Get creative with cacti
From the very small, colourful and intricate to the striking and architectural, these easy-care plants suit every situation
Prickly – no problem! Easycare plants for any situation
It’s easy to get hooked on cacti because, whatever shape or size you opt for, they never fail to be visually stunning. These quirky plants are almost self-sufficient and will withstand most forms of maltreatment, except for heavy-handed watering and feeding. In fact, you might say they thrive on neglect! Just give them water about twice a month – and that’s it!
Choose the right type
Like succulents, cacti have fleshy, juicy stems, but also prominent spines and barbs or bristles. Some even have woolly hair, which makes them even more interesting. There are a couple of key types to bear in mind, depending on where you’re planning to keep them.
Jungle cacti
Heavy humidity is a killer for most cacti unless ventilation is good. In hot, steamy bathrooms opt for jungle cacti that are native to rainforests, such as epiphyllums, or orchid cacti, and the Christmas cactus Schlumbergera truncata. These jungle cacti tend to trail and have large flowers, so you can grow them in hanging baskets, which are great for bathrooms with no free ledges or floor space.
Desert cacti
By far the most common type, desert cacti come in a vast range of interesting shapes, textures and sizes, from teeny-tiny domes to large, structured ‘cowboy-style’ cacti for major dramatic interest. The big ones don’t come cheap, though – expect to pay £150 for a large Polaskia chichipe. Desert cacti include Melocactus intortus, as well as the very descriptively named star cactus, golden rat tail, barrel, bunny ears, pincushion and ball cactus.
There’s also a type called moon cactus which is great for adding colour. It’s a small, grafted plant, made up of a bright-coloured round-top
cactus (which, due to a mutation, Melocactus lacks chlorophyll, so is naturally red, orange or yellow) above a taller, green base specimen.
Some desert cacti also flower, but only in the right conditions. Some, including echinopsis, bloom at night and are scented, but most cacti don’t have any fragrance.