Hard grown astrophytum capricorne var. niveum

     This mature astrophytum capricorne var. niveum is now resting as it's winter time here and temperatures are at freezing point. It does not receive water at all this time of the year and is kept in a well aerated, dry and well lit environment - sunlight only. It is a cold hardy specimen which can withstand temperatures of -10ºC, although in my set-up it rarely gets below 0ºC. In summer time it is kept in full sun at temps often above 40 ºC and flowers profusely if watered abundantly once a week or so. I use exclusively rainwater.

 

    The soil mix is coarse comprising perlite, coco choir,  small gravel, sand and self produced wormcasts. I rarely use nutrients on it - once or twice a year maybe. If so, I use something preferably organic with low N and high PK values enriched with microelements.

 

Echinocactus grusonii, GM 1216

I like to keep track of the plants I am growing. Knowing the exact species denominations and the original habitat of of your plants is essential in the attempt to keep them alive and happy.

This one is a seedling of Echinocactus grusonii I bought two years ago and slowly acclimatized to thrive outdoor. The long spines are an adaptation to the large quantities of UV it received during the summer. In the dry and cold rest periods, it turns a bit purple.

Field number : GM 1216

Collector : Grzegorz Matuszewski

Locality : Mexicó : Zacatecas (San Juan Capistrano, 1100 m)

I encourage you all to buy only cacti with a field number attached. You'll not only know the name of your plant, but also the specific climate where it came to evolve for so many thousands years.

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.