Homesfornh.com – Cactus is a tropical plant origin from South Africa. Nowadays, cactus has thousands of species around the world, especially in tropical regions. Even though cactus lives in the outdoor area, it also adjusts indoors environment. The development of this plant generates a beautiful appearance in various size that is possible to thrive it indoors too, but your cactus prefers to live in a place that adjusts their natural habitat, thus a special treatment is needed. Cactus also requires a natural medium to thrive in the original habitat because it can develop the stem in a wide space freely. We will discuss various tips for pruning the cactus that you have in this article. But before that, you also have to know a variety of important things why you should prune your cactus. Here are the benefits of caring for and pruning the cactus you have.
- Protect your cactus from disease
- Give a chance to develop their species
- Create a cactus garden in a practical way
- Give a new soil to grow
- Make your home interior/exterior more stunning and attractive
Thus, in this article, we will discuss various Simple Tips for Pruning Cactus to Make It More Beautiful and Stunning. There are two main points which we will cover in the next topic. The first thing we discuss is a variety of gardening tools that you can use for pruning your cactus. After that, we will discuss various tips and steps in simple cactus pruning. For that, let’s discuss it one by one!
Tools You Need
Before caring for and pruning your cactus, you need to prepare a variety of things that you need in doing these activities. For that, one of the things you have to prepare is a gardening tool. There are various types of gardening tools that you can choose according to the needs of pruning cactus in your home. Here’s the discussion!
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Hand Gloves
Hand glove is the first piece of equipment to keep your hand still clean from the soil, dirty substance, and bacteria. Use the hand glove that suits your need to dig the soil. A fiber hand glove is compatible with gardening activity.
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Gardening Tools
Hand trowel, hoe, gardening fork, and pruning shears are the basic tools to prune your plant. The appliances should be clean and the shear is sharp. A rusty or dirty shear makes your plant gets an irritation. Thus, checking the condition of your gardening tools before using them is a must.
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Fertilizer
Fertilizer is an important substance in every gardening activity. You need it when growing your plant. A fertilizer has many benefits to make your plant grow well. The use of fertilizer depends on your plant’s need, you can observe its leaves when it turns yellow it needs fertilizer.
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New Pot
You need to prepare a new pot if you want to thrive a new bud in a different medium. It is also useful to move your overgrown plant to have a larger place. A narrow pot makes your overgrown plant can’t grow properly, even it makes your plant stops growing.
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Watering Can
Watering can is optional equipment because it has a function to pour water drops calmly by its holes. The tension from the water drops may damage your new plant that starts to stand and grow. Thus, you can use a watering can as a special treatment for a new bud.
Simple Tips for Pruning Cactus
After the gardening tools you need are ready, we will discuss various tips and steps for caring for and pruning your cactus. Many steps in detail you should do if you desiring perfect gardening to prune cactus. Even though we will discuss some simple tips and steps but it is enough to thrive your cactus well. There are the important steps when you want to prune your cactus we have listed below. Let’s discuss!
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Observe Your Cactus
Is your cactus healthy? If your cactus shows a symptom of sickness, it is better to prune it immediately. If you don’t prune the sick part in your cactus, it may lead your cactus to death. The healthy cactus should look fresh and the stem is not tender because the tenderness means its stem is rotten and maybe its roots too. The stem has a slight surface, if it is wrinkled then it needs water or it is underwatered. Another option to prune a cactus is their overgrown condition. If your cactus looks crowded, it needs to prune to help them grow well.
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Start to Prune
After deciding that your cactus needs to prune, you can prepare to prune a certain part. Clean your cactus stem before you cut it. The cleanliness decreases the potential bacteria to get into the stem when you prune it. Swipe a soft fabric on the pruning shears to clean the sharp edge. By doing this step, it protects your cactus to live healthy and hygienic. Moreover, the clean sharp edge makes this process easier to cut your cacti. Be careful when you use a pruning shear, you must cut from the bottom of a stem or cut a columnar cactus. Let the cutting part for a while to get fresh air.
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Prepare The New Soil
If your cactus becomes large, move the cutting part from your cactus into the new soil. Thus, you need to prepare some ingredients for the soil. The right arrangement of your soil creates a fertile medium to grow your cutting cactus. This plant has low maintenance and can thrive well even in a hot temperature, you can imitate the environment of a desert or outdoor nuance. The soil component to thrive cactus from bottom to upper layer are pebbles, grit, partial soil, peat moss, and sands. These components create great drainage and aeration for its roots. To make a fertile potting mix, you can add commercial mixes that suit your cactus type.
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Plant Your Cactus
When all preparations are ready, you can start to plant cactus. Dig the soil that has fertile components for your cactus as deep as its roots or at least a half deeper than the length of its roots. The sand should cover the upper layer. Make sure that your cactus has the right position to absorb minerals in its pot. For special maintenance, put this new plant in a place that provides indirect light. Don’t forget to give enough fertilizer and water. Check the humidity of its soil by pushing your finger at least 2 inches on it.
Conclusion
That is our discussion about Simple Tips for Pruning Cactus to Make It More Beautiful and Stunning. Growing an ornamental plant is an exciting activity. It means that you bring a piece of nature into your home. Some ornamental plants make your room looks shady and some of that plants transform the interior into a fresh nuance. Cactus is one of the interesting plants to display indoors. Even though it grows slowly for years but it may be large and overgrown in a compatible environment. Thus, it needs to prune to reduce the crowded look. Moreover, pruning a cactus is a must when your cactus gets a sick part on its stem. Pruning is the right solution to help them live longer. We hope that this article is beneficial for you to prune cactus simply. Happy gardening!
