how to take care of my cactus?

Anything relating to Cacti or CactiGuide.com that doesn't fit in another category should be posted under General.
Post Reply
orca
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:27 am
Location: Riyadh-Saudi Arabia

how to take care of my cactus?

Post by orca »

hi, im not sure if this is the right place to post this, im sorry if it's not
couple weeks ago i got a cactus, and the only two things i know about them is that they have spins and live in desert :oops:
the great people here identified it for me as " Cylindropuntia fulgida var. Mammillata Monstrosa"
so can you please give me few hints - the more the merrier :oops: - about how to take good care of it?

i've read some about it, and by now i know it should have a soil with really good drain, and to do that i should mix it's soil with stones,, are there kinds of stones? is there a specif kind or place i should get those stones from? or any kind do it? im thinking of keeping mixing the soil with stones in different amounts until i get to the best drain, is this a good idea? is there anything else i need to add to the soil?

by now i also know that i should water it whenever the soil gets dry, until now i've been watering it twice a week, and i've noticed that the soil becomes really dry they day before the watering day, im i doing that right?

now about the light, i don't get much sunlight in my home, so i need to stick with artificial lightning, where i keep it now, it gets good light from the room's light which is 4 long white neon bars, there are no barriers between the neon bar and my cactus, but it's like 2 meters away from the neon bars, is neon good enough for its? if so, is this space ok? or should i bring it closer to the light? if neon wasn't good enough, should i bring it a compact fluorescent bulb? if so, how far from the bulb should i keep it? if that wasn't good enough, what should i do?
how many light hours a day is good for my cactus?


is my cactus sensitive to the surrounding temperature? is there a temperature that could be too cold for it? i know it can get sunburns, and the roots could suffer in high temperature, but im keeping it away from such extreme circumstances.

im sorry for making this too long, but once again, i really have zero knowledge and experience in this field, and i really want too take good care of my Kacttu :)
thank you for you're help, i WILL appreciate any shred of information any one can give me, regarding these questions or not
User avatar
mmcavall
Posts: 1436
Joined: Tue May 17, 2016 11:54 pm
Location: São Carlos - SP, Southeast Brazil, Cerrado Region

Re: how to take care of my cactus?

Post by mmcavall »

For most of your questions you will find stuff to read in the forum's topics. There is no single recipe, so you have to read, try to identify condictions similar to yours, and make adaptations.
I suggest you read this: http://www.cactiguide.com/growcacti/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After doing that, I suggest you to post specific threads for each subject, so it will be easier to find people available to answer (I believe people prefer direct and objetive questions).
I don't have much more to say, except that I learnt a lot reading the posts and doing some experiences.
For the potting mix, it must be really draining, and don't worry to put much stones (in fact, you could start with at least half of the volume composed by coarse grit or gravel).
Please add your location to your profile, it helps people to know your local condictions and give you better advice.
Post Reply