Notocactus is just a Parody

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Notocactus (Notocactus, fam. In places of natural habitat, notocactus most often grows on rocky cliffs and talus. This is a fairly popular cactus genus in indoor culture. Their appearance is diverse, the stems of notocactus are ribbed, spherical or cylindrical, spines (leaves) are arranged in groups on well-defined areoles and are yellow, white or brown in color.Notocactus blooms in yellow or yellow-violet flowers, small or large, depending on the species.

According to the modern classification, notocacti belong to parodies. In total, this genus has about 20 species of cacti. More often than others, one can find on sale a Leninghaus notocactus (notocactus leninghausii), in which spherical pubescent pubescent with golden spines in youth and cylindrical in adulthood stems with a diameter of up to 10 cm and a height of up to 1 m. Elegant notocactus (notocactus concinnus) has only one stem flat-stalk forms. It grows up to 10 cm in diameter and up to 7 cm in height. The marginal spines of the elegant notocactus are yellow, about 7 mm long; there are four central spines; they are longer, curved, tan. Notocactus reddish (notocactus rutilans) reaches a height of only 5 cm, the ribs on its stems are arranged spirally, the spines have a brick-red hue. Panicled cactus (notocactus scopa) is more dimensional - up to 30 cm in height and 10 cm in diameter, its stem branches at the bottom. Panicled cactus looks very bright and unusual, since its bluish-green stem and marginal pure white spines contrast with the central long spines of dark red, black, yellow or cream, depending on the shape and color. Other types of notocactus can be found in the collections - the magnificent notocactus (notocactus magnificus), the Otto notocactus (notocactus ottis), the sunny notocactus (notocactus apricus), the Herocentus notocactus (notocactus herteri), the notocactus cactus (notocusactus pink yellow, notocactus flactus roseoluteus).

Notocactus requires good lighting with a shade from direct sunlight and low humidity. In winter, the plant should be in a bright, dry and cool room, the optimum temperature is 5 - 10 ° C, in summer the temperature should be higher - about 23 ° C. Notocactus needs an influx of fresh air; in summer it can be taken out onto the balcony or garden.

From April to September, the notocactus should be regularly watered, while preventing stagnation of water in the pan. Fertilizing is also necessary at this time. Twice a month it is required to feed the plant with mineral fertilizer for cacti. From September to March, the notocactus is watered about once every two weeks, making sure that the earthen lump does not dry out completely. Notocactus is transplanted annually in early spring before flowering. The new pot should not be too large in volume. The soil mixture is prepared from sheet and turf soil, sand and acid peat in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 1. It is good to add brick chips and charcoal to the soil.

Notocactus is propagated by sprouts (branching species) or by seeds sown in spring.

Notocactus can affect the scale insects and mealybug. Pests must be removed, and infected plants should be treated with karbofos. If the stem extends and bends, then the most likely cause is a high air temperature in winter or a lack of light. Due to waterlogging of the soil, root or stem rot may develop. In this case, it is necessary to cut out the affected areas and optimize the care of the plant.