Summer 2011

Our Notocacti are already flowering - they should do so. Sometimes there are some problems with supplying with water and nutritients. Each longyear grower of cacti swears on his substratum and his supplying with nutritients. Regular repotting with (partial) exchange of the old substratum should be a natural course of action, perhaps each two to three years. Both things are related with each other, for a subratum of pumice stone or lavalith free of humus has some other drainage and supply with nutritients than a mixed substratum richer in humus. Don't forget the offers of plants potted in mere pure peat. Perhaps looking quite pretty in the first sight, but if the pot gets less water: the plant will bee soaked out of water by the dry peat. You have the choice of letting the pot where it is or repotting immediately with good cacti substratum after buying it.

Whenever and whereever it is possible use pure rainwater: it is free of lime and else. Be sure there are no other elements washed into the water storage, roofs containing copper, plumbum or asbestos (old "Eternit") are not the right thing. In many countries tap water is contaminated with chlorine, fluoride or other "healthy" chemicals, which can only be removed with costly charcoal filters or else. Chemical details has your tap water supplier (European Union). Some housings have built-in water-softening plants, friends of cacti and succulents should not use this, too.

Specialist (greenery) shops and mail-order selling have special fertilizers for cacti and succulents. With the right dose it is the right choose. The formula for the nutritients could be: 5 % of nitrogen, 7 % of phosphate, 7 % of potassium oxide soluble in water. Spurious elements like boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc should be inclusive, too. As late as the begin of September (northern hemisphere!) you should stop fertilize the notocacti to get a "ripening" of the plants before the "hibernation" of the plants.

When and how often you water your plants depends on the situation and the weather. When you pour on water don't do it during the hours of bright sunshine and don't browse them: there is the danger of effects like a burning glas by troplets of water. In bigger collections watering with tubs has been tried and tested. They have to be emptied about 20 minutes afterwards. In this case substratum will be pumice stone or else mineral granules. You have to avoid constant wetness, but also too longenduring dryness especially during the period of flowering and growing. Some notocacti like N. buiningi and some mammulosii react sharply on dryness (even during hibernation times) with the loss of all fine roots, often not to be corrected and leading to the loss of the plant within months. Literature says watering one time a week is good: this may be enough, but it also can be not enough.

Some notices for the light. In nature notocacti are mostly not situated in the open sunlight, they prefer mostly some shadow near bushes. It is therefore essential to care for the right light at our home or glashouse. It is worth to think for some shadow (nets) in the summer months. When our notocacti show red surfaces, burning shadows or even wide corking up it is too late.

Till the next tipps

Your consultants of INTERNOTO

Pictures ...

N scopa in habitat. (gf)

N. blaauwianus: diameter of the plant some 5 cm, diameter of the flower some 12 cm. (we 2009)