between large stones are closed with smaller stones of a suitable size. On the north side, the hill can be made up of large multi-colored cobblestones and crushed stones. When the stone work is completed, the previously prepared soil is poured onto the brick rubble with a layer of 25-30 cm. If possible and desired, the earth can be laid in terraces at different heights and additionally planted cacti on them. Of course, for such a slide, more stones and other material will be required. It is also a good idea to make the slope of the soil surface towards the sun at about 30 °, then it will receive more heat. The hill is ready!
Look at the photo of cacti in the garden grown in the suburbs:
As a substrate for planting cacti, you can take the usual, well-decomposed fertile soil. 1.5-2 times more sand and about 25-30% peat are added to the soil. Sand for the soil is better to take larger and without the admixture of clay. Every year, at least partially, the soil must be changed. It is imperative to carefully remove all weeds, roots and undecomposed organic matter from the soil. Cacti cannot compete with our weeds, so weeds throughout the season must be removed by any acceptable means. It obviously does not make sense to warm up the soil mixture ready for planting for the purpose of disinfection, since constant contact with the environment will reduce these efforts to zero and will not protect against pests. This, of course, does not exclude the fight against them in the event of their appearance on plants.
From my own experience, I can say that it was not necessary to resort to such measures. As an additional mineral nutrition for cacti, wood ash from hardwood trees can be recommended. Its composition is somewhat different in different breeds. Birch ash, for example, contains 10-12% potassium, 4-6% phosphorus and 35-40% calcium, as well as trace elements – magnesium, sulfur, iron, boron, manganese, etc. A small amount of such ash is added in the spring to the prepared soil.
The time of planting outdoor cacti on the hill depends on the spring weather. Usually this is the second decade of May and later. At first, it is advisable to make a film shelter on arcs above the hill, since frosts are still possible. As planting material, you can use “extra” specimens from the home collection, usually appearing during the next transplant. It is likely that not all planted species will take root in the new conditions, but trial and error is indispensable here. Known experience of such cultivation of cacti is acquired only in recent years and is not yet great.
They plant outdoor cacti in moderately moist soil and, as usual, do not water for a week, and if it is cool outside, do not water until warmer. After planting, the soil around the stems of cacti is covered with a small layer of coarse gravel, multi-colored rubble, or covered with small stones. If this is not done, raindrops will wash it away and spray dirt on the stems of plants. It would not be superfluous to pour under the stems of cacti, especially large specimens, a small drainage of fine gravel or coarse sand.
In sunny weather, until the cacti in the garden have taken root, it is necessary to shade them in any way possible. Unrooted plants may turn yellow and burn in the bright spring sun. The acquired color can be preserved for a long time, and the development of cacti will slow down.
After rooting, cacti in the garden begin to grow, they no longer need shading, and grow in the open sun until the end of summer. The film shelter is removed when a stable positive temperature is established at night and there is no risk of a return of cold weather.
Larger plants are planted in the background so that they do not obscure smaller species. Outdoor cacti that are afraid of excess sun can be planted behind large stems. But it is better to refuse planting such plants. Constantly red from the sun, they will not decorate the slide.
In addition, such plants develop a weak root system and can easily die. The planting density of cacti in a garden on a hill is determined by aesthetic considerations, and not by the nutrient resources of the soil. With any realistically possible number of planted food plants for one season, they will have enough.
Frost-resistant cacti for open ground in the Moscow region
Many types of cacti are suitable for growing on a hill. In general, there is a wide field for experiment. However, it is necessary to select all the same species, not only more or less well growing in such conditions, but also capable of blooming. Various types of echinopsis, including hybrids, can be recommended for cultivation. Over the summer, they develop a huge root system, grow well and bloom quite profusely.
Large multi-colored and fragrant flowers of echinopsis are a magnificent decoration of the slide. They bloom several times during the summer. Various types of rebutias grow and bloom well on the hill.
At the same time, many of them grow strongly, forming many-headed stems. Such frost-resistant cacti for open ground feel good on the hill, such as some types of mammillaria, parodies, ailoster, Sylvester’s chamocereus grows well, the shoots of which grow twice as large as those of the potted counterpart.
