Cacti Of The Genus Mammillaria (Mammillaria), Some Species, Conditions Of Detention - 1

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

A type of cacti that can satisfy every taste: both a lover of bright colors and a connoisseur of beautiful thorns

I think no one would argue that in the world of indoor plants, cacti occupy a special place. Anyone who at least once felt an indomitable desire to acquire a thorny ball is no longer limited to just a couple of copies. This passion captures for many years and even for life.

But the world of cacti is so vast and diverse that a novice cactusist is simply lost in this sea of information, in an abundance of genera and species. Leaving aside the stories about rare and demanding genera, common in the collections of experienced cactusists, and talk about the most accessible for a beginner. About mammillaria. I can already hear the contemptuous "Fi!" from the luminaries of cactus. But if you have firmly decided that you want to grow these unusual plants, and you have no experience, then it is better to start with the mammillaria, which have been tested for decades in indoor conditions. And only later, having gained experience and knowledge, you can begin to expand the collection at the expense of other genera of cacti.

The genus of Mammillaria is very diverse, its types can satisfy every taste: both a lover of bright colors and a connoisseur of beautiful thorns. For ease of cultivation and unpretentiousness, cacti of this genus are deservedly popular.

So, let's get acquainted. In the Cactus family, the genus Mammillaria is perhaps the largest, it includes several hundred species and many varieties. In nature, they grow in the south of the United States, in the north of South America (Colombia, Venezuela), in the countries of Central America (Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala). Some species grow in mountains at an altitude of more than 2000 m above sea level, in crevices of rocks and on rocky plateaus. There is a lot of sun and very little moisture. Many species are found on grassy plains, where it rains in summer and dry and cool in winter. Accurate information about the homeland of each type of acquired mammillaria allows providing it with better care and conditions of detention. Among the variety of these species, there are completely unpretentious and easy to grow, and there are also more capricious and demanding ones.

Mammillaria are medium-sized cacti with a spherical or short-cylindrical stem, they are solitary and in the form of colonies with children, forming whole pillows.

Mammillaria differ in their external structure from other representatives of the world of cacti by the presence of numerous papillae (mamma - nipple) on the stem instead of ribs, located spirally on the stem. The papillae can be in the form of tetrahedral cones or cylindrical-rounded.

There are thorns at the tops of the papillae, and the flowers emerge from the sinuses between the papillae - the axillary. Axillae are glabrous, with small bristles, weakly and strongly pubescent. The flowers often surround the crown in a wreath. They are small and relatively large, in various shades of white, cream, yellow and crimson. A few months after flowering, many species develop fruits in the form of oblong orange, red berries, which remain on the cactus for months and decorate it very much. Inside the berries are small seeds that germinate quite easily when they hit the ground. Therefore, under natural conditions, mammillaria are capable of forming vast colonies with an area of tens of square meters.

About a third of the species of mammillaria contain milky juice in the stems. Some species contain milky sap only in the depths of the stem, and watery sap at the periphery. The rest of the species (most) contain ordinary watery juice in their tissues.

An amazing variety of spines, hairy pubescence in the papillary sinuses makes many species of mammillaria very decorative, even in a non-flowering state.

Mammillaria detention conditions

Lighting. Mammillaria of almost all types require a lot of sunlight, especially pubescent ones. In the summertime, Mammillaria are very fond of growing outdoors. Therefore, as soon as the threat of spring frost has passed, it is best to place the cacti on the balcony or in the garden, in a sunny place. In extreme heat at noon, they need to be slightly shaded from the scorching sun.

Temperature. The temperature is normal room temperature, that is, moderate. But in winter, a period of dormancy begins, and the temperature should not rise above 15 ° C. The optimum range is 7-10 ° C.

Watering. In spring and summer, it is necessary to water the mammillaria abundantly enough, depending on the air temperature. In the heat - more often and more, in cloudy cool weather - do not water at all. Periodically during this time, you can feed with a weak solution of special fertilizers for cacti. But cacti planted in fresh soil need not be fed until next season. At the end of summer, watering is gradually reduced to a minimum in order to place the cacti in a cool place for wintering from November. The soil in the pots should be dry by this time.

