€15,90

🌱 Morphology
  A lace of thorns... Small cactus, generally very caespitose, which produces numerous basal shoots and can form compact cushions. The stems are globose to slightly cylindrical, dark green, reddish-green, or even blackish, up to about 4.5 cm tall and 3.5–6 cm in diameter. It has 13–21 low and narrow ribs, straight or slightly spiraled. The areoles are very close to each other and produce approximately 8–14 fine, flexible, and pectinate radial spines, white, cream, yellowish, or brown in color, which intertwine with each other. The central spine may be missing in young specimens; when it appears, it is usually single, darker, and curved downwards, measuring about 5–6 mm.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is distributed from southern Peru to Bolivia, especially in the Bolivian departments of La Paz and Tarija, in dry mountainous environments located approximately between 2,800 and 3,500 m altitude. It grows among rocks and xerophytic vegetation in inter-Andean valleys. It belongs to the family Cactaceae, subfamily Cactoideae, tribe Trichocereeae. In Joël Lodé's taxonomy, it is maintained as Lobivia schieliana.

❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 8b–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −9 ºC in dry, acclimated specimens protected from winter moisture. Its high-mountain origin gives it good resistance to low temperatures.

☀️ Lighting
It needs very intense lighting and several hours of direct sun to keep the stems compact and develop the characteristic intertwined spination. As a general target 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 should be progressively reduced until keeping the plant dry throughout the winter.

🌸 Flowering
The flowers are born laterally and are large in relation to the small size of the stems. They measure approximately 3.5–5 cm and can present luminous red, orange-red, violet, or, occasionally, yellow colors. The floral tube is relatively narrow, and the filaments may show reddish or violet hues.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer with a high content of assimilable calcium and low levels of nitrogen 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 pot 9x9 cm

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