One of the things that makes cactus and succulents great house plants is that they don’t mind the dry air in homes and offices. If you can get them enough light you’ll find they are some of the easiest house or office plants to grow.
Cactus and succulents differ only slightly. All cactus are succulents, not all succulents are cactus. Cactus store water in their stem, succulents store water in the leaves, stem or both. All cactus originated only in North and South America, succulents are found worldwide.
The temperature indoors is usually fine for all succulents and cactus. Some may need a cooler, winter of sorts to promote blooming. Others bloom after a flood. If you are having trouble getting your indoor succulent to bloom: first try more light, then try leaving it out at night for a month or two when it is chilly but not too cold for your particular plant. If neither of those works, let it dry more than usual for a few weeks, then give it a good soaking. Just don’t let it sit in water, be sure to drain it well.
As a general rule the spinier a cactus is, the more sunlight it will need. They are leaves that have evolved to shade the cactus with out giving up much needed water like regular leaves.
Cactus spines are like leaves and can be removed with out hurting the plant. You’ll see a tuft of tiny spines or hair at the bottom of each spine.
Succulent spines do not have tufts at the bottom and are connected to the stem tissue. Removing them will harm your plant.
To successfully grow succulents indoors, use a well drained soil. Sand or potting soil mixed with larger pebbles works well.
See also:
House plant escapes through roof
Sedums the forgotten plants
Interesting facts about succulents
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Pleurothallis tripterantha Anthereon
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Pleurothallis tripterantha Anthereon
There are over ~ 2000 species in the Pleurothallis family.
The tripterantha are easy to grow and bloom year round.
Because Pleurothallis tripterantha remains tiny and prefers temperatures between 60′F and 85′F it’s a great plant for terrariums.
Light should be shade to bright light, no direct sunlight.
These are epiphytic rain forest plants, found in Central and South America. So keep the roots wet, humidity high, but do not leave sitting in water. I find mixing peat moss in with orchid soil helps to keep the roots from rotting.
I’m having a difficult time finding information on this plant, I’ll update this entry after I’ve been growing the plant a while and had more time to experiment with it.
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Maxillaria tenuifolia
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Maxillaria tenuifolia
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Maxillaria tenuifolia
This is an epiphytic orchid that prefers cooler temperatures, down as low as 40′F but can withstand temperatures up to 100′F. That said Maxillaria orchids will be happiest between 55′-70′F making it perfect for indoor growing if you can keep the humidity up.
Give this plant as much light as you can, find your brightest window indoors. If you place it outside in the summer it might need some protection from the sun. Watch the leaves. White or light brown spots on leaves mean it’s getting too much sun.
Keep the roots moist but not sitting in water. Do no let this orchids’ roots get dry. If you have it planted in bark you’ll want to water it daily. Sphagnum moss is a better medium or coarse potting soil for indoor growing.
Propagate by division. Or you can take a backbulb that has already flowered, separate it from the main plant along with some roots and plant it. It will provide nutrition for the new bulb.
These orchids are from the rainforests of Central and South America.
