Cactus Soil & Pots
Cactus Soil: What Makes a Good Mix
What a cactus mix should contain and why: the job of each ingredient, a simple starting ratio to adjust for your home, two quick tests, and what to leave out.
Guides
30 guides published
Cactus Watering
How to Water a Cactus: When, How Much and How to Tell
A reliable way to water a cactus without a calendar: wait until the mix has dried through, soak it until water runs from the drainage hole, drain, and wait again.
Cactus Light
Cactus Light Requirements: How Much Sun Does a Cactus Need?
Find out what direct sun, bright indirect light and low light really mean, how to judge your own windows, and how to tell when a cactus is getting too little or too much.
Cactus Care Basics
Cactus Care for Beginners: A Simple Starting Guide
New to cacti? Learn how the plant is built, the four conditions that decide most outcomes, and what to do in the first two weeks with a new plant.
Seasonal Cactus Care
Cactus Care in Winter: Light, Water and Cold Windows
How to look after indoor cacti through short, dark days: finding enough light, cutting back water, avoiding cold glass and heater blasts, and bringing outdoor pots in before frost.
Seasonal Cactus Care
Cactus Dormancy: How Growth and Rest Change With the Seasons
Why a cactus stops growing in the cool, dark months, how to recognize a resting plant, what to change in its care, and how to tell when growth is starting again.
Cactus Care Basics
A Simple Cactus Care Routine: Weekly, Monthly and Seasonal Checks
A practical routine built on looking, not on doing: a quick weekly glance, a soil check before any watering, a closer monthly look and a review at each change of season.
Cactus Care Basics
Fertilizing Cactus: A Light-Touch Guide
Whether a cactus needs feeding at all, when a little fertilizer helps, when to hold back, and the signs associated with giving too much.
Cactus Care Guides
Golden Barrel Cactus Care: Light, Water and Slow Growth
A plain guide to keeping a golden barrel cactus round, evenly golden and firm: the light it needs, how to water it through the year, the right pot and mix, and the troubles worth watching for.
Cactus Care Guides
Prickly Pear Cactus Care: Pads, Glochids and Sun
How to grow a prickly pear or bunny ears cactus well: the sun it needs, how to water and pot it, what its pads tell you, and how to move it without picking up glochids.
Cactus Care Guides
Christmas Cactus Care: A Forest Cactus With Different Needs
Why a Christmas cactus needs filtered light and more moisture than a desert cactus, what brings on buds in fall, why buds drop, and how to tell it from a Thanksgiving cactus.
Cactus Care Guides
Best Cactus for Beginners: 8 Forgiving Plants to Start With
Eight widely sold cacti that tolerate beginner mistakes, with the shape, light and handling notes for each, plus a checklist for choosing a healthy plant in the shop.
Indoor Cactus Care
Where to Put a Cactus Indoors: Windows, Shelves and Desks
A location-by-location guide to placing a cactus at home: sunny sills, spots a few feet back, dim shelves and desks, bathrooms, kitchens and places near heaters, plus where spiny plants are least likely to hurt anyone.
Indoor Cactus Care
Indoor Cactus Care: Growing Cacti Inside Year-Round
How a room differs from a desert, and what that means for light, mix, pots, watering, air movement, winter rest and feeding when a cactus lives inside all year.
Cactus Problems
Cactus Pests: Mealybugs, Scale, Spider Mites and Gnats
How to tell mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites and fungus gnats apart on a cactus, what is often mistaken for a pest, and the physical first steps to take before reaching for any spray.
Cactus Problems
Cactus Root Rot: How to Spot It and What to Try
What root rot is, the conditions that lead to it, how to confirm it by looking at the roots and stem base, the rescue steps growers commonly try, and when a plant is unlikely to recover.