Tough Plants: Succulents and Cacti

If you have a hard time keeping houseplants alive, don’t throw in the towel just yet. You need to turn to a plant that can easily survive temperatures that soar over one hundred degrees, live and actually thrive on very little moisture, and can be tough when conditions are very inhospitable.

One time I had a Cholla cactus growing in the corner of my yard and had to get rid of it because my kid ran into it—twice. Removal of the barbed spines is by far worse than getting stuck in the first place. These are dangerous plants, and you have to be careful around them.

That’s not the first time a cactus has nabbed a Sherinski. When I was in the Army, I ran over a piece of Cholla in my 2-ton truck. That plant cost Uncle Sam two new tires, and was one of the few casualties ever caused by a plant.

Despite the hazards of growing succulents and cacti, they do have some major benefits:

· They require little attention
· They are simple to root
· They need only light watering
· Some require very little sunlight
· They are highly varied with many colors and shapes
· Many, such as Cholla, have pretty blossoms

Survivors by Design

Some plants have been forced to adapt to hot, arid climates. The cactus, which has little or no foliage, is one such plant. Its dense body acts as one giant leave, and as a storage unit for water. Like a hump on a camel, it collects hydration for long dry spells.

It’s worth noting that cacti are succulents, but they are often classified differently because of their distinct growth habits. Basically, there are two types of succulents: water storing and drought resistant.

The word “succulent” is derived from the Latin word “succus”, meaning juice. They either store their juice or adopt methods of preservation. Such water-storing succulents are cacti like Aloe, Sedum, Rochea, Echeveria, Huernia, and Gasteria. Some cacti with showy blooms are Stapelia, Huernia, and Huernipsis. Their flowers are beautiful, but the bouquet is thought by many to be downright foul.

Other succulents make it through the dry season with little in terms of water retention. It has been recorded that these plants will grow without a drop of rainfall for several years. These plants grow very, very slowly and they can easily live over a hundred years. For example, an armless cactus was measured to be 78 feet tall in 1978 in Cave Creek, Arizona. The cactus reached its end in 1986 when it was toppled over by a windstorm. Its age was estimated to be 150 years.

Common drought-resistant succulents are Agave, Yucca, Samuela, Dasylirion, and Fouquiera These succulents come from areas of intense summer heat and dryness. They typically aren’t hardy and reside in the Southwest with only a handful seen in the Northeast (mostly sedums, houseleeks, and a few cacti). They will thrive indoors everywhere, though, and one of the main ways to propagate them is through stem cutting.

Cutting Propagation

To live in the desert, you have to be a survivor, and I’ll let you in on a biggest secret to stem cutting propagation. Many people cut off a piece of a succulent and put it in a pot of equal parts sand and soil, and water it only to have the thing rot where it lay.

The secret is you’re working too hard. Cut the stem, walk away . . . . and come back in a month. Store the cutting in a dry place and leave it to form a callus. In human terms, it might be akin to a scar. After you’ve checked the calendar for one month, lay the piece in a mixture of sand and potting soil and water it lightly. After the light watering, it will take root despite its shriveled appearance, and begin its slow, almost imperceptible growth.

The key to rooting succulents is to simply replicate nature. That piece of Cholla cactus I ran over in the cool desert night might’ve eventually taken root and grown into a whole new plant if it hadn’t graced the tread of my tire.

Find Out More

For more information about succulents, go to www.cssainc.org, the Cactus and Succulent Society. They are odd and quirky houseplants that can be moved outside during the summer to serve as a bold eye-catcher. Best of all, they require very little care and they can be grown everywhere.

See you next month with more helpful tips from GardenPower with Joe Sherinski and your Local STIHL Dealer!

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Cacti—Episode #99049

Check out the Cholla cactus I have growing in my yard—in Missouri.

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