ID Help Please!

[rgr]

Hi!
I just bought my first cactus and it is bringing me ridiculous amounts of joy! I bought it from a small gardening store in Minnesota, USA but forgot to ask what species it is. And if you do know the species how should I be taking care of it. I live in a college dorm room so I've put it on my window sill where it can get the most sun, although it still isn't a lot of direct sunlight. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

[MartP]

opuntia?

[rgr]

Do you know which species in opuntia?

[phil_SK]

Consolea moniliformis (the form usually known as C. rubescens).

[rgr]

Thank you so much!! Is there anything I should know when caring for it?

[greenknight]

It's tropical, from the Caribbean islands, so not cold hardy. More shade-tolerant than Opuntias, but needs some direct sun when grown indoors. Check out the 'Etiolation" article under the "Pests and Diseases" link at the top of this page.

In the North, we're into the dormant season now - assuming that's where you are, you should just leave it dry until Spring. Check the soil it's potted in to make sure it's a good well-drained mix, many commercial cactus mixes aren't (see the "Cultivation" forum for details). If the mix contains a lot of peat you should replace it next Spring.

Not a difficult species - as long as you let it dry thoroughly between waterings, and give it a reasonable amount of light during the growing season, it should do fine. I should say "they", looks like you have 4 cuttings there.

[rgr]

I am in the north. They get shady sun until about 1pm and then get direct sun until around 5pm. Is that okay?

Is it also okay to have them next to a heater? My heater is part of my window sill.

How can I tell if there is too much peat? Will they be okay until I go home to California next summer? I can repot them then and make better mix.

I think I have 5 cuttings actually. There's a little baby one popping out behind the tallest one. Thanks for all of your help! I really appreciate it!

[rgr]

I stuck my finger in the soil about an inch deep and it feels dry. Is that a sign I should water it?

Update: I stuck a toothpick in the pot almost to the bottom and no dirt stuck to it and it didn't feel wet at all. One of the forums suggested to do that.

If I keep them next to the heater should I water even though it's the dormant season?

[MartP]

There was recently a thread. A good indicator is:
Put a flat stone on top of the soil, water, after some time (when you feel like it's time for watering) pick up the flat stone, if there's moist under the flat stone, then don't water, wait a bit longer. If there's no moist, it's time to water.
If it's in peat, it's too much peat. A mix with like 20-30% peat is alright, but when you buy it from a shop it's usually pure peat mix, which SUCKS. Peat stays wet for too long, which causes root rot, and when it's dry it's super-dry, which is also bad.
It's alright if you don't repot it right away - it can wait until you're back. Usually it's a bad time to repot in autumn/winter anyways. Also don't water them at winter - as greenknight already said.

[rgr]

I watered them when I first got them and that was 5 days ago and the soil seems really dry now. Does being next to the heater dry the soil out quicker? I read on one of the threads that Cacti need cooler locations during the dormant season and because they are in cooler locations that is why they don't need to be watered. But if it's next to a heater should I be watering it? I'm also not sure if I can find a flat rock that small. There isn't a lot of room in the pot. This is the picture of the soil. Is that peat?

[greenknight]

Hard to tell from the picture what exactly is in that mix, but it doesn't look like peat, which is a brown, fibrous material. Chunks tend to rise to the top, dig a little and see what it looks like below the surface.

Are the dark chunks rock or bark? Bark is not as bad as peat, but rock would be better. As long as it's well-drained it's ok, though - this species isn't fussy, and it does grow in forests in its native range. If it dries out in 5 days there's no worry, you can wait until you get home to repot it. The light sounds adequate, too.

With most cacti, I'd say it shouldn't be next to a heater - but this is a tropical species, and you are in Minnesota. Doesn't sound like you have a lot of choice, anyway. Yes, it will need some water, but you should let it dry out enough that it goes dormant - the sun is less intense in the Winter, any new growth is likely to be etiolated. Water it maybe once a month until Spring. Light is not so important when the plants are dormant, if you had a cooler (but not too cold) place you could keep it and not water, even if it got no light, that would be better - but in a dorm room, I doubt that's available. Lacking that, you need to give it enough water to keep it from shrivelling too drastically, though some shrinkage is ok.

If you can't get it to go dormant, and it makes some etiolated new pads, you can always prune them off later. The main thing is to keep it alive until you can get it home. For more info, see - http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... niliformis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rgr]

The chunks are bark. I think I'm peat free, or there's very little. I can keep it on my desk where it won't get any direct sunlight and it won't be near the heater, although it will still be pretty warm in the room. Thank you so much for all of your help! I really appreciate it! I'm hoping that once I'm home I can expand my cacti collection!

[greenknight]

As long as it goes dormant, it can be away from the light with no problem. Where they come from, there's a wet season and a dry season, but no cold season - so maybe it doesn't need the cool conditions to go dormant. Better not to have it right above a heater, anyway. I think it should be fine, just move it back to the windowsill when Springtime brings more sun.

[Cactusethan]

I am pretty sure that this is Consolea rubescens.this cactus likes full sun and water it every two weeks,and
water it more during spring.