Cacti are very interesting flowering plants that adorn the windowsills of not only flower growers, but simply lovers of aesthetic beauty. These plants are not difficult to care for, but they are very attractive due to their beauty and variety of forms.
One of the representatives of the cactus family is ferocactus - a cactus with pink flowers that attract the eye. But this genus of cacti is not only distinguished by variegated shades of petals, but also by amazing multi-colored thorns. Ferocactus has large white roots, the stalk is fleshy, oblong, outwardly covered with a dense dark green skin, sometimes with a bluish tint.
Some features of the genus
Ferocactus is a genus of perennial plants belonging to the cactus family, including about 30 plant species. The variety of appearance of ferocactus allows you to choose the type of plant that is to the liking of the buyer. By external signs, cacti are elongated, round, voluminous or small, flowering or not. In nature, it grows to large sizes, sometimes even with highly branched branches.
Pink cactus flowers are usually large, differing in shades, except purple and pink, yellowish and red. In nature, grows on the lands of North America, California, Oaxaca, Ketetaro and other desert areas. Today it is successfully cultivated, and breeders are breeding new varieties, allowing them to grow ferocactus on the home window.
One of the popular varieties of pink cacti, the name of which is associated with the South American country - latispinus (Latispinus).
What is the difference between pink latispinus and its relatives
One of the most beautiful representatives of the genus, today successfully grown at home. Large bell-shaped flowers, painted pink, sometimes with a whitish tint, are large, slightly curved. This type of flower is sometimes called the "damn tongue" because of the characteristic shape of the needles.
Ford (Fordi) and its features
A type of cactus, characterized by a spherical shape with a stem of a gray-green hue, on the entire surface of which small sharp spikes are evenly concentrated. The cactus blooms bright pink or purple funnel-shaped with a yellow center. Such a spectacle from the outside looks spectacular.
Features of home care
The temperature in the summer, given that it is a heat-loving plant, should not fall below +20 o C. The optimal temperature range for the content of cactus at home is +20 ... + 35 o C.
Please note that the room where you grow up your “thorny” friends should be regularly ventilated, but you should not forget about extreme caution. Since, for example, ferocactus is sensitive to drafts.
It is worth watering succulents abundantly, using well-defended water at room temperature for this. The frequency of irrigation is determined by the dryness of the earth in the pot. The next portion of water is recommended to be applied only after the soil has completely dried.
Organization of lighting for growing cacti at home
Almost all cacti love light, but there are those that feel great in the shade. Naturally, flowering plants need more light, because the southern window will be an ideal place to place such domestic plants. If the windows of your house are facing the north side, the blooming pink cacti will have to arrange additional illumination, otherwise the succulent will either not bloom or will quickly drop the buds, and not be pleased with the beauty of flowering.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that in the afternoon hours some of the succulents need shading. This should be taken into account when choosing a plant care scheme.
What soil is best succulent planting
In the wild, cacti grow on stony or calcareous soils, so it is advisable to create approximately similar conditions for growing succulents at home. To make the plant feel comfortable, the pot must have drained and sufficiently acidic soil.
You can create a substrate for a cactus with pink flowers at home, observing the proportions in mixing the following components:
- turf land;
- sheet land;
- fine gravel;
- coarse sand.
All components are taken in equal proportions.
Please note that in order to prevent root rot, charcoal can be added to the number of components of the soil mixture.
If you do not have time to prepare the soil for planting a cactus with your own hands, purchase it in a specialized store. Although even in this case, flower growers recommend adding a little coarse sand or fine gravel to the purchased composition and be sure not to forget about good drainage. Below, in the photo, a pink cactus is “covered with” thorns.
Details of feeding succulents
In vivo growth, succulents receive few nutrients, vitamins and minerals, as they grow on poor rocky soils, but at the same time they feel quite normal and viable. In this regard, the application of fertilizing in the pot when growing at home will not take you much time, and you will have to feed the cactus only once a month. Please note that caution should be exercised.
As a top dressing, it is recommended to use liquid fertilizers for cacti and succulents, reducing the dose by half from the recommended dose on the package.
The subtleties of transplanting cacti
Like other plants, pink flowering cacti are not recommended for transplanting. It is advisable to wait for the dormant period of the plant and only after that proceed with the change of soil and capacity. Cacti are hypersensitive to transplants, characterized by poor adaptation to new soil and may hurt after they are inaccurately moved to a new pot.
The procedure associated with the transplant is painstaking in itself and differs in complexity due to the “thorniness” of the plant. You can’t do it with your bare hands, and replanting plants, putting on thick gloves, you risk breaking the thorns, which will result in a damaged decorative appearance of the cactus, and in some cases even in a painful state of succulent.
How does flowering occur?
In pink ferocactus, in which pink flowers are not only flowers, but also thorns, this process occurs as follows. As a rule, flowering has to wait a long time, and it often occurs in the summer. The plant blooms several pink or purple flowers at once on a short tube covered with scales.
It is worth noting that this particular type of cactus lives extremely rarely at home, but in nature it surprises with its beauty. Therefore, if you want to decorate your window with a pink flowering cactus, take a look at other options with flowers of such a shade and bizarre shapes, which, believe me, there are a lot of succulents in the variety and you will definitely choose your option.
Remember that if the cacti do not bloom, this is unlikely to be affected. Sometimes this stage will have to wait up to 5 years, or even more.
Similar cacti succulents with pink flowers
Want to know what pink cacti are called? Among the most beautiful pink-blooming representatives of the cactus family:
- Echinocactus Gruzoni (Echinocactus grusonii).
- Gymnocalycium (Gymnocalycium).
- Mammillaria (Mammillaria).
- Echinocereus (Echinocereus).
- Echinopsis (Echinopsis).
A cactus, regardless of what type and color it is, is generally an unpretentious plant, but like any living plant, it loves care. Observing all growing conditions, or even just a few, you can count on a beautiful decoration of the room, not just a fancy inhabitant, but a flowering and spectacular succulent.