Many beginner cacti owners get very excited when they buy their first cactus or few, and choose ones with colorful flowers. But sadly, it often turns out that these flowers are fake. Most cacti that you buy will not have any flowers, and if they do, they are most probably fake. But if you have bought a cactus with a fake flower, don’t worry – you find a lot of joy caring for your new addition after realizing that it’s a common practice. In this post, we will talk about how to recognize fake cacti flowers and how to remove them at home.
Why are sellers attaching fake flowers on cacti?
Sellers often attach flowers on cacti to make them more marketable. This boosts sales and help cacti get new homes. When you are buying your cacti, it is considered to be your responsibility to check a cactus and not choose one with a fake flower if you are not happy about it.
You can ask the seller about the flower, and he/she should be honest if you ask. But if you don’t ask, this is not a seller’s fault. See, flowers make cacti look more vibrant and exciting for potential buyers. As you become more experienced, it will become easier to tell if a cactus flower is real or not.
What are fake cacti flowers?
A small flower that you see glued to cacti is a dried strawflower (or golden everlasting) inflorescence that was real, but dried for preservation. These flowers have a distinctive ‘papery’ texture, which is quite easy to distinguish with a touch. Strawflower, or Xerochrysum bracteatum, last much longer than cacti flowers and sellers usually dye them in various colors.
The positive thing about strawflowers is that they can react to humidity levels even when dry! With low humidity, flower opens, and with high humidity, flower closes. This mimics real flowers.
So, how to tell if a cactus flower is real or fake?
- First of all, cacti flowers last only for a week or less! Yes, cacti flowers are usually glued on because fake flowers will last for months or even years to come. So, if it’s not a growing and flowering season, there is no way a flower can be real. Most cacti flower in summer, and some – right after summer.
- Fake flowers on cacti will have a weird texture – similar to a crafting paper or straw. Real cacti flowers are soft.
- Look at how the flower is attached to the plant. If you look closely, you will be able to notice hot glue on the sides and under the fake flower. This is often how sellers attach fake flowers to cacti. Sometimes, flowers can be attached with pins. Real flowers on cacti are connected to the stem with a receptacle.
- Look at the flower positioning – many species of cacti have specific flowering pattern. For example, many Mammillaria cacti develop a ‘crown’ of flowers. If a flowers is just ‘sitting’ on top of the plant, it is most probably fake.
- Take a look at the color of cacti’s flowers – they cannot be something extraordinary. For example, you might find a cactus with a bright to even neon green color fake flower.
What are the issues with glued fake flowers and how to remove them from a cactus?
The problem with fake flowers on the cacti is the way the are attached. Often, sellers use a hot glue to attach the flower, but sometimes a pin is also used. Hot glue creates a wound in a cactus and sticks to spines permanently. A pin is also bad – it goes through the cactus and creates a wound.
So, how to remove fake cacti flowers? You will need to be extra careful when removing cacti flowers. This is because just pulling a glued flowers will tear off many spines, areoles and even skin, creating an open wound. With pins, you have no other choice than to take the pin out and let the wound heal. Either way, there will be a scar after removing glue.
There are few ways to remove a flower and glue:
- Wiggle and gently pull the flowers and see if it comes off. If you succeed at removing the flower, you can
proceed to remove the glue. - To remove the glue, you will need to heat the glue for it to become loose. Don’t heat the glue with a hairdryer (not recommended because will damage the plant). Better is to heat a knife blade and use it to carefully cut the glue. There will be a scar – but it will heal and your cactus will ‘grow out of it’ in few years.
- If there is any glue left, try to scrape it off by using a tip of a knife or scissors.
- Don’t use any acetone to remove the glue – it will burn the stem.
- Sometimes, the flower and glue will fall off on their own after few years of growth. But be careful – if a flower is attached on a growing point (top of a cactus), then you need to remove it for your cactus to grow.
- If your cactus is severely damaged or scarred, let it grow and when the time comes, you will be able to get a stem cutting/offset for new cacti and will get rid of the damaged one.
Dyed cacti
Sometimes, you can also find dyed cacti for sale. Sellers usually dye cacti’s spine in various colors, usually red, yellow, blue and green. Spraying cacti’s spines and sometimes areoles on the stem can have very bad consequences for the plant.
Even if the spray is non-toxic, and water-based, it will interfere with plant’s ability to breathe and evaporate water. The paint is likely to disappear in time, but it will not wash off and you will need to wait for your cactus to grow out of it.
It is a good idea to avoid buying dyed cacti or even ones that have ‘googly eyes’ as they are usually glued to the stem. Spray painted cacti not only look artificial, but it is important not to buy and encourage sellers to keep on painting the cacti for sale.
Grafted cacti – what are these?
You might also come across beautiful and unique cacti that have red or sometimes or colored ‘balls’ on top. Many people might think these are flowers – but they are not. What you see on the top of a cactus is actually another species of cactus, which lack chlorophyll and can’t photosynthesize themselves.
This is why they need to be attached to another cactus that can photosynthesize to survive. Rootstock cacti are the main cacti that can photosynthesize, and mutant ball cactus is grafted on top of this rootstock plant.
The most popular ball cacti that are used for grafting are Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, but there are more varieties that come in different colors. We will talk more about grafted cacti in another post, and the purpose of mentioning them here was for you to know that these ‘balls’ on top of cacti are not flowers.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to share and read more! In our other posts, we covered repotting cacti, watering cacti, how to make cacti bloom and others!