Gardening and Horticulture - how to care for cactus

Hi all, I have a cactus that I recieved from my grandmother after she passed away and have no idea how to care for it. I gave it some water and now it's going limp. Is there anything I can do or did I drown it? Oh ya I've never had a plant so you might need to type slow so I understand.

Thanks Chet:thumbup:

Cacti require very little water. But normally lots of sun. I knew someone that took one from Texas to the North..and they checked the weather report for rain where they got it.

Needs well drained soil...and prob a bunch of other stuff I don't know. Here they grow in sand and rock with maybe 3" of rain per year!

I need to learn about them as well.

I had a few cactus a number of years ago. Do you know what kind of cactus you have?

I would find a southern facing window that gets lots of sun and put it there. I watered my cactus every few weeks with very little water. You can also get a succulent fertilizer at your local garden center.

Thanks for the help, I have no idea what kind it is.
I have it in a south window and didn't give it much water so we'll see what happens.

Hi Samuari,

Sometimes people call a plant a cactus and it isn't. Can you post a link to a picture? I suspect you may have a Christmas cactus aka Schlumbergera. Does your plant look like this?
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Schlumbergera_Nicole.html

Newt

It looks different, I have the day off tomarrow it might take me that long to figure out how to post a pic.

Thanks

Samuari, you are very welcome! You can post pics at a free site like photobucket.com and post the link to them here.

Enjoy your day off.
Newt

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp89/chetolson/011-2.jpg Ok that was easy

Great picture. It's a true cactus but I'm not sure which one it is. There are cactus that grow like that. Here's an octopus cactus.
http://www.hotgardens.net/Octopus_cactus_stenocereus_alamonsensis.JPG

Your soil looks very dry. I would say to take it to the sink. Let the water run slowly until it runs out through the drainage holes. Let all the excess water drain off and put it in a bit larger saucer. Keep it in full sun and turn it every couple of weeks. Water when the top of the soil is dry. Most cactus grow in conditions where there is intense rain and then drought. If it were to be wilting I would think you would see wrinkling along the stems.

Newt

Thanks Newt, I'll water it tonight. I only gave it about 1/4 cup then after that it started ti go limp so I figured I drowned it. There are no holes in the bottom so I will drill some.
One other thing I thought of is it was out in 20degree temps for about 20 min would this affect it at all.

If there are no drainage holes then you MUST add those before you water again, especially if you are going to run the water through as I suggested. And 'yes' that cold of a temp for such a short time can effect it.

Newt