How to care for a cactus in winter?

Cacti are a type of plants that you don't know what to do with when winter arrives: do they get indoors? Do they stop watering? Don't they fertilize them? These and many other doubts assail the minds of beginners (and not so beginners) every year.

We know that they come from the deserts of America and that therefore they do not like intense frosts, except for a few species, but How to take care of cacti in winter if they are not in their natural habitat?

The truth is that it is not as difficult as we imagine. But, yes, we have to be aware of one thing: Each teacher has his own booklet and that, therefore, we can find different advice on different Internet sites, books and magazines. Why? Because each teacher lives in a specific place, with its own climate.

For this reason, I am going to tell you, in general lines, the care that you should provide to your cactus during the coldest season of the year so that in this way you can enjoy the plant and, most importantly, get to know it.

Irrigation

Let's start with the basics: watering. There are many who will tell you that you don't have to water them at all during the whole season; others that you have to water them at least once a month, and others every 15 days. Who should you believe? None of them. 

Observe your cactus, the soil it has, the location where it is. Pay attention to the weather reports in your area to see if there is a forecast or not of rain. To make it even easier for you to know whether to water or not, here are these tips:

• If it's going to rain or freeze, don't water. The drier the soil, the better, since this way the roots will not be too affected.
• Make sure the soil is dry before moistening it again. To do this, you can insert a thin wooden stick to the bottom and see if it comes out clean when you remove it, in which case you can water.
• Use irrigation water at room temperature, unless you live in an area with a climate where frosts occur regularly. In this case, it is more advisable to warm it a little (about 35-37ºC).
• Do not forget to remove the excess water from the cactus plate that you have outside 10 minutes after watering.
• It is also not a good idea to let the plant become "wrinkled". When it reaches that extreme, it is because it has been so thirsty that to survive it has had to consume all the water reserve inside.

Location

We now turn to the location. Well, this is a slightly less complicated topic than the previous one, but equally often it is not known where to place this plant. To find the best answer, it must be taken into account that it must give direct sunlight (Unless you have bought it in a nursery where it was protected from the sun. In this situation, it is best to gradually accustom it to the sun, exposing it more and more time, starting in spring).

But, apart from the lighting, there are other factors to take into account so that everything goes well:

• moisture: inside the home it has to be low since otherwise the cactus would rot even if it was not watered excessively.
• air currents: if they are very cold it can be damaged.
• frost: if they occur, it must be protected either inside the house or with a plastic.

Subscriber

»Fertilize cactus in winter? It's crazy, isn't it? No, it is not  . Well, not always. Plants need to drink water to live, but they also need to eat. During the coldest months of the year they hardly grow, but a mineral fertilizer can do them a lot of good, especially to those more sensitive species.

The Blue Nitrofoska, when it comes into contact with the roots, what it does is reheat them, protecting them from the low temperatures outside. A small teaspoon every 15 days can be a good way to better cope with the winter, and to be able to resume strong growth in spring.

I only advise against fertilizing those plants that are weak or diseased, as the roots could easily be burned by the fertilizer.

And that's all for this season. With these tips we can already have some beautiful cacti, but if you still have questions, don't leave them unanswered. Ask  .