€15,90

🌱 Morphology
What a steal with this cholla! A low-growing, very spiny cactus capable of forming large, sprawling colonies. The stems are jointed and consist of obovoid to claviform segments, dark green in color, which can reach about 12 cm in length and feature large, laterally flattened tubercles. The areoles are large, woolly, and have few white glochids. Its most spectacular feature is the spines: thick, rigid, very sharp, and strongly flattened, resembling small daggers. Young spines have reddish or purple tones with crimson bases, acquiring grayish or blackish shades with age. It can reach approximately 20–50 cm in height and form colonies 2 m or more in diameter.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
A species endemic to Baja California, Mexico, especially the Vizcaíno Desert and areas near the southern end of the peninsula. It lives at low altitudes, from practically sea level up to about 200 m, on silty, sandy, or rocky soils of desert scrub near the coast. It belongs to the Cactaceae family, Opuntioideae subfamily, and Cylindropuntieae tribe.

❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 9a–11b
It is a species from a warm, coastal desert climate. It tolerates occasional drops in temperature when kept completely dry, but it is not one of the Opuntioideae cacti particularly adapted to intense frosts. It is recommended to protect it from temperatures consistently below −2 ºC, especially with moisture in the substrate.

☀️ Lighting
It needs direct sun and maximum light intensity to properly develop its structure and its spectacular armor of spines. As a guideline, a DLI PAR of 20–30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ is recommended during active growth.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. During the cold months, it must be kept practically dry, especially when nighttime temperatures are low. With the increase in temperature and solar radiation, watering is resumed progressively, always allowing the substrate to dry out completely between waterings. It is particularly sensitive to excess moisture held in the roots.

🌸 Flowering
It produces yellow flowers, up to about 5 cm in diameter, generally during the spring. The contrast between the yellow flowers and the reddish or grayish spines is particularly striking.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer with a high content of assimilable calcium and low nitrogen levels is recommended, such as Desert CHOICE® Cactáceas, applied once a month when watering. Before flowering, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Floración.

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

📏 Gourmet xerophyte in a 12x12 cm pot.

* As this is an online purchase, the appearance of the specimen sent may vary slightly from the product image. The measurements of the plant are specified in the photo description, but this may also vary slightly, because, it is a living being! Each of the Desert CITY plants has unique characteristics.

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