€10,60

Gymnocalycium volskyi V.Gapon, Ponomareva, Protopopov, Schelkun. & Zaitseva - 2020.

🌱 Morphology
Small cactus, slow to moderate growth, usually solitary although it may produce offsets with age. The body, with a taproot, is flattened, shiny, and grayish-green or bluish-green, with a slightly depressed apex; it reaches about 3 cm in height and 5 cm in diameter, and can reach up to 6.5 cm in old specimens. It has 8–10 ribs, up to 14 in adult plants, wide, rounded, and gently sinuous, divided into low tubercles. The areoles, initially woolly and yellowish, become oval and grayish. It develops 7–9 fine, yellow, and flexible radial spines, with one or three pointing downward; central spines are absent.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is an endemic species with a very limited range in the Sierra de Aceguá, Cerro Largo Department, Uruguay, practically next to the border with Brazil, where it was located at an altitude of around 296 m. It grows both in open terrain and protected under shrubs, in the stony environments of the subtropical region. The limited known extent of its populations makes conserving material of documented origin especially valuable.

Family Cactaceae · Subfamily Cactoideae · Tribe Cereeae

❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 9b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of up to −4 ºC for brief periods and with the substrate completely dry. In its locality of origin, winter conditions are relatively mild; in cultivation, it has been proven that it can spend the winter dry even near 5 ºC and withstand occasional drops close to 0 ºC.

☀️ Lighting
Bright semi-shade is recommended. It does not need intense sunlight to grow correctly, and in its habitat, it alternates between open spaces and the protection of shrubs. PAR radiation above 20 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ is advised, avoiding scorching sun during the central hours of summer.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter rest. During active growth, it is recommended to water deeply and allow the substrate to dry out completely before the next watering. Progressively reduce water intake upon arrival of autumn and keep it practically dry during winter.

🌸 Flowering
Its flowers are one of its most unique characteristics: pale yellow to yellow, shiny, infundibuliform, about 5.5–6.5 cm long and 6–7 cm in diameter when fully open. They are hermaphroditic flowers with a relatively long floral tube and appear during the warm season. In specialized cultivation, flowering has been observed between May and August. A first-flowering age sufficiently documented to be incorporated with rigor has not been found.

🌿 Nutrition
During active growth, Desert CHOICE® Cactaceae NPK (Ca-Mg) 4-4-7 (4-4) is recommended once a month along with watering. Assimilable calcium favors the formation of firm tissues and the maintenance of turgidity, while magnesium participates in chlorophyll synthesis. Before flowering, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Flowering.

🪴 Pot
9x9 cm gourmet black pot

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

* As this is an online purchase, the appearance of the sent specimen 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 plants at Desert CITY has unique characteristics.

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