Growing an Indoor Cactus Garden

Appreciating cactus plants does not mean you have to move to a hot climate in order to grow them. An indoor cactus garden can provide an exotic touch to your home whether your garden is located in a sun room or living room. Cacti are very easy to care for since they require little water, and planting soil for these plants is available at most nurseries. You can enjoy a wide variety of bright blossoms on your cactus plants during the year. Local nurseries usually have a variety of cactus plants for the indoors, so check your favorite nursery to see what they have available.

Planting containers should be shallow, no more than 4” deep for miniature cacti. For your garden, you can use one or two containers of either plastic, clay or ceramic. I prefer clay pots with  a southwestern design engraved on the outside near the rim. Before pouring the cactus soil into the pot, place a layer of pebbles at the bottom of the pot for drainage. Pour enough soil in for the cactus plants to stand upright but do not pack it too tightly. For a 5” diameter pot, figure on planting from four to five miniature cactus plants.

Arrange the plants so there is a little bit of space between each one. When handling the prickly cactus, use a pair of tongs to gently hold the cactus with. Scoop out from the soil a small space to insert the cactus, then gently cover with the soil. Use this procedure for each cactus pot you have.

There are a number of different cactus plants you can use in your garden. Below is a partial list:

Miniature Bunny Ears. This cactus plant resembles bunny shaped ears with two, three, or more such shapes connected together with the blossom on top. Bunny ears has bright yellow flowers.

Powderpuff cactus is so named because it resembles a big round powderpuff but it is covered with white hairs and has small pink or white blossoms.

Christmas and Easter cactus are not miniature cacti- these require their own pots –  are members of the zygo-cactus family. They have no spines, but they do have flat leaves, and best of all, these plants have an incredibly long life span. They will live several human family generations. These plants have flowers in yellow, pink, salmon, and white.

The sand dollar cactus resembles puffballs, has no spines and is safe with pets and children in your home. This cactus likes alkaline soil and does best in its own pot. The flowers of this cactus are beautiful when in full blossom; they almost look like asters, and are pale yellow in color.

The fairy washboard cactus resembles a multiple layered star in shape. The flowers on this cactus are white in color. Like the sand dollar, these also favor their own small pot.

The rainbow chin cactus is round in shape and has bright pink to red flowers when it blossoms.

Aloe Vera plants can also be part of your cactus garden. It is a succulent, and is nature’s first aid lotion.For minor skin cuts and burns, snap off a tip from an aloe leaf and apply the inside juice to the wound. The flowers of these plants are light orange in color. This plant likes its own small pot to thrive in.

Place your cactus pots so that they receive full sunlight from inside your living room or sun room. Cactus plants require a little more watering during the summer months than the winter months. The important thing to remember is, cactus plants can go for a long time without watering, so it’s not as if you have to water them once a week; you can actually skip a few weeks in between waterings. When the weather is really warm outside, set your cactus pots outside for some direct heat and sunlight.

You can also add decorations to your cactus garden pots. Place chunks of rose quartz and mica on the soil. Or, you can use colored glass stones sold in craft stores. You can also add dry pieces of barkless wood to the pots.

Image Credit: PEAK99, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.