Cactus Gardening

Urban sprawl and its discontents are responsible for the endangered status of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl [Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum]. One of the owl's two native ranges runs from lowland and central Arizona southwards into the Mexican states of Colima and Michoacan. The other runs from southern Texas southwards into the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon and Tampulipas.

Both the eastern and western corridors are prime locations of expansion by moneyed interests. One of the immediate costs of such development is the loss of the owl's preferred niches in river bottom woodlands, mesquite bosques, and desert scrub. Within these niches, the owl's preferred nesting sites are on saguaro [Carnegiea gigantea] and organ pipe [Stenocereus thurberi] cactus plants. Both the niches and their respective wildlife feel the effects of the wastes, traffic, pollution, noise, irrigation systems, impervious surfaces, and compacted soils that are part and parcel of uncontrolled business and residential developments.

At first it seems impossible but actually you can. Sometimes throughout the cactuses top, some pulps grow and can be chosen to stay on the cactus or be taken off and used to propagate.

Next Answer

The barrel cactus propagates by seed formed from a flower on top of the plant.

Pincushion cactuses [Mammillaria spp] need water during the growing season, which tends to be spring and summer. During those seasons, they may need to be watered every 10-14 days. But the guide shouldn't be the number of days. Instead, it should be the dryness or moistness of the soil. The soil should be allowed to come close to drying out almost completely.

The rest of the year, during the dormant season, pincushion cactuses don't need watering. It's more important during dormancy to make sure that the temperature doesn't drop too low. Cactus plants may face serious and even fatal damage from cold temperatures. It's what desert and jungle cactus plants have in common. They both are native to warm environments.

No, cactus plants don't branch necessarily every 50 years. In fact, not all cactus plants branch. Not all of those that do branch have a life expectancy of 50 years. Those that do live 50 years and more can't count on regular intervals between branching. For example, environmental factors, such as extended drought, get in the way of any predictable pattern with the giant saguaro cactus [Carnegiea gigantea]. The saguaro has a life expectancy of 150+ years. It first branches at 40+ years. But subsequent branches can't be counted on to appear every 40-50 years. The desert can be counted on for predictably high levels of heat and light. But it can't be counted on for consistently adequate or regularly occurring amounts of moisture.

Yes, saguaro is the biggest cactus and it can be found in Mexico and South America and it has the height of larger than a 5-storey building (58 feet tall most likely). thus it is a slow growing cactus.

Another Answer:

No, the saguaro is not the largest cactus. Pachycereus pringlei, also known as Mexican Giant Cardon or Elephant Cactus, is a species of cactus that is native to northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora. It is commonly known as Cardón. Cardon is the tallest cactus species in the world, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m (63 ft), with a stout trunk up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter bearing several erect branches. In overall appearance, it resembles the related saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea).

There are more than 15 different types of cactus plants. Cactus plants all belong to the cactus family, Cactaceae. But they don't all belong to the same genus, or to the same species. In fact, there are many more than 15 genus and species categories into which a cactus plant may be classified.

But all cactus plants fit into one of two broad groups of cactus plants. The group depends upon the native environment. One environment takes in the deserts of North and Latin America. The other takes in Latin America's jungles.