Jan 3, Christmas cactus flowers bloom once a yearin winterin different attractive co

A member of Zygo-Cactus family, the Christmas cactus makes a beautiful decoration for the home.

Native to South American jungles, the cacti flowers bloom once a year?in winter?in different attractive colors such as fuchsia, salmon pink, yellow, and white. Sometimes, the flowers have a combination of such colors.

Christmas cactus plant makes a perfect Christmas decoration especially for hanging baskets. It has densely branching pendant stems characteristically segmented in 1.5 inches long and half of an inch wide. True cacti, another of its names, come with a prominent midrib. The plant has minuscule areoles that bear tiny bristles. These bristles are found in notches along the edges of the segments. The bigger and elongated areoles at the tip of the segment are where the flowers emerge.The flowers are not symmetrical in shape. Rather, they have left and right halves similar to pea flowers or snapdragons. Each bloom, which lasts for a few days, has an inch in diameter and 1.5 inches to 3 inches long.

While these plants are called cacti, they are truly different from the common cactus in all aspects. This cactus plant is also known as orchid cactus because they are found in the same environments as orchids thrive.

They inhabit the forks of tree limbs where they grow in decayed leaves and other debris that naturally accumulates there. Orchid cactus are a tropical plant, hence, their cultural requirements are different from a real cacti plant.

Christmas cactus plant should not have direct sunlight exposure.

It is ideal to place this plant in an area where there is medium light in the morning and afternoon. In September and October, the orchid cactus should be kept in a cool room where the temperatures do not drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Flowers usually bloom in December when it is less exposed to the sun due to winter?s shorter days.

It can also be induced to flower when kept inside a dark room. Ensure though that there is no light turned on inside the room.

Another option is to cover the budding plant with black plastic sheets at least 16 hours a day, and expose them to sunlight for 8 hours only.

As soon as the orchid cactus start budding, it is advisable not to keep them in areas where there are lights in the evening.

Especially during the flowering season should the cactus plant need regular watering. However, it is important to note never to let the pots stand in water.

Suffice it is to mist the cactus plant. After the flowering season, though, the watering sessions must reduce.

It is sufficient that the potting mixture is moistened, and its top portion is dried out before watering the cactus again. Abundant watering is resumed whenever there is a new stem growing. Sometimes, there is a need for the plant to be humidified through mist-spray.

During the flowering season and active growth, Christmas cactus needs food plants. Apply a potassium-rich, slow-release fertilizer once a month, throughout the year, to encourage flowering.

Repotting is required once a year after the plant completed a flowering season.

Propagating Christmas cactus is very easy. It only needs cuttings at any given time. Simply remove a portion of a stem having two or three joined segments.

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Dec 31, Cactus Plants

A lot of people are not aware of the fact that cactus plants can die because of neglect, improper soil conditions and lack of sunlight.

These plants do thrive in the extreme conditions that Desert Plants are accustomed to.

The growing environment that your cactus need to flourish is essential to its survival. The signs that your plants are suffering will be only visible after an extended period of time. Healthy Cactus Plant are vibrant green in color and grow vigorously. When the cactus begin to turn yellow and the leaves drop off, it will wither and die in the near future.

Once this point of neglect has been reached, it is nearly impossible to revive your desert cacti.

Watering

It may sound a bit incredulous, but desert plants do have watering requirements if you want them to remain healthy. The watering requirements are minimal but should be done correctly.

When it rains, desert cacti store as much water as they can to survive until the next rainfall.

The desert garden that you are planting has a very different environment from that of a desert. This difference is made up for by following a deep watering routine.

For outdoor cactus plants, water every two weeks except during winter when it can only be watered once a month.

This will give your outdoor cactus optimum growth and bloom. House cacti are watered once a month.

If your cactus roots will be subjected to continuous damp soil conditions, it will rot and die.Desert plants live in sandy soil though you can grow them with other soil types. What is vital to plants is drainage. Drainage properties must be excellent. You can buy cactus soil mixes or you can amend the soil with sand or grit.

Fertilizing Cactus Plants

These desert plants have been used to surviving in poor soil. Your desert garden will still grow even if you do not fertilize.

Your cactus will benefit from being fertilized regularly though this is not a requirement.

If you want a grand and amazing desert garden, then you have to fertilize accordingly. You can use special formulated or 15-15-30 fertilizer twice a month except during winter.

