If maintaining a Christmas cactus has turned your green thumb into a shade of brown, fear not because 95-year-old Murphy resident, Martile Hawkins, has tips on how she has kept her cactus alive and thriving for 52 years.
“The secret to keeping it alive is to water it sparingly, cactus don’t need a lot of water,” Martile said. “Keep it in a place with light – not too much light – if it has too much sunlight it will burn. Keep it where there is no real heat or cold. Feed it occasionally, every two or three years, with a Jobe’s fertilizer stick. Most people overwater them and it rots the roots. I water it every month-and-a-half or so. If the dirt is dry, I water it, but not a lot.”
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By Karen Chaney • [email protected]
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