Barrel Cactus Care

There are many varieties of barrel cactus one can choose from. Some of the most beautiful are fire barrel, fishhook barrel and golden barrel. One of the interesting barrel cactus information is that after many years yellow-orange flowers bloom on the crown of these plants. These flowers then develop into interesting looking pineapple shaped fruits (which are not recommended for eating!). When these plants are taken good care of, they can live for many years as houseplants. Do you wish to grow them for many years, and see these flowers too? Well, buy some barrel cacti from a nursery and follow the instructions given below to maintain and grow them...

Whenever handling barrel cactus, it is important that you take precautions not to injure yourself, as these plants have big needle-like thorns. You can wrap a lot of newspaper around the cactus and use hand gloves when handling these plants.

Buying and Propagating: One can easily get the cactus plants or seeds from plant nurseries. If it freezes outside during winters in your area, keep your barrel cactus indoors.

Light Requirements: Barrel cactus needs full exposure to the sun. If you have a houseplant, keep it near a window, where it can get plenty of light. Barrel cacti usually grow towards the south direction for preventing sunburn, this behavior gives them the name 'compass cactus'. So, keep turning your plant, because sometimes when it is leaning towards the south direction, soon it might tip over. If the barrel plant has leaned too much on one side, gently place it in the center again.

Humidity and Temperature Maintenance: This cactus usually grows in areas like under the desert canyon walls, along desert washes and gravely slopes. It prefer a dry, warm and well ventilated surrounding. So, maintain dry and low humidity area when caring for barrel cactus. Maintain a temperature between 45ºF to 80ºF.

Soil Requirements: Cactus prefer moist soil, and sometimes rot in wet soil conditions. To prepare a soil mixture for barrel cactus, sterilize a commercial soil mixture in the oven at 180ºF for 30 minutes. Then add 2 parts of this commercial soil mix with 1 part of gravel or sand, and add perlite. Cactus need a well drained soil, the above soil mix will maintain the plant in a good condition.

Potting Instructions: You can use a small containers or clay dishes, for small-sized barrel cactus, and big pots for the larger varieties. Always keep in mind that the size of the pot should be larger than that of the root ball by at least few inches for container gardening.

Watering Instructions: Barrel cacti don't need to be watered often. So, it can survive under watering but, over watering this plant causes it to rot. Water the houseplant once in a month. You can check the watering time, by sticking a wooden stick or pencil in the pot soil, if damp soil is on the stick, do not water the plant. When you find dry soil on the stick, you can give water to the plant. You can use this stick technique for other cacti too.

Fertilization: If you have golden barrels, use high phosphorus fertilizer for care of cactus plants. Most cacti need nitrates, so you can buy plant food which contains nitrates, from a nursery. You can add this fertilizer to the plant 3 times in a year, during spring, summer and autumn.

Pests and Problems: Sometimes pests can attack the cactus. The best way to prevent any pests is by changing the soil regularly and using a good soil mix. As you already know that over watering can cause rotting, take special care when watering the plants.

Watering once a month, and maintaining good soil and light conditions, are the most important factors when maintaining barrel cactus. If you follow these instructions, you can grow barrel cactus for years in your house, and, may be some day, even get to see the lovely flowers and fruits on these plants!