Growing Desert Cactus

The scientific name of the cactus family Cactaceae is.The Cactaceae are mostly spiny succulents with photosynthetic stems that are a little more than 100 genera and species from 1500 to 1800 (Neffeler 2002).
A succulent is a plant that stores water for times when water is scarce.They are commonly found in arid environments such as deserts or semi-desert.They can also live in areas of extreme rainfall, but unreliable (as when it rains only once or twice a year in quick bursts).The cactus plants are among the most remarkable and characteristics of hot and arid areas of the New World (Nyffeler, 2002).

The cactus family is entirely of U.S. origin.Most species of cacti occur on the ground while few can be found in the leaves of trees in tropical rainforests (Zomlefer 1994).Centers of diversity, arid regions of North and South America, including the southwestern United States and Mexico, eastern Brazil and eastern and western slopes of the Andes of South America (Nyffeler 2002.)

Others may occur in the Eastern and Middle Western U.S. The northern boundaries of cacti including Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and even the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario when they go south to the aforementioned fields of South America ( Benson 1969).

In the U. S. , The cacti are most abundant in Arizona, Texas and parts of southern California and New Mexico (Bowers, Burgess, & Turner 1995).The most remarkable species of cactus in the appeal stage is gigantic sequaro (Carnegia gigantea), considered the most succulent in the U.S. (Kearny, Peebles, 1969).
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1081607/cactaceae_the_cactus_family.html?cat=32

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Cacti are well suited to being packaged for extended periods without light or water, they will almost always arrive at your house in good condition. As most species are cold resistant, they can be shipped any time of year. Since Cacti are tough and hardy, they don't have to be shipped by an overnight service, like most tropicals.

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About a couple weeks before the first hard frost (see Farmer's Almanac for dates) make sure that the soil dries up completely (shielding the plants from rain if required). Then just move the containers inside my garage to protect the cacti from freezing. The temperature in the attached, but unheated garage drops to about 38 degrees during the coldest part of Winter. There is no window, or lights available. The cacti remain sheltered in the garage, in total darkness, all Winter until you bring them out in the Spring after all danger of frost is past.

You can keep them under a shaded patio for a week or so, and slowly move them to partial direct sun, then full sun over the course of two weeks (they are subject to sunburn if exposed to direct sun immediately after emergence from the dark.) They are watered lightly each week unless water is provided naturally by rain.

When they are accustomed to full sun (May / June in my zone 5/6 location) you can use Miracle Grow plant food (as directed for container plants, even though they are exposed to the rain outdoors.) Then you should repeat fertilizing every 3 weeks or so during the Summer.

By July there is usually some good new growth which is very explosive in August and continues (slower) into late September. By late October the cycle continues and they are again placed in the dark shelter of a garage.

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Cactus has also had other practical uses. The long, soft spines of Oerocereus celsianus are used as pillow and bed stuffing. Spines of other cacti are used as toothpicks, combs, sewing needles and fishhooks. Yet other cacti are used as building materials and as living fences or hedges.

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One the earliest recorded cultivation of a specific cactus species for a specific purpose was by the Aztecs. They grew Opuntia coccenillifera which acted as a host to the cochineal scale insect. It was harvested and crushed to produce a dye that was either a rich purple (from the female scales) or a brilliant scarlet (from the male scales). The dye was used in fabrics and cosmetics.

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