Boon Kiat, one of my most supportive Green Culture Singapore forum member delivered yet another talk on a group of plants that he has much experience growing on 17 April 2010 at HortPark’s Fruit Room. Entitled ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Cacti & Succulents’, the talk covered the five elements of cultivating cacti and succulents, namely sunlight, soil, water, pest management and fertilisation.
Boon Kiat also introduced to his audience to 10 easy to grow cacti and succulent species. Not all cacti and succulents can be grown in tropical Singapore and this can take years to discover and realise. So going to Boon Kiat’s talk is a really great short-cut to skip all the problematic species. He also shared with all the reasons why some species from this group of plants can be that difficult grow here.
Last but not least, Boon Kiat brought along a Rebutia that has been grafted onto a Pereskiopsis rootstock. As revealed by Boon Kiat, this grafting method was a tip that was shared with him via a fellow Green Culture Singapore forum member. Some challenging cacti species, such as Rebutia that normally do not do well here can be grafted onto Pereskiopsis rootstock and the resultant plants have been observed to show more vigour and perform better in the lowland tropics.
