One of the advantages of caring for a donkey tail succulent or grape cactus is that it doesn't need difficult maintenance, it doesn't even need frequent watering. Another advantage is because the grape cactus has its own beauty and luxury that other types of succulents don't have. Many people care for grape cactus because of the beauty of the dangling fruit strands. The more the number of fruits in a series, the more dangling stems of the grape cactus.
But what if the beautiful fruit starts to fall off and leaves the stem? This is one of the problems that succulent donkey tail lovers often face. Today I will share how to make the grape cactus fruit not fall off easily and how to deal with stems that wilt easily.Indeed, when the fruit is old it will fall and leave the stem, but we can also make our succulent donkey tail collection healthier and the fruit does not easily separate from the stem.
The method I use to make the Donkey Tail succulent fruit not easily separated from the stem is :
1.Watering with rice washing water.
Succulent donkey tail generally can live with dry soil conditions and without fertilization. I usually water my succulent donkey tail collection once a week with rice washing water, rice washing water contains lots of vitamins and minerals which are useful for the growth of succulent donkey tail. Every morning I wash the rice for cooking and the waste of this vitamin-rich water is not wasted. If you don't use rice as a staple food, you can blend the rice with water and you can have organic fertilizer from mashed rice.
2.Another way is the provision of minerals such as calcium.
We know that calcium minerals are useful for plant growth and help absorb nutrients. The source of calcium I get is from unused eggshells and also some shells of snails that are around my house, these ingredients which are high in calcium content are very easy to get and are also free. In this way, I can save on fertilizer and can also process organic waste into useful fertilizer.
How to use egg shells and snails as a source of calcium for plants, namely by grinding them, I just pound them with a rock and then I sprinkle them around the succulents. Usually I don't grind them to a size that isn't too fine, this is so that egg shells and snails can also be used as additional planting media for succulents.
3.Cut Out the Old Stem and Replant it.
Old stems are marked with a dark green color, the fruit also starts to fall off leaving the stem. During conditions like this, I usually start treating the stems that are starting to become unproductive, by cutting off the part of the stem that has little fruit and replanting the stem in the part that still has fruit on the stem. one stalk, the succulent fruit will continue to bear fruit at the top but at the base it has lost a lot of fruit, of course this condition makes the grape cactus look ugly.
First I would choose old stems that are not productive anymore, usually dark green or brown.
Next I will cut the stems that are old and unproductive, I use a sharp knife so that the incision results are good.
The final step is to replant the stems, after 4 days the stems that I replanted will start to produce new shoots. Before planting, make a hole so that the stem does not break, then insert the stem and cover it with soil again.
Now I have some of the old stems replanted.
4.Carry out maintenance after replanting.
Even though the grape cactus / succulent donkey tail doesn't need special care, during replanting / rejuvenation, we need to take care of it so that the stems we replant don't rot easily. After replanting, usually I will water the plants every other day with plain water and two weeks after planting, I will give the rice washing water so the roots grow quickly.
That way I can maintain the beauty of my collection of succulent grape cactus. I am very happy to be able to enjoy the beauty of the fruit grains that dangle beautifully to decorate the walls of the house.
Thank you for reading my post to make the world better.
Best Regards
