Monkey Tail Cactus

Nature 3 Minutes

This month’s weird plant offering is rather unique to say the least…the monkey tail cactus.

Stem

The stems look greenish when young and greenish-yellow when they get older and covered on the entire surface by white, long & soft hair like spines cascading downward which resembles the appearance of Monkey’s tail. They are branched to three to five stems at the bottom. The stems start drooping and become pendant after reaching a certain height. Each stem can increase in size by nearly a foot every year and reach to 3- or 4-feet length. These long protruding stems on the hanging basket makes the garden look really attractive. Their soft harmless appearance lures people to touch them but it is to be noted that the flesh of this cactus is non-edible.

Flowers

The flowers of Monkey Tail Cactus produce bright red flowers that make the plant look particularly fascinating and eye-catching. After a few days, the flowers turn into fruits and disappear shortly. They are popular for blooming throughout the year with summer and winter being the main season. The contrasting features of these flowers bring peace to our soul. During winter and autumn, they undergo dormancy for some rest. This dormant period prepares the plant to bloom and grows beautiful red buds. The growth rate increases considerably during summer and spring.

Care of Monkey Tail Cactus

This cactus can thrive well in little care and doesn’t need special techniques to grow which make it popular among the people interested in house plants with busy schedules. Some caring tips for monkey tail cactus are discussed below:

Light

They do well in areas that receive plenty of bright, indirect sunlight. Indirect light is ideal, but this desert-native cactus can tolerate direct sunlight too. They must be kept in the area with bright indirect sunlight if grown indoors. This succulent thrives best outdoors in bright indirect sun and is used widely outdoors as a hanging basket. Their blooming frequency depends on the amount of sunlight they receive. They may not bloom as often as they do outdoors if kept indoors.

Temperature

They are popular due to their capacity to withstand a wide range of temperatures. They can even withstand the temperature below freezing point as low as 20 °F during dormancy to above 60 °F.    

Soil

A well-draining organic soil mix or the sandy and loamy soils with the characteristics features like proper aeration, lightweight and quick drainage are considered ideal for this cactus. The stem suffers from water rot and many fungal infections in case of poor drainage, water stagnant and water lodging conditions. Salty soil can damage this plant. So, if Cocopeat is being used in potting mixture, they must be pre-washed in order to leach out its salt content. Perlite can be added on the soil mix to increase drainage.

Water

Frequent watering is required only during the fast and vigorous growing phase when water drains quickly exclusively during summer and spring. The intensity of watering depends on the dryness of the ground and air temperature. The frequency is directly proportional to the warmth present in air. The watering process is completely paused during their dormancy period. Watering it during dormancy, mostly during the winter period may result in frosting and can lead the plant to death. Not a single drop of water is given to the plant cuttings after propagation and light misting can be done only after 15 days of planting.

Fertilizers

Low nitrogen fertilizer is incorporated into the potting mixture during its active growing phase. It can be best applied by diluting the fertilizer solution with the water and spreading it as liquid fertilizer which can complete the whole year requirement at once. Since it doesn’t require any special care, application of nitrogen is enough to fulfill its nutrient requirement.

Source: Succulent Path

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Published by pat frederick

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169 thoughts on “Monkey Tail Cactus”

  3. Liked by 1 person

  5. SunnyFlower5
    SunnyFlower5
    May 16, 2023 1:02 pm

    Livestream begins: May 16, 1:30 pm EDT
    BREAKING: President Trump Joins The Show To Talk About The Couphttps://rumble.com/v2o4qvy-breaking-president-trump-joins-the-show-to-talk-about-the-coup.html

    Liked by 1 person

  8. 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸
    @Travis_in_Flint
    Trump made an error in reporting while running for President and is currently on trial.

    Hillary Clinton conspired against a candidate while she was SOS, used her connections in intelligence to spy on him, used the media to attack him constantly, involved the President and his staff, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and lied to congress about it. She’s sitting at home peacefully

    Liked by 1 person

  10. TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Online
    Wolf
    May 16, 2023 15:39

    MTG wants to impeach Wray. 🍾🎉

    I just introduced articles of impeachment against FBI Director Christopher Wray.

    Under his watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, & entrapped Americans who have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime. Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and Merrick Garland’s personal police force.

    Christopher Wray needs to be impeached.

