€26,50

🌱 Morphology
  Sunset sun in its flowers... Cespitose cactus with globose to shortly cylindrical, dark green stems that can reach approximately 20 cm in length and 6 cm in diameter. It presents 16–18 narrow and sharp ribs. The areoles produce about 8 radial spines of around 1 cm and 1–2 central spines that can reach about 2.5 cm, ranging in color from straw-yellow to brown. Compared to other forms of the species, it stands out especially for its larger and more elongated flowers.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It originates from the southern Andes of Peru, mainly from Apurímac and Cusco, in mountain locations situated approximately between 3,000 and 4,100 m in altitude. It grows in dry, stony high-mountain environments, subject to a high thermal amplitude between day and night. It belongs to the Cactaceae family, Cactoideae subfamily, Trichocereeae tribe. The epithet westii honors James West, one of the founders of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. In Joël Lodé's taxonomy, it is kept within Lobivia maximiliana.

❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 8b–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of up to −9 ºC in dry, acclimatized specimens protected from winter moisture. Its high-altitude origin indicates a remarkable adaptation to cold nights.

☀️ Lighting
It requires very intense lighting and several hours of direct sun to keep the stems compact and promote abundant flowering. As a guideline during active growth, a DLI PAR of 20–30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ is recommended.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter rest. During spring and summer, it is recommended to water deeply once the substrate has dried out completely. In autumn, watering is progressively reduced until the plant is kept completely dry throughout the winter.

🌸 Flowering
This is one of the most spectacular characteristics of this subspecies. It produces flowers of up to 7 cm in length and 4 cm in diameter, longer, larger, and more open than those of the typical subspecies. The floral tube is elongated and features abundant hairs; the sepals can be orange-pink and the petals golden orange, although chromatic variability exists.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer with a high content of assimilable calcium and low levels of nitrogen, such as Desert CHOICE® Cactáceas, is recommended, 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.

9x9 cm gourmet pot

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