Coryphantha maiz-tablasensis in flower

 

    It may seem difficult to grow it, but it surely is easy to get it to flower in my growing set-up. I use a largely mineral soil-mix, comprising granite, some clay-ish calcarous stone chippings, large diameter river gravel, some sand, perlite and 5 to 10% wormcastings. Except for the perlite, everything is sort of DIY, as I never buy materials but prefer to collect it myself while visiting various places in the (nearby) mountains and hills.    

    Mature plants are kept outside, in full sun, with no shade and are subject to intense heat during the entire summer months. I give them rain water once per week or two times a month, depending on the heat and humidity. During the winter they are kept without water in a cool dry room. It is normal for them to shrivel and loose body volume in this period. The watering only resumes when outside temps exceed 18 degrees Celsius. I rarely feed them nutrients. If so, they should be poor in Nitrogen and applied in small doses at the beginning of the season, after the first waterings.

Frailea asterioides var. harmoniana, KH 604

Fraileas are relatively easy to grow cacti. They need a porous, fast draining soil and enjoy quite frequent waterings during the growing season. When temperature drops, keep dry and at positive Celsius temperatures.

This particular specimen was collected in 1998 by Bruno Knutti and Christian Hefti in a locality North-West of Mario Rubio, on Ruta 31, Salto Uruguay. I grew it hard, outdoors, with lots of sun and hot temperatures during summer, and it could probably tolerate some frost during the rest season. However, I keep it at around 10 degrees Celsius, completely dry.

Lophophora fricii

Lophophora fricii - here in flower - is relatively easy to grow. It prefers a slightly basic soil with almost mineral content but it may accommodate, as in this case, some worm compost and even coco coir. Say 20% of the total soil mix. Another addition was perlite... too bad it tends to rise up at the surface when watering is done from above.

By the way, watering is sparse. Say twice a month when the weather is fine - that is over 28 degrees Celsius - and no high atmospheric humidity is encountered. Too much water will make it burst. It can take quite a lot of sun and cold if grown hard.

My understanding of the concept of hard growing will be explained later on.