    I just introduced articles of impeachment against FBI Director Christopher Wray.

    Under his watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, & entrapped Americans who have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime. Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and Merrick Garland’s personal… https://t.co/YW14KWvKva

    — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 16, 2023

    https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/16/exclusive-marjorie-taylor-greene-introduces-articles-of-impeachment-against-fbi-director-christopher-wray/

    “Under Wray’s watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, and entrapped American citizens that have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime. As such, Director Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and Merrick Garland’s personal police force. The Soviet-style tactics used by the FBI against normal Americans are unprecedented in this country. FBI whistleblower Garret O’Boyle told congressional investigators that the FBI created a terrorist threat tag following the Dobbs Supreme Court decision in 2022. O’Boyle confirmed that the purpose of the tag was to target pro-life individuals. On September 23, 2022, armed FBI agents in tactical gear raided the family home of Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic and father of 7 young children, because he obstructed access to an abortion clinic,” Greene’s office said in a statement.

    “FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin obtained a leaked FBI document that targets Traditional Latin Mass Catholics. The document, titled “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE) and their interests in ‘Radical-Traditionalist Catholics’ or RTCs,” was reported out of the Richmond Field Office and dated for January 23, 2023. This leaked document outlined a plan for the FBI to spy on Catholics, particularly Latin Mass-attending Catholics, who, according to the document, have harbored “white supremacy.” The FBI document indicated intentions to have informants within the Catholic Church, on advice from the Southern Poverty Law Center,” the statement continued.

    “In October 2020, a group of men allegedly attempted to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Several of the men were acquitted in their cases, as the FBI was found to have entrapped them in the scheme. Most of the members involved with the plot were FBI informants,” they added.

    “Not only has Director Wray persecuted political opponents in an unprecedented and partisan way, but he has also overseen his agency take actions to shield and protect the current President and his family. A senior FBI official left the agency under a cloud of accusations that he shielded a laptop belonging to the President’s son, Robert Hunter Biden, from a criminal probe,” Greene’s office said.

    “It is unacceptable for the Director of the FBI or any civil officer to exercise his power in a way that targets one political class while doing favors for the other,” they continued.

    (Articles of Impeachment included at the link.)
    Those events occurred after the FIB claims it had cleaned up its act.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Online
      Wolf
      May 16, 2023 15:43

      MTG:

      US Attorney [and January 6th lead prosecutor] Matthew Graves refuses to prosecute violent criminals in DC.

      Yet, he abuses his power by maliciously prosecuting non-violent protestors from J6.

      The weaponization of the DOJ needs to end.

      US Attorney Matthew Graves refuses to prosecute violent criminals in DC.

      Yet, he abuses his power by maliciously prosecuting non-violent protestors from J6.

      The weaponization of the DOJ needs to end.

      Today, I’m introducing articles of impeachment against Matthew Graves. pic.twitter.com/gxJZC0A3G1

      — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 16, 2023

      #BREAKING ⁦@RepMTG

      Liked by 1 person

  11. okay hubby and i watched this because he didn’t believe how bad fetterman was…but please take a look and see what you think…where are the lines on his hands and face? I mean he has a couple of deep creases across his forehead–but not a line ANYWHERE else…that’s impossible, no???
    and his hands have no knuckle demarcations. he looks like a skin robot…

    https://rumble.com/v2o5nmq-this-is-straight-up-abuse-of-the-handicapped-watch-fetterman-struggle-to-sp.html

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Liked by 1 person

  13. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

  19. Sliding down to let you know I’m back – wasn’t sure I’d make it before you shut down for the day, Pat. Well, I didn’t get the purple/dark pink Fuchsia I wanted but I found a nice red/white one. The yellow pansies are not doing well in my 3-tier planter so I picked up some red Begonias to put in them instead. I’ll post pics when they settle into the pots. Oriole feeders – both the nectar and the jelly – were plumb empty!!! Sheesh! The nectar one is filthy so I put out the other Oriole feeder for now. I picked up a really pretty dark red glass hummer feeder that I’ve put out in front.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. my daughter had to keep a baby goat in their garage for a while–the mother died–so they needed to feed it every few hours, etc.
      when it was hungry–it SCREAMED–they had neighbors call the cops once–they thought someone was being murdered!

      Liked by 1 person

  31. O-M-G!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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