The better alternative for cactus care is the use of organic fertilizer.

Temperature and Sunlight

Even if these plants are used to the heat, they can live through the extreme cold of the winter. If they cannot withstand the temperature, the cactus goes dormant.

It is unlikely that your house desert cacti will flower unless the complete sunlight requirements are met.

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Dec 24, Barrel Cactus Is A Vital Source Of Food And Water Where It Thr

In the harsh desert, where few men can survive, the barrel cactus has meant life to the Native Americans. The Mojave, Chihuahua and Sonoran desert, where the cactus thrives, has made the this cactus a vital source of food and water. It is amongst one of the most valued of desert plants.

The cactus is one of the desert plants that have been put under protected status in various areas. Uncountable cacti have been cut down to make the highly popular barrel cactus candy. If this destruction of this natural resource will be allowed to continue, it will make theses species of cactus extinct.

Historical Usage

The cactus can be prepared as a stew. The flowers are harvested when they have just bloomed and boiled like cabbage. The more mature blooms are mashed and added to water to make a tasty drink.

The water that is used to make the exotic beverage is extracted for the pulp of the barrel cactus. The water that is squeezed out from the pulp can be consumed as it is. In case of dire need, the pulp is chewed to bring nourishment to the body and quench parching thirst.

The most famous food item that the cactus is known for is candy. The pulp of this desert cactus is used to process this sweet candy. It is reported the candy was outlawed in the U.S. in 1952 to protect the species.

The top of the cactus when cut, may be used as a cooking container. The cooking is done by the addition of hot stones into the provisional pot. The sharp spines are not edible. They were made into needles, fishhooks and other similar tools.

Description

The cactus is of the genus Ferocatus, which means fierce cactus. Desert cacti of this genus are cylindrical in shape. It grows near the desert slopes and canyon walls.

They are one of the largest desert plants that can grow up to a height of 11 feet tall. These desert plants are ribbed and covered with spines. The Fishhook species has curved spines, hence the name fishhook.

During the months of April until June the blooms appear. They are beautiful and edible yellow-green to red flowers located at the crown of these desert cacti.

This usually grow along desert washes, gravely slopes and beneath desert canyon walls in all of the hot desert of North America from the Mojave, Chihuahua and Sonoran desert of southern California, southern Arizona west to Texas and south into Baja, California and central Mexico.

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Dec 22, Australian Desert Plants And Cactus

Australian Desert Plants

Have you ever wondered how plants in the desert survive? No water for months on ends; scorching hot weather day in and day out; surly they would eventually dry out and shrivel up to nothing. Right? Wrong.

Most plants have something much like a storage canteen in them (scientifically this is called a bulb), allowing them to store water and then use it sparingly and only as essentially needed to survive.

They also protect themselves from losing this precious storage of water by growing tough outer coats and even painful thorns. This prevents animals of the desert from trying to eat the plant for its water supply.

Take a cactus for instance; it grows painful spines across its entire stem and body to protect its water supply; the spines are not there to hurt unsuspecting humans who stumble across these, they are there for the plants survival.

It has been said that if you are ever lost in the desert, you can dig up a cactus and drink the water from its bulb that it has stored. I suppose that at that point, you don?t much care about the pokey and painful thorns.

Australian desert plants are some of the hardiest found on our planet. The trees often have longer root systems, allowing them to go in search of water sources and store it in its long bulb for later on use.

The Australian desert plants also provide much needed protection for other desert dwellers. Lizards often use these trees for shade and shelter, and sometimes even as a water source, but not often as the bark is extra tough and not very tasty.

Trees in the Australian desert grow shorter than those on the coasts, mostly to protect them from the hot desert sun. They also grow large protective and waxy leaves that help keep the water they have stored from evaporating.

The Australian desert is also home to something called the drought avoiders. These are the Australian plants that only sprout after a hard rain and last about three weeks before dying off again.

It is as if the seeds were underground just waiting to be given their growth spurt. Most growth occurs overnight after a rainfall. I think if one was to visit the Australian desert and study the Australian desert plants they would find themselves amazed at the marvel of design that these plants and trees seem to have.

As humans our bodies are designed to store water, but we can?t store water for months on end, nor can we train our bodies to take just a little bit of our water at a time to keep us alive. Somehow these plants have it all figured out. Isn?t nature an amazing thing?

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