Cacti are plants that almost look after themselves!

They are arguably one of the oddest plants one could imagine. If we had to describe a cacti to a visitor from another planet who has never seen one before, how would one describe a cactus? Sort of like a green tube with prickles? Or a vegetable hedgehog?

Anyway in spite of their very strange appearance, many of us love them. They are one of the easiest plants to grow and to collect. When I was very young I had a little collection of tiny cacti growing in eggcups and toothpaste tube caps. Anyone anywhere in the world can have a little collection of these plants, they take up very little room, and are ideal to grow in a flat or apartment.

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Cacti are easy to strike, after leaving the offsets for a few days for the cut to harden over, a small stem or side shoot can be just put in a pot of damp sand, and it will eventually grow there! Some like zygocactus, which now has many modern cultivars, do very well in hanging baskets.

A carefully planned and constructed rockery will happily accomodate most cacti. Rocks should be of different sizes, but should all fit in the general plan. For instance, a couple of chunks of blue granite would look totally out of place in a rockery that was predominately sandstone! The rockery must be stable, and the sand placed in pockets so rain will not wash it away. It must drain well.

The soil under the rockery should be sand mixed with some well-rotted animal manure or compost. Good drainage is critical. Succulents can be planted on edges or banks to improve the visual outlook of the rockery.

Cacti really are very simple to grow and it’s so easy to start a small collection, that you can add to over the years.

Happy gardening, Patrick

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