The Rural Voice, 2003-01, Page 34Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
My mother and I had a road trip
late last fall and happened to take a
wrong turn and ended up at Belgium
Nurseries on Highway 7 east of
Kitchener -Waterloo. Now my
husband would say that a wrong turn
ending at a nursery is not a wrong
turn but a calculated one. But no
matter he was not with us.
Mom had never been there before
and I was excited about showing her
their magnificent collection of cacti.
You can walk through a greenhouse
that places you in a little piece of
desert. They have some incredible
eight -foot tall spires and some short
fat prickly drums that are big enough
to seat yourself on if you had a steel
plate for a backside.
We have three huge windows at
work with deep sills. I keep scented
geraniums there, but during busy
weeks 1 neglect to water them and so
they suffer a bit. Cacti would be a
better choice.
Most of us are already familiar
with the Christmas cacti which is a
jungle cacti and enjoys a
north window. There
are the
assorted
shapes of
prickly
cacti, round
hairy ones
and then
there are
the ever
popular
grafted
cacti
that
look like
oranges
growing out
of thick
30 THE RURAL VOICE
Gardening
Cacti and other ouches
green columns.
You can start a cacti collection
with a very small outlay. A packet of
seeds costs under $5 and a small
cactus can cost under $3. But let's
look at the basic care.
First of all your container should
be a clay pot with a large drainage
hole. Wash the pot in soap and hot
water, then put a small square of
fiberglass screening over the hole (to
stop the sandy soil from falling
'through). Add a layer of gravel or
crushed pot shards, then cover with
the correct soil mixture — it varies a
bit from species to species. When you
are repotting. handle the cactus with
gloves or a folded strip of newspaper
to protect your hands from the
prickles. Most cacti will root in very
little soil, but the container should be
porous and have good drainage. Dish
gardens should also be lined with
gravel for drainage. You can create
little landscapes with driftwood, and
coloured stones.
When you buy a cacti from
nursery they will be potted in the
appropriate mix. They grow slowly
and in most cases, only need
repotting every two or three years.
When you repot desert cacti, use a
mixture of one part sharp sand, and
one part ordinary potting soil. Don't
fertilize during the first two to three
months. Jungle cacti need one part
potting soil, two parts peat moss, and
one part sharp sand or perlite. During
the growing season, keep the soil
evenly moist and feed once a month
with a high -phosphorus fertilizer such
as 5-20-20. Do not fertilize when
plants are dormant.
Dormant period: sounds like
where I want to be after Christmas.
For desert cacti this means a dry, cool
winter's rest if they are to flower in
the spring. After a summer in the
garden, they should be brought into
the house and kept on a bright
window sill in a cool room from
September to January. If you think
your house is too well heated to
provide a cool room, you will find
that a window sill even in the
warmest room will be quite cool. But
be on your guard for both too -hot
winter sunshine burning the plant
through the glass, or too much cold
on subzero days.
They need little or no water during
the winter months. In fact over -
watering is an easy way to kill them.
At the beginning of winter (or when
you acquire a new plant) immerse the
pot in a pan of water for about a
minute. The water will bubble up
through the soil. When the bubbles
cease to show on the surface of the
soil, set the pot on a wire rack to
drain.
If the pot is kept on a saucer, put
some small pebbles under the pot to
prevent the plant from sitting in a
puddle. Once you have done this, you
need only give the plant minimal
watering during its dormant season,
about once a month to keep it from
shriveling. If it looks plump with
water, you need not worry. Another
way to tell if water is needed is to
tap the clay pot the plant is in. If it
rings, give the plant a little water; if
there is just a thud, no water.
During the dormant months, desert
cacti should receive very little water
and no fertilizer. Jungle cacti, need
enough watering to keep constantly
moist during the winter but less water
from spring to October.
In mid-March you should start
seeing signs of growth. Move the
cacti to a warmer area, and water
either by immersing them in water
and draining or following directions
given by the nursery. Flowers should
bloom soon after. If you just enjoy
the plant shape and colourand
flowers are not a big deal you can
place your cacti in any warm bright
room. It is the dormant period that
spurs on the flowering process.
Now the pests. Like any other
plant you bring home, you should
separate it for a few days and check it
carefully to make sure it has not
brought any unwanted creatures
home. A magnifying glass will help
you see if small insects are present.
Aphids are easy to eliminate — wiping
the plant gently with soapy water will
do the trick. Mealy bugs — sucking
insects with a wax coating — hide on
the undersides of the leaves or in