€7,95

🌱 Morphology
  Slow-growing, compact, and highly characteristic hybrid that eventually forms clusters of rosettes through numerous basal offsets. It is virtually acaulescent and can reach about 20 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter. The leaves are thick, rigid, and fleshy, initially arranged in two opposite rows and becoming progressively more spiraled with age.

They feature a bright to dark green background with irregular silvery-green or pale olive-green bands and spots, accompanied by numerous prominent, pearly-looking tubercles on both sides of the leaf. The margins may also exhibit light-colored bands. The apex is short, acute, and mucronate. The combination of the shiny epidermis, light bands, and protuberances gives the plant an almost ceramic or crafted-plastic appearance. There is some variability among circulating clones.

It was obtained by Australian hybridizer David Cumming in 1982, through the cross Gasteria batesiana × Gasteria ‘Old Man Silver’. The same batch of seeds also produced the ‘Big Brother’ cultivar.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
Family Asphodelaceae, tribe Alooideae, genus Gasteria. It is a horticultural hybrid and, therefore, does not have a natural distribution of its own. One of its parents, Gasteria batesiana, comes from South Africa; ‘Old Man Silver’ is itself a cultivar of horticultural origin.

❄️ Temperature — USDA 9a
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −4 ºC. As it is a cultivated hybrid and there are differences between the clonal lines marketed, it is especially recommended to avoid the combination of cold, humidity, and poor ventilation. Commercial references range between USDA 9 and 10 as the lower limit.

☀️ Lighting
Shade–partial shade, with abundant filtered light. It also tolerates mild sun, but intense and prolonged exposure can darken or tan the leaves. Indicative DLI PAR: 10–20 mol/m²/day. Insufficient light can cause more open growth and reduce the compactness of the cluster.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Summer dormancy. Although Gasterias are capable of growing opportunistically, cultivation sources describe a summer slowdown in ‘Little Warty’. It is recommended to water when the substrate is completely dry, increasing frequency during active growth and spacing it out significantly during the hot summer and cold winter.

🌸 Flowering
It can bloom in spring, producing a floral stem that clearly protrudes above the rosette. The flowers are pendulous, bell-shaped, and approximately 2–3 cm, with greenish-pink tones, characteristics inherited from the Gasteria genus. An adult plant can begin to bloom approximately between 2 and 5 years under good cultivation conditions.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, Desert CHOICE® Aloes, Haworthias & Co. is recommended, with a high content of potassium and bioavailable calcium. It is applied with watering, reducing or suspending fertilization during summer dormancy.

9x9 cm pot

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

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

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