Mammillaria rest all winter, and they do not need to be watered. The only exceptions are small young plants. They can be watered just a little bit about once a month, just moistening the topsoil to prevent the roots from drying out too much. In early spring, when the sun appears more and more often and noticeably warms, cacti wake up, flower buds appear on them. At this time, a warm shower (35-38 ° C) will come in handy, which will wash the stem and revive the roots. I do it in the following way. I thoroughly pour warm water over each cactus from the top of the head until it appears from the pan. After another half an hour, I drain the remaining water from it, and after drying, I place the cactus on a light window. (For cacti covered with a white fluffy "robe", only warm, abundant watering is enough to not spoil the appearance.) This procedure promotes the onset of rapid growth. After a few days, the plants noticeably increase in size, actively turn green, and release buds.

Wintering. Wintering should be mentioned separately. This is a very important stage in the life of the Cactus. If we want to bloom, we need to provide a dry cold winter. This rule is unshakable! Cool maintenance during the dormant period for cacti is simply vital. The lowered air temperature promotes the flow of special biochemical processes in the cells, as a result of which flower buds are formed. Wintering should take place in a well-lit place with an air temperature of 6-12 ° C. There is practically no need to water at this time, only small cacti can be lightly watered once a month so that they do not dry out at all. To control the temperature, you need a thermometer, and you can control watering at this time using the watering calendar or simply mark the watering date every time.

Keeping cacti in a hot room in winter leads to the plant continuing to grow without rest. And insufficient light and a short day, combined with watering, lead to a curvature of the stem, depletion of the plant and a lack of flowering. Therefore, it is very important to reduce the air temperature at least on the windowsill. To do this, you can make a barrier of glass or film at the edge of the window sill to block the flow of hot air from the radiators. The air temperature must be monitored with a thermometer. If in severe frosts on the windowsill it is too low, then under the pots you need to put a sheet of polystyrene or thick foam rubber and shield them with a warm cloth from the flow of cold air from the side of the frame. After turning off the heating, the barrier is removed.

Planting and breeding mammillaria

For all types of mammillaria, the soil should be loose, it should be easy for water and air to pass through, but not loose like sand. Good drainage is required and even necessary at the bottom of the pot, a layer of coarse sand is poured on top, and only then does the soil mixture come. A layer of top drainage is poured on the soil surface around the root collar. These are the main rules, which are somewhat supplemented depending on the specific species.

For example, for mammillaria from mountainous areas, marble chips, crushed shell rock or eggshells are added to the soil mixture. Plains Mammillaria love lighter, more fertile soil. In order not to delve into all the features of compiling specific soil mixtures (there is a special literature for this), I will only recommend what I use myself. After all, it is not always possible to find all the recommended ingredients. But even with a minimum of ingredients, you can always meet the main requirement - looseness and water permeability. I mix roughly equal amounts of coarse sand and loose leafy soil, sometimes adding a little store-bought soil if it is of good quality, and not in the form of dried peat. For all the years of growing cacti, this mixture has never let me down.

A wide variety of containers can be used for planting mammillaria, but any pot must have a drainage hole to drain excess water. It is believed that pottery and earthenware does not impede root breathing. But plastic pots are preferable for the reason that the soil in them does not dry out at the walls as quickly as in clay pots. And this protects young thin roots, stretching for moisture to the walls, from drying out.

Most mammillaria are easily reproduced by "babies" that are abundantly formed on the mother plant, others - by seeds. And often the "kids" already have air roots. Such a "baby" is carefully buried a little in a loose substrate of coarse sand and earth, for stability, propped up with pebbles and literally watered drop by drop. The pebbles support the baby until he has a strong enough root system. Then they can be removed.

Sowing seeds requires a lot of trouble and patience, but many mammillaria reproduce well by seeds. However, this is a separate and rather extensive topic for conversation.

Transfer. When you have been dealing with cacti for many years, then there are no questions about the transplantation rules. But at the very beginning of collecting, you can make many mistakes due to lack of experience in this matter. Many questions that arise from an inexperienced cactusist may seem naive. But I hope I can help the beginners with something.

