Kakteen Haage | Care Tips for your cacti

Care Tips for your cacti

How do I treat epicactus with spots and damaged areas?

What can I do about mealy bug and other pests?
How do I care of my cacti during the winter in the basement?
How can I treat scurf?

Thoughts about damage to epiphytic cacti

by Kurt Petersen

In the decades in which I have extensively dealt with the cultivation and care of epiphytic cacti, I had ample opportunity to study these plants in detail. I have become acquainted with their idiosyncrasies, and I have seen many different defects in my collection, trying to tackle them in every possible way. Of the many letters that I receive all the time, about half of them have questions that are related to the growth of epiphytic cacti and that tell of their ugly appearance. Leaf cacti whose shoots dry up from the top, those that suddenly get bruises, which can spread quickly and lead to complete death. Circular, pea-sized patches in the midst of a seemingly healthy shoot of an epicactus, which can easily break out after dehydration and thus leave behind perforated shoots. Suddenly slightly glazed parts of shoots, which become muddy in a short time and usually lead to the loss of such, as well as various other unsightly phenomena are among the surprises that we encounter again and again in the course of a cactus year.
Such damage occurs not only in the so-called orchid cacti, we find them in similar form on all epiphytic cacti, but also on Aporocacti or the "Queen of the Night", sometimes more and sometimes less. The question of the cause is obvious.
If a fungal disease appears in the collection, e.g. Fusarium, where the vascular bundles clearly indicate such infestation, or when in Phytophthora, the plant is attacked from the root, in many cases, the loss of the plants must be expected. Such are the exceptions and you can defend yourself by using appropriate substrates.
What can we do about the above-mentioned defects, how can we keep all that unsightly from our collection?
My answer is very simple: We are missing the opportunity to do something! We overlook the fact that cacti are native to another continent. In the North, as in the South American area, we find completely different climatic conditions, the light is not comparable to ours. Here, in these differences, we must look for the causes and try to reach an alignment in building our collection. Various climate zones were set up in large botanical gardens, an attempt to transmit the foreign conditions in our environment. We will not succeed in bringing the sun of California or Mexico to our windows.

In many ways we agree with Kurt Petersen's observation. However, we do not see the situation as hopelessly as Kurt Petersen portrayed it.

There are now quite simple ways to reduce fungal infection in the collection. Most fungal pathogens occur in a warm, humid, standing climate - a situation that exists in almost all collections. Some of these parameters can be influenced to a certain extent. With a small fan you can bring movement into the stagnant air, better is a regular ventilation of the room. In our experience, leaf cacti find optimal conditions when we try to orientate ourselves to the nature and the plants are simply hung in hanging pots in a tree. The advantage here is obvious, the canopy protects the plants from excessive sunlight and heavy rainfall, on the other hand forms a much higher humidity under the leaves, as in the other environment, as the plant is constantly assimilated.

Control of mealy bug and other pests on cacti

In general, we recommend to check every time before you use pesticides if less radical methods may be equally successful. On the one hand, this reduces the burden on one's own health, as well as on the entire environment, and, on the other hand, the risk of resistance formation is lower.

So here's the "friendly method":

The affected plants are treated with a solution of 1% each of Neudosan and Promanal (10 ml of Neudosan and 10 ml of Promanal in 1 liter of water). The effect arises here through the combination of the two preparations. The soap of the Neudosan ensures access through the otherwise almost impenetrable "wool protection layer". The oily base of the promanal leads to "sticking" of the respiratory tract where the pests suffocate. This treatment is completely harmless to humans, as well as the plant, since no toxic agents are included. Another good effect is the treatment with the non-toxic Neem, which eliminates the "feeling of hunger" at Laus & Co and thus "starves to death". Neem is also the only remedy that works simultaneously against spider mites (red spider) in cacti and other succulents.

If this does not yet show the desired success, you can add an insecticide to the solution. For this you have the choice between Bi58, Provado, Lizetan or Schädlingsfrei preparations.

For repeated treatments, you should use at least two different agents to prevent resistance.

Take care when handling pesticides! Please read the leaflet carefully before use and avoid any contact by wearing gloves or inhaling the spray mist. The infected plants are sprayed with the solution. In order to treat all stages effectively, two repetitive treatments are recommended at intervals of one to two weeks.

How do I care of my cacti during the winter?

Before winter, the question arises for many cactus friends: "Where to go with my loved ones?" A very simple and successful solution is the hibernation in the basement. The only prerequisite is a constant, but especially low temperature between 5 and 8 ° C. Although short term frosts are generally overcome, it is better to avoid them.

There remains the question of the light. In general, of course, it is better if the plants are as bright as possible, but it does not help to switch on a simple light bulb above. Make sure to provide lamp with real plant light, but here is to be considered that the amount of light with all the good will rarely enough to wake the plants from hibernation - which is actually not wanted - usually a place on the window is sufficient.

How can I treat scurf?

Scurf is in itself an aging phenomenon in the lower part of the plant, which, however, does not necessarily have something to do with biological age. Scurf can also arise when the plant is under stress (drafts, hot / cold change, nutrient deficiency, obsolete substrate ). Scurf can also be caused by a fungus. The damage can not be undone, but you can protect the surrounding plants. In all serious cases, the affected plant should be disposed of in the garbage bin (not on the compost). If only a small part of the plant is damaged, the healthy shoot can be cut off and treated like a cuttings. (let it dry for several weeks and re-root afterwards)