Cereus (Cereus): what is it, home care, the choice of land and flower pot, as well as a photo of a cactus

Being the most unpretentious in home growing, this plant is present in the houses and apartments of almost every grower. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a beginner or an already experienced botanist with many years of experience.

Due to the rich variety of species of this plant, it is able to become an adornment of almost any shop-windows, greenhouses and office halls. And all this is cereus.

About what kind of culture it is, where it comes from and how to grow it at home, and we will discuss further.

Botanical Description

What is cereus? Cereus is a typical representative of cacti (lat. Cactaceae), since this culture, according to the botanical classification, belongs to the eukaryotic domain, the plant kingdom, the flowering department, the dicotyledon class, the cloves order, and the cactus family.

Its name is fully consistent with the appearance of the plant. Since most species of Cereus are strikingly similar in appearance to a non-green wax candle, he was given the corresponding Latin name "Cereus", which means "wax candle."

In appearance, cereus are completely diverse, but, basically, these are columnar plants reaching a height of up to 2000 centimeters, with a whole, sometimes branched or jointed stem. The stem has a ribbed or faceted surface, covered with pads and tubercles, which, for the most part, are seated with large and small needles.

Leaves on cereus practically do not form (except for seedlings, on which you can occasionally notice some kind of leaves in the form of scales. This cactus is endemic to countries and territories such as the Antalya Islands, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and South America.

Kinds

It should be noted that cereus is not one specific plant, but a whole series of species. Among those, the most famous are:

Monstrose.
Florida.
Cereus is giant.
Cereus spiral.
Yamakaru.
Cereus peruvian.

The last of the above species, namely, Peruvian Cereus, is the most popular in home cultivation.. This tree-like succulent cactus has a massive, green-colored stem (sometimes with shades of gray). The number of ribs on the stem is 5-8.

Photo

Next, you can see the photo of the flower:

Home Care

Temperature

During the wintering period, when the cacti, of which the ceres are, experience the so-called "dormancy", optimal temperature range - +8 +12 degrees.

As for the summer period, this plant, being an endemic of countries with a hot climate, is able to tolerate high temperatures with their differences. +25 +27 is ideal for him, however, it requires constant access to fresh air (an open balcony or a porch is the best option).

Watering

Florists who believe that cereus, being cactus plants, do not need normal watering, are deeply mistaken. Watering for them is strictly required, but moderatestarting from spring and almost until the end of summer.

In the fall season, watering is reduced, and during wintering it is reduced to a minimum. In the presence of excess moisture, cereus begin to weaken and hurt. A single watering in a two-week period is quite enough. In this case, the water should be at room temperature and settled.

On particularly hot days of summer, you can arrange cereal spraying with clean warm water - this will bring the plant only benefits.

Shine

Since under natural conditions, Cereus prefers an abundance of sunlight, home care of this plant also implies the presence of bright lighting. It is preferable to place the cereus on a window facing southeast or south.

However, although cereus is a very sun-loving plant, it can still cause burns from too much direct sunlight in the summer. In order to avoid this kind of trouble, after the wintering period, the cereus must be gradually and dosed to adapt to sunlight.

Earth

As already mentioned a little above, cereus are very, very unpretentious. But still, care for them implies the observance of some elementary requirements. So the requirements for soil are no exception.

The soil necessary for the normal growth and development of the cactus should be with high or neutral acidity, but not alkaline. The composition of the soil must necessarily include crumb brick and sand. Cereus does not need soil rich in humus.

Pruning

Cereuses do not need pruning. But, if for aesthetic or preventive purposes or in the case when the plant reaches such dimensions that it does not fit in the room in height, it is necessary to remove one or another part.

This must be done in the following sequence:

With a blade or a well-ground knife, the part to be removed is carefully cut.
When removing rotting or various growths, the depth of the incisions should be as small as possible in order to minimize the injury rate of the plant.
The incisions should be made with smooth movements, the number of which is minimal. It is optimal to cut in one motion.
After removing the excess part, the place of cut must be treated with wood ash or crushed charcoal. You can use antiseptics specially designed for this purpose or regular diamond greens (brilliant green).

Top dressing

Due to active growth Cereus need, though not frequent, but still regular feeding. Fertilizing agents should be applied no more than once a month and exclusively during the period April-July. In the presence of nutritious soil, top dressing can be completely reduced to one to three times a year.

The most suitable for these purposes are liquid fertilizers specially designed for cacti and succulents, certainly with a low content of nitrogen-containing components. A large concentration of nitrogen provokes rotting of rhizomes.

Pot

Cereus, although for the most part plants are tall, still their root system is not deep, but more, so to speak, branched. Therefore, too deep and narrow pots for growing cereus should not be taken.

It is best if the depth of the pot is approximately equal to its diameter. Then the root system of the cactus will feel most freely and the growth of cereus will be more active.

Transfer

As the cereus gains in size, the pot must be replaced with a larger one. A signal to the fact that the cereus needs a transplant can be either a sharp slowdown in growth, or spontaneous exit of the roots outside the pot. Often Cereus is transplanted with a frequency of 2 or 3 years.

The transplant is performed as follows:

2-3 weeks before transplanting, Cereus must be deprived of any watering. However, immediately before transplanting the plant, the soil in the pot should be slightly moistened in order to facilitate the extraction of cereus and avoid damage to the root system.
Wearing tight gloves or mittens, in order to protect yourself from thorns, you should tilt the pot with cereus and, holding the cactus at its very base, remove the plant from the pot with soil in translational movements.
Slowly freeing the rhizome from the old soil and checking the latter for the presence of decayed areas. If any, use a sharpened knife to remove them.
In a pre-prepared more spacious pot, lay drainage in the form of broken brick or large expanded clay at the bottom. Falling asleep on top with a not too thick layer of soil for cacti.
Set cereus on the soil layer and gradually fill the roots with the same soil. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the soil is distributed evenly, without breaking the roots.
After moving the cereus into a new, more spacious pot, the soil must be moistened.

