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10 Best Succulents and Mini Cactus for Your Home

Hello FlokqAugust 5, 2020

Cactus is known as a thorny plant whose habitat is in the desert or dry areas. This plant is one of the unique plants because it can survive in hot temperatures and without water for a long time. Cactus is also known as succulent, but succulent itself is not the name of a family of plants such as cactus. Both of these plants become plants that are loved by plant lovers, the shape is small and unique, and beautiful makes this plant suitable for indoor decoration.

There are many types of mini cactus and succulents that are unique and beautiful. Before we look at the best and recommended types of cactus and succulents, we need to know the differences between the two plants.

Difference between succulent and cactus

Succulent is a term for plants that have the character of absorbing and storing water on the stem as a food source. In addition, succulents have petals shaped like leaves without thorns. While the cactus replaces tissue in the form of thorns. So, it can be concluded that all cactus are succulent plants, but not all succulents are cactus. So, keep in mind if the cactus has thorns, while succulent does not.

How to care for cactus and succulents

Strong or not cactus and succulent in a room is not only caused by watering. Even though they need water, too much watering can speed up root rot. There are other important things besides watering that need to be considered in treating cactus and succulents such as light, planting media, and containers used for planting.

Cactus and succulents are plants that like hot temperatures, so they must be placed in a place that gets sunlight. If the plant is placed in a low temperature and humid place, it will cause the plant to die. Additionally, it can instead produce soft leaves and can wither quickly. Cactus and succulents planted in containers/pots need to change their media periodically and provide fertilizer to fertilize the plants. If the cactus and succulent containers/pots are too small, you need to switch to a larger container. That will make sure that these plants can grow better. 

So here are some of the best cactus you can have around!

1. Ariocarpus Cactus

In general, cactus has thorns on the leaves. However, this type of ornamental cactus has no thorns at all. This cactus leaf has a prism shape with curved, blunt, or pointed edges. What makes this cactus unique in addition to the absence of thorns is that this cactus has large flowers. They’re almost the size of its stem. Also, it has a variety of colors that make this cactus very beautiful and become one of the favorite cactus for plant lovers.

2. Astrophytum Cactus

Next up, we have Astrophytum cactus. Just like the mini Ariocarpus Cactus, the cactus with the type of Astrophytum also has a colorful flower on the stem. So, that will make for a very beautiful-looking decor. In addition, this cactus is no less unique than the previous cactus. This is because the stem also has a unique shape like a star or star fruit.

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3. Echevaria Agavoides

Now, we have Echevaria Agavoides. It is a type of succulent plant originating from Central America. This plant has a characteristic leaf shape that looks beautiful because its shape resembles a rose petals that are in bloom. Interestingly, the tips of the leaves can change color to a beautiful red color if this plant gets enough sunlight.

4. Haworthia Attenuata Cactus

This type of mini Haworthia Attenuata cactus originating from South Africa has two different nicknames. The cactus is dubbed the zebra plant, because it has a white complexion which when viewed from afar is patterned like a zebra. This type of cactus is also dubbed as mini aloe vera, which has a shape that is almost the same as aloe vera but this type of cactus leaves not as open as aloe vera.

5. Ferocactus Cactus

This Ferocactus cactus has a quite unique appearance. The spines on the plant have sharp red thorns that grow randomly and have different sizes. This cactus will grow into a cactus that is quite terrible for the layman because of the longer thorns like cat whiskers. However, this cactus remains a beautiful cactus in the eyes of plant lovers.

6. Sedum Succulent/ Burro’s Tail

This plant is a succulent plant of sedum type or can be called a stone plant because it has a thick leaf structure originating from South Africa. This type of succulent is classified as a plant that is easy to care for, resulting in thick leaf growth in this plant can be strung as a whole like a donkey’s tail so it is also called a donkey’s tail (Burro’s Tail). In addition, people also call this plant as a grape cactus, where the leaves of this plant cluster and look like grapes.

7. Opuntia Cochenillifera Cactus

People often refer to this type of cactus as a “centong” cactus because of its wide and oval shape like a “centong”  or spoon. Although only a wide and oval shape, this cactus looks very beautiful. That’s especially true when the flower at the tip of the leaf grows. This cactus can also grow with many leaves, making this cactus similar to Mickey Mouse.

8. Kalanchoe (Succulent Panda)

Next is Kalanchoe. It is a succulent plant originating from Namibia, South Africa. This plant has a distinctive shape. Some of these succulents have downy leaves and a brown complexion on the tips of the leaves. Velvety leaves is another name that this plant goes by. In addition, the color of white fuzz and the tips of the leaves are brown, giving the plant another alternate name as a succulent panda.

9. Jade Plant

This plant is a type of succulent that is quite unique because it looks like a bonsai tree that has fast growth. Its hard texture like synthetic material is green, thick, glossy, oval-shaped. A thick main stem in the middle supports this plant. This makes this type of succulent a bit different from other types. When flowering, this succulent jade will produce star-shaped flowers with pink and white.

10. Echinocactus Grusonii Cactus

This type of mini cactus comes from Mexico and Texas. This cactus can grow big. When this cactus grows, it will look like a barrel. The shape is like a barrel with many golden-colored thorns. This makes the cactus often referred to as the golden barrel.

Of the many types that exist, the ones above are our best bet for you. Do you already know which is your favorite? Don’t forget to save this article so that it’s easy to distinguish these many types of succulents and cactus in the future!