KLEEN-TEX (Thailand) Co. Ltd.

The blow from the second wave of pandemic has hit hard, ruining many hopes and dreams, but don’t let it brings you down. We’d been through it once, we can do it again! Our lifestyle has changed , the old norms have been replaced by the “new normal”. During this period of time, let’s put a great deal of awareness and care towards our health. For those who are staying at home or working from home, we (as an admin) would like to suggest gardening and one of the easiest plants to care for is cactus.

There’s a belief that planting a cactus on a Saturday and on the west side of your premises brings you luck, prosperity and strength. Cactus lovers are considered sentimental, artistic. They also favor simplicity, have a kind heart and they are joyful but those characters often stay hidden.

These spiny plants are natively and originally from deserts, mostly in South America before spreading to Africa. These perennial plants are popular as indoor and outdoor decoration, because they can tolerate drought and can be planted in any types of soil, as well as, they can be placed in any places. Cacti have ability to store up an enormous amount of water in their trunk and use it over a long dry period. All their leaves turn into thorns (often called spikes or glochids, depends on their size) to minimize dehydration. There are over 127 species of cactus. Here are the popular ones;

Mammillaria

There are more than 400 types of mammillaria. The specie is easy to maintain, quickly grows and blooms regularly. One of the mammillaria’s unique characteristics is the hair like or wooly spines which are soft and fluffy covering the body, accompanied by small and sweet-colored flowers springing in a circle at the top. The commonly-known types are Mammillaria Pumosa (white feather cactus), Mammillaria Schiedeana (yellow feather cactus), Mammillaria bocasana (Powder Puff cactus) and Mammillaria perbella (Owl eye cactus)

Gymnocalycium mihanovichii (commonly called Chin cactus)

Little charming and bright cacti which a lot of people find attractive. They have colorful body with large flowers. They are easy to bloom and the bloom lasts for several days. However, this specie requires a regular maintenance. It might take some time for the plants to bloom, depends on the right amount of water and somewhat, patience.

Astrophytum

These species are unique because of the shape of their trunk which is similar to a star shape. Furthermore, they can easily be distinguished from others by the white dots visible all around their trunk. Nowadays, we can divide the species by the characteristics of the trunk and thorns into 6-7 types, for example, Astrophytum asterias or Sand Dollar cactus and Mario cactus.

Astrophytum Miracle, also known as Astro Miracle, is easy to care for. It grows rapidly and often flowers and it’s also easy to be mixed between breeds. The nature of this species is “without thorns” and white dots around the trunk. It starts flowering once it reaches about a year old. The peak point of flowering is during Summer and randomly occurs in other seasons.

Echinopsis

It’s a bush-like cactus with white flowers which only bloom from midnight to around 08.00 AM. Even though this species has thorns but its thorns aren’t as sharp as others.

Haworthia

These succulent plants have different shapes which make them outstanding. Mesmerizing and eye-catching with the different patterns appearing on the leaves, accompanied by their unique charm from the way their leaves are transparent. The examples of this species are Haworthia truncata (aka “Horse’s teeth”), Haworthiopsis attenuate or Zebra Haworthia, Haworthia pumila donut, Haworthia cymbiformis and Haworthia cooperi

Cactus care

Light

Sunlight is an essential factor for planting a cactus. If you plant a cactus in your house, place it in the area where there’s a light, periodically.

Soil

The soil which drains and ventilates well is the best choice for cactus. It helps cactus to grow.

Watering

The most critical part of cactus care is overwatering which can cause rotten roots. The recommended frequency is to water a cactus once every 3 days during Summer and once every 7 days during Winter.

Fertilizing

Do not use fertilizers that are high in nitrogen because they nourish the leaves without flowering. For flowering benefit use ones which are high in potassium, especially the liquid-like fertilizers.

Polishing cactus

Brush your cactus with a used toothbrush or shaving brush to get rid of dust which might stuck on the plant and becomes a stain. During summer time when humidity vaporizes very quickly, mist the plant with a water spray for keeping your cactus nicely clean and polished.

Why doesn’t my cactus bloom?

Many people bought a cactus and it hasn’t ever bloomed, not even once. Firstly, check if you’ve been watering it way too much or not. Then, another reason is that some types of cactus only bloom in a specific type of climate. Even sunlight insufficiency also causes non-flowering cactus. Therefore, make sure to check with the florist’s whether the cactus you’re buying is suitable for your climate. Furthermore, another reason why your cactus doesn’t bloom is because it’s a young plant; not yet in a mature state to produce flowers. However, at some florists’ they fast-forward the flowering state by using a lot of fertilizer which causes the plant to bloom but it’s still a premature. Even though the plant is blooming when you buy it, but when you place it in your house it becomes weak and stops blooming.

Changing pot

Avoid watering the cactus for several days before changing its pot. To easily remove a cactus from a pot, firmly hold the pot and use a pencil or a chopstick to slowly push the soil and the plant from the hole on the bottom of the pot. You can place a newspaper on the floor for keeping your floor clean and easy to tidy it later. Once you push it through the hole, the plant should come off smoothly and wholly. This way helps preventing any damages on cactus’s root.

Preventing being poked by those thorns

With a help of some newspaper pages (folded several times to create few layers) acting as a glove can prevent your hand being poked by those sharp thorns. Simply wrap around your cactus with this newspaper glove while handling it.

Besides, you can make your gardening with cacti more pleasant and more artful by arranging an area in your house as your relaxing corner, decorating it with a chic designed mat. Even though we can’t travel during this time but a nice and beautiful view of your house makes this time more enjoyable. The cactus designed collection from PRAW is not only for decoration purpose but also for keeping your floor nice and clean, lack of dust and dirt and PRAW mats are also washable, easy to clean.