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ENVIRONENT - With few exceptions, cactii prefer a sunny location, well-drained soil and infrequent waterings.
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SOILS - Cacti must have soil that will drain very well or roots will be a rotting. Put perlite or gravel and sand in your soil mixture to aid in drainage and never put a collection plate under your pots
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FERTILIZERS - Half-diluted mir-grow works well, but use only while in the growing season (May-Oct.).
The best to use on cacti is horse manure, no other kind works as well.
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ABOVE GROUND PESTS - The most common are red spider-mites, aphids and mealy bugs. All can be taken-away with Malathion or Diazinon. Used in a spray, applied to the entire plant.
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BELOW-GROUND PESTS - The mealy bug which can go underground and not easily seen, can destroy plants; saturate soil with Malathion. Gophers love to eat most cacti and will devastate. Forget traps or bombs, use Gopher Mix (poisonseed) avail. at hardware stores and follow directions.
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PROPAGATION - Cacti have the ability to re-grow themselves from just a small piece of a parent plant (cloning). Trimmings can be allowed to scab (over the cut) and then put into soil, they will quickly grow. Bigger pots are needed to avoid being root-bound, replace as nessessary.
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