So, to begin with, cactus are not just indoor flowers that are constantly growing and require annual transplantation into fresh soil. These are unusual, amazing creatures living according to their own cactus laws. They grow very slowly, which means that they need to be transplanted much less often than representatives of deciduous flora.

Mammillaria in indoor conditions develop quite actively, so young fast-growing specimens can be transplanted annually. Adults can be transferred after 2-3 years into a more spacious pot, sprinkling fresh soil around the edges. It was not for nothing that I used the word "can" and not "need". The point is that you must always proceed from a specific situation. Because even if a cactus has long outgrown its pot, but blooms and does not stop growth, then it is not worth replanting it yet. If the roots stick out of the drainage hole, but the cactus gives good growth, this does not mean that it is cramped. This only suggests that he has grown a good root system and can now grow a stem, thorns, flowers and fruits. And if you now take it and transplant it into a more spacious pot, then it will again have to grow roots to develop new land,and flowering will be delayed. Therefore, you never need to rush to transplant cacti, if there is no obvious deficit of space for the development of the root system.

Transplanting-transshipment of adult cacti should be carried out together with a lump of old soil, especially without shaking it off and without cutting off the roots, so as not to injure a healthy plant once again. An exception may be cases of dying off of old roots or diseases of the root system, then pruning is necessary. When transferring to a more spacious pot, fresh soil is simply poured on the sides.

In size, the pot should not be too tight for the roots: they need to develop. Therefore, when transplanting, the pot is taken more spacious: not less than 1-2 cm. After all, only a well-developed and "well-fed" root system can provide a luxurious aboveground part of the plant! Mammillaria, which actively form colonies with many children, are best planted in wide, shallow containers.

It is undesirable to water the plant immediately after transplanting; you need to give the roots a couple of days to adapt to the new soil. And if the soil was used slightly damp, then it is all the more unnecessary to water in the coming days. These are cacti - they will not wither, but the roots can get sick from excess moisture.

At what time of the year should mammillaria be transplanted, if they bloom in spring, grow in summer, then go into hibernation? In principle, cacti can be transplanted at any time of the year. But over time, I came to the conclusion that the optimal time for transplants is the beginning of winter, when the mammillaria is still in deep rest. Indeed, already in January they lay buds, and during this period it is better not to disturb them. And in the spring they should already bloom and not waste their energy on overcoming the stress of transplanting. Therefore, the transplant is best done in November or December. It should be remembered that the new soil must be completely dry, so that the plants do not "wake up" feeling moisture. Freshly transplanted mammillaria are again placed in the wintering place. You can transplant them in early spring, but it is still preferable not to disturb regularly flowering species at this time.

Now you can often find Dutch cacti in flower shops, among which there are a lot of mammillaria. What to do with the just bought "Dutchman"? Regardless of the season, you need to try to transplant it faster. But first, all the same, arrange a 7-10-day quarantine, keeping it separate from all plants. The first couple of days it is not watered, but if the peat in the pot has completely turned to stone, then it is better to water the baby. It must be carefully inspected daily so as not to miss the appearance of signs of disease or pests. If everything is fine, then we are preparing for the transplant.

Taking out a cactus from a pot, you should carefully examine its roots. Strong healthy roots do not need to be shaken off the old soil, because the cactus is used to it, and the new conditions for it are already stressful. Therefore, the familiar soil will help him quickly adapt to new conditions. The beginner is simply transferred into a larger pot, pouring drainage to the bottom and adding fresh soil around the edges. With the start of watering, new roots will begin to develop and master the filled up substrate. But still, very often Dutch cacti carry various pests on their roots, which can later infect other plants. Therefore, if there is no confidence in the cleanliness and safety of the store kid, it will be safer to play it safe and get rid of the old soil completely. It is thoroughly soaked and washed off from the roots with a brush under a strong stream of warm water. In the future, the roots are allowed to dry for a day or two, and the cactus is planted in new dry soil. Watering does not begin immediately, but after 5-7 days and little by little.