Thorny and bizarre cacti, of which there are more than one dozen species in nature, leave no one indifferent: some do not condescend to them, others adore immeasurably. For those who take the initial steps in the matter of cacti breeding, our advice on the reproduction of cacti at home will be helpful.
How to propagate a cactus?
So, there are three ways to reproduce the cactus:
- seeds;
- cuttings;
- vaccination.
Reproduction of cacti by seeds
Those who decide to multiply cacti with seeds, it is useful to know the following:
- after planting in the soil, the seeds of cacti give rise to shoots from one week to a month;
- The best time for sowing seeds is the end of April and the beginning of May;
- optimal conditions for germination of cactus seeds can be obtained by equipping a mini-greenhouse;
- The container into which the seeds are sown must necessarily have sufficiently large drainage holes;
- seeds of cactus are sown on the surface of the soil, slightly sprinkling them with earth and pressing it with a small plaque;
- after sowing seeds, the container with earth is installed in a container with heated water and covered with polyethylene or glass;
- after the appearance of the first thorns on the seedlings, proceed to their picking, repeating this process 2-3 times during the summer.
Reproduction of cacti by cuttings
Another way to reproduce cacti is cuttings. How to propagate cacti by cuttings? This method also has its own subtleties:
- Crops can be propagated by cuttings in spring or early summer;
- cuttings from cacti are apical or lateral shoots, as well as leaves in leaf varieties;
- for the rooting of the cuttings, it is necessary to properly prepare the pot - first to pour a layer of drainage, then land (peaty-foliate mixed with sand), and on top of a layer of sand 3-4 cm thick;
- Before planting the pottings, the cuttings must be
a week and a half in a dry room; - after the cut of the cuttings is covered with a glassy film, it is planted in a prepared pot, deepening by 1-1.5 cm;
- A pot with a planted cut is covered with glass or plastic wrap;
- the mother plant after cutting cut is dried in the sun, and then the place of the cut is sprinkled with coal powder;
- before the rooting of the cuttings, the sand in the pot is not watered with it, but only occasionally it is moistened;
- Cuttings for reproduction can be harvested from autumn, leaving them for hibernation in dry sand in a dark cool place.