€15,90

Cereus ‘Coral’ f. cristata · Wavy Coral · Crested Coral Cactus

🌱 Morphology
A crested form of horticultural origin from the complex traditionally marketed as Cereus hildmannianus. The cristation transforms the normal columnar growth into wavy, compressed, and sinuous ridges, resembling coral or a living sculpture. The stems take on a grayish-green hue, and the areoles, very close together along the crest, form practically a continuous line. The numerous spines are fine, short, and bright yellow, potentially showing orange shades at the tips. Each specimen develops a unique architecture.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It does not come from a wild population: ‘Coral’ is a horticultural name, and the crested form is a growth mutation, so it has no natural distribution of its own. In modern nomenclature, Cereus peruvianus is considered a historical synonymous name.
Family Cactaceae · subfamily Cactoideae · tribe Cereeae.

❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 9a
Tolerates minimum temperatures down to −5 ºC when dry and in well-acclimated specimens. With a crested form, it is advisable to be more cautious than with normal columnar growth and avoid intense cold combined with humidity.

☀️ Lighting
We recommend partial sun or very abundant light, protecting the crest from scorching sun during peak hours if grown in summer. A suitable reference is 20–25 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ of DLI PAR, progressively increasing exposure to prevent sunburn.

💧 Growth cycle and irrigation
Winter rest. During winter, it should be kept practically dry. In spring, watering is gradually resumed, and during active growth, it is watered deeply, allowing the substrate to dry out completely before the next watering. Indoors, it needs a lot of light to maintain a compact crest. The crested form can be somewhat more sensitive to excess moisture than normal growth.

🌸 Flowering
Flowering is occasional in crested specimens and depends heavily on the size and vigor of the crest. In the reference Cereus, the flowers are large, white, and nocturnal; flowering occurs mainly during the warm season. Sufficiently reliable information has not been found to establish a specific age for first flowering or to claim that this form is reblooming within the same season.

🌿 Nutrition
During active growth, we recommend Desert CHOICE® Cactaceae NPK (Ca-Mg) 4-4-7 (4-4). Assimilable calcium favors the formation of firm tissues and the maintenance of turgidity, while magnesium participates in chlorophyll synthesis.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot with substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.

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