True, not all types of planted outdoor cacti develop a good root system, but they live long enough and bloom well.
Grow well on the hill and prickly pear, including Opuntia microdasus and O. ovata.
Representatives of the genus grow well:
Cereus.
Cleistocactus.
Echinocereus.
notocactus.
Pseudolobivia.
You should not plant in the garden only species that require special conditions of detention, even in the home collection.
Caring for outdoor cacti (with photo)
All care for cacti in the summer comes down to watering in the absence of rain for a long time, removing settled weeds and mowing the grass around the hill. In the summer, cacti do not close even with prolonged cool and rainy weather. For all the time the slide was maintained, not a single cactus died from this. Weeds, especially those with long rhizomes, can periodically bother you quite strongly, so you need to remove them immediately, at the first appearance.
As you can see in the photo, outdoor cacti in dry weather are watered from an ordinary watering can, right along the stems:
Water for irrigation should be soft enough: from a pond or other suitable reservoir, but not from a well. In hot, dry weather, water in the evening. In cloudy weather, cacti will pour rain. You should not be afraid that the plants will be flooded, excess water will go through the drainage into the deeper layers of the soil. Over the years of keeping cacti on the street, rotting of the roots from dampness has never been observed.
The growing season for cacti is short, and at the end of August it is necessary to monitor the night temperature. If it began to fall at night to 5-7 ° C and below, then it’s time to think about a film shelter of the same design as in the spring. Hill stones play an important role in maintaining the temperature regime under the film. Having warmed up during the day, especially on sunny days, under the film they retain heat until the morning. At this time and later, echinopsis and some mammillaria may still bloom. A two-layer film cover and a large mass of stones under it are so effective that in sunny weather, usually at the first frost, they allow cacti to bloom to below zero temperatures, at which a frozen crust forms on the ground in the morning.
It is known that the main problem of growing cold-resistant cacti is not low temperature, but high soil and air humidity. With the removal of these restrictions, some species, primarily prickly pear, are able to withstand frost down to -20 ° C and below.
In the conditions of the Moscow region, it was noted that a number of species can withstand a few degrees of frost without consequences for a short time even without film shelter. Of course, you should not delay the transfer of cacti to wintering until frost, risking plants that took years to grow.
Before digging up cacti in the fall, it is necessary to prepare a place where they will winter, and special cassettes in which the plants are installed. The place should be bright and more or less cool, as in the wintering of a home collection. Deprived of soil, cacti also tolerate a fairly warm winter without signs of growth. However, with excess heat and closer to spring, they can start growing early and even bloom. In the event of a lack of light during this period, the stems will be damaged. However, there are usually no big problems with wintering outdoor cacti. Even small specimens survive the winter.
In prickly pear, stem segments that have not had time to complete growth may dry out, but these losses are more than compensated for in the next growing season. Before digging up cacti, it is necessary to remove the mineral layer (stones, gravel) that covers the soil, and save it until next year. A metal garden fork is very handy as a digging tool.
If the plants are large, you can not do without a thick thick mitten. It is impossible to hold a heavy and prickly plant with a bare hand. The soil after the cacti is dug up and all roots, weeds and debris are removed from it. Partial or complete replacement of the soil is carried out in the spring.
Cassettes for the winter maintenance of cacti are easiest to make from boxes of a suitable size made of corrugated cardboard. Round holes are cut out in the bottom of the box so that the roots of the cacti pass through them, and the stem rests on the edges of the hole. It is better if there is more space between the holes, with the expectation of future growth. So that the bottom of the box does not sag under the weight of cacti, it can be reinforced with wooden blocks or ordinary sticks of a suitable diameter, passed through the holes in the side walls. Such cassettes serve for years, and making them again is not difficult.
In the spring, with an increase in light and daylight hours, cacti begin to prepare for transplanting into open ground. This is a crucial moment, since the plants are weakened after wintering, and it is impossible to delay in bringing them out of dormancy.
Before planting garden cacti, you need to regularly spray with water, right in the cassettes. Early flowering species (rebutia) can flower in a cassette with dry roots. At this time, it is desirable to provide enough light so that the stems do not stretch, and if possible, raise the temperature. Cacti that have begun to pour under favorable weather conditions are again planted in open ground.