Wintering

Before sending the cereus for wintering, 1.5-2 months before, it is necessary to stop any feeding and begin to gradually reduce watering. Lighting should be left at the proper level.

Somewhere in mid-October, a cactus can be moved to a cooler place, providing it with a temperature regime of +8 +12 degrees, in the absence of watering, but with a sufficient amount of light. In such conditions, it should be until the second half of February or until the beginning of March.

What to do after purchase?

It all depends on which plant is purchased: an adult or a seedling. If an adult cereus is purchased, then caring for it, in principle, is no different from a flower grown independently.

The only recommendation for caring for a newly purchased adult cereus is to transplant it into a new pot immediately after purchase. This will allow you to independently choose the best soil for it and simultaneously check and verify the health and integrity of the root system and, if necessary, quickly take the necessary preventive measures.

Having acquired a seedling of cereus, it is necessary to ensure conditions conducive to its early adaptation in a new place. When buying a seedling, you need to find out how long fertilizing and watering have been done. If the last top dressing and watering was carried out more than a month ago, then, bringing the cactus home, you must certainly water and feed the plant, as well as provide it with a sufficient amount of light and heat.

It is not recommended to transplant the newly purchased seedling for the first 2-3 months - this is too much stress for the young cereus.

Outdoor flower care

Having decided to grow cactus in the open ground, you need to choose a place with the following characteristics:

A sufficient amount of sunlight. If the summer in the region where it is planned to plant cereus in open ground is hot, then the cactus must be planted in a sunny place.
Limited amount of moisture. Cereuses do not tolerate abundant watering, they begin to hurt, rot and may even die. Therefore, planting cereus in open ground, you need to create a fairly reliable protection against excessive rainfall. Such protection can be a transparent canopy made of plastic film, transparent plastic or glass.

Breeding at home

In conditions of natural growth Cereus breeding occurs using seeds. However, occasionally, there are cases when part of the plant breaks off from the stem and, having hit the ground, takes root on its own.

Thus, cereus can be propagated both by seed and by cuttings. Let's consider each of these methods in more detail.

Cuttings

The most favorable time for this method is the period from late March to early July. This is done as follows:

Lateral shoots extending from the main stem are carefully cut with a well-sharpened knife or blade and allow the shoots to dry for 1-2 days.
In prepared pots, soil is laid, the composition of which is similar to that used for transplanting.
The dried up shoots are installed on the prepared soil with a slice down and a little soil is added from the sides. For stability of not yet rooted cuttings, you can use props of thin wooden sticks, which should be removed as the rooting of the cuttings takes root.
After installing the cuttings in the soil, the latter needs to be moistened a little and place the pot with the cuttings under a source of bright but scattered lighting.

Rooting cuttings of cereus takes about 2.5-5 weeksthen they need to be given the same care as adult plants.

Seeds

This method is less suitable for home breeding of cereus, but if you nevertheless decided to propagate the plant with seeds, then this is done in the following sequence:

In March-April, a regular substrate intended for cacti is prepared.
Prepared soil is laid in pots and slightly moistened.
Cereus seeds are placed in moistened soil to a depth of 1-1.5 centimeters with the calculation of one seed in one pot. Top seed sprinkled with a small amount of substrate.
Pots with seeds should be kept in a shaded place until the shoots appear. It is also necessary to ensure that the entire period of the substrate does not dry out, but is not too wet.
After sprouts appear, the pots must be removed from the shaded area and placed under a source of bright diffused light, avoiding direct rays. With this content, the temperature regime must be observed within +20 degrees.

After about 30 days, when the first spines appear on the sprout of a cereus, you can dive them. However, this is not a prerequisite and this can be done a bit later.

Outdoor breeding

Due to the specifics of our climatic conditions propagate cereus plants in open ground is advisable exclusively by cuttings. Moreover, the method has no features other than protection against excessive rainfall.

Bloom

Subject to normal temperature, lighting and substrate humidity, Cereus blooms in May-June. Cereus flowering is a purely nocturnal action in which beautiful flowers bloom, filling the room in which the cactus grows, with a delicate and pleasant fragrance.

There are times when a cereus refuses to bloom. The reason for this may be a number of factors associated with improper care of an actively growing adult plant. To achieve such a rare occurrence as a cactus bloom, it is necessary that all the care conditions set forth in this publication are met. And then your prickly room pet once a year will delight you with beautiful flowers and fragrant aroma.

Pests and diseases

Plants of the Cereus family rarely get sick subject to proper care of them. The most common pests of Cereus pests include:

Mealybug. Evidence of the attack of this pest on a cactus is white spots with a fluffy-looking surface.
Spider mite. When a plant is affected, this pest leaves the thinnest cobwebs and reddish dots on the cereus. Over time, the stalk may become covered with yellow dead spots.
Scale and false shields. This pest can be detected with the naked eye. These are small round or oval bugs. They harm the plant by eating its juice, sucking the last of the stem.

The fight against all of the above pests is to spray the plant with insecticidal preparations.

Similar plants

There are many plants that are visually difficult to distinguish from cereus. We give a list of five such plants:

Cleistocactus;
Lemecereus;
Selenicereus;
Espostoa;
Echinopsis.

These plants, although they are the closest relatives of the Cereus (and some even belong to their family), they are still not Cereus. As you can see Cereus is a very non-demanding plant.

That is why they have won such huge popularity among lovers of home flora. With proper care and proper handling, cereus will bring you real aesthetic pleasure for many, many years.