A gloomy-looking hymnocalycium at home during flowering is transformed and will surprise you and your loved ones with its unusual beauty.
First, an original club-like bud appears on or near the top, which then opens up huge, in comparison with the cactus, delicate flowers - white, pink, lilac or red.
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General information
Species of Gymnocalycium affine in the wild, Argentina
The genus includes up to 150 species. In most of them, the stem is divided into well-defined segments covered with tubercles. Spines can be of different shapes and sizes - from straight to curved.
Flowers are always large.. The petals open on a well-developed, thick, long tube covered with scales.
Gymnocalycium flowers are like wax and can stay on the stem for weeks. Most species have bisexual flowers and are capable of self-pollination. An exception is a small group of Uruguayan hymnocalyciums.
Ripe fruits look like green, pink, orange or yellow berries that hang on the stem for a long time. Each Gymnocalycium berry contains seeds less than 1 mm in diameter.
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Gymnocalycium growth peaks in August, September and October. In winter, it falls into a dormant state, from which it emerges only at the end of February.
Gymnocalyciums are common plants in South America. Most species grow in Argentina. Plants prefer places among shrubs and grasses, under trees, in the shade from rocks and stones.
The grassy steppes of Argentina, where representatives of the genus thrive, are called pampas. The climate here is even, subtropical. As you move away from the ocean coast, it becomes more and more arid.
As rainfall decreases, so does the flora. The most moisture-loving and heat-loving species grow on the coast. The more you move into the depths of the continent, the more drought-resistant the hymnocalyciums become.
In the driest areas, in the semi-desert, only three species grow:
- G. gibbosum (G. gibbosum)
- Small-flowered gymnocalycium leptanthum
- G. Hubutense (G. hubutense)
These cacti are not only extremely drought tolerant, but also very cold-resistant, since in the continental pampas at night the temperature can drop to minus values.
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Why is it worth growing hymnocalycium
Gymnocalycium amerhauseri ready to bloom
Even in the first reference books on cacti growing, they wrote that hymnocalyciums are "unpretentious and bloom tirelessly." These cacti suitable for the most inexperienced grower. They do not require a lot of light, so they can be placed away from the windowsill.
At rest, plants tolerate slight frosts without any harmful consequences. Most species endure even freezing for a day or more.
Gymnocalyciums are very showy during flowering. They can grow and bloom even without natural light, under lamps, which is often used by collectors who do not have enough space on the windowsills. By the way, cacti, no problem in growing under the lamps, very little, and hymnocalycium is a pleasant exception to the rule.
Gymnocalycium flowering is not only easy to achieve, but it is also surprisingly long, can last a week or more.
Flowers close at night and open during the day. A collection of well-chosen species can bloom without interruption for most of the warm season.
Most species are modest in size. The largest can grow up to 30 cm wide, but usually adult cacti are an elongated ball no more than 10 cm high.
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Gymnocalycium
Growing hymnocalycium at home is extremely simple. This is one of those "unkillable" cacti that will survive even in poor conditions. The plant will die only if it is not properly cared for for a year or more. In good home conditions, with proper care, the flower will live for more than 10 years, it will develop and bloom excellently.
Light
The species Gymnocalycium berchtii grows where part of the day can be in the shade
Gymnocalyciums are shade-loving, moderate lighting is optimal. In summer, they need to be darkened or rearranged to the north window. On the western and southwestern windows, the stems get burned.
In winter, additional light is desirable from 17 to 21 hours. Lighting is optional, you can simply rearrange the cactus for the winter to the south window.
Temperature
Gymnocalycium
Gymnocalyciums are temperate cacti. In terms of temperature requirements, they are close to opucia and rebutia. There are also heat-loving species - Denudatum and Fleischerianum.
The most cold-hardy species is the gibbosum. It can freeze to the state of stone, and then slowly thaw and stay alive and healthy, and even bloom.
Water and irrigation
Wintering cactus turns yellow from lack of water
Rains in the homeland of hymnocalycium are warm, much warmer than our summer ones. Therefore, water before watering must be heated to 30 degrees.
Benefits of warm baths:
- Heat water up to 35 degrees
- Dip the cactus together with the pot for 25-30 minutes in water
The bath cleans the cactus from dust, washes away pests that are invisible to the eye. You can bathe hymnocalyciums only in summer. In winter, they quickly rot.
Cacti love evening watering. Where they grow, heavy dew falls at night. These plants drink it in nature.
Dew keeps the skin clean. The ability to collect dew allows cacti to do without rain for a long time and even without roots, absorbing moisture through stomata on the stem.
Humidity is completely unimportant. The flower tolerates both dry and damp air well.
The cactus can dry out in winter to a completely inanimate appearance. But spring, as soon as it is watered, a wrinkled dry ball will wake up, pour juice and throw out its club-shaped buds.
substrates
The soil for indoor cacti should be loose
Gymnocalycium is demanding on the soil. In the wrong substrate, the roots of the cactus will begin to rot, and it will refuse not only to bloom, but also to grow. The substrate will have to be made independently, there is too much peat in the store.
Suitable soil for planting:
- leaf ground 2
- peat land 3
- grain clay 2
- sand 2
- coal 1
top dressing
Powder and liquid fertilizers for cacti
Even the perfect earth mixture is not able to give the plants everything they need. Therefore, one of the features of home care for this cactus is systematic feeding. Fertilizers are applied only during the period of active growth, once every 10 days. Fertilize begins in May, ends in October. From November to March, top dressing is prohibited.
In fertilizer for cacti, nitrogen should be less than phosphorus and potassium. Phosphorus stimulates flowering and growth, potassium promotes flowering and fruiting.
You don't need to mix the chemicals yourself. There are many fertilizers in stores that are designed for cacti and succulents. Soil and top dressing for these plants have a neutral ph.
Transfer
Cactus Gymnocalycium ilseae ready for transplant
Gymnocalyciums are transplanted in March and April. During transplantation, diseased, rotten and weak roots are cut off. Part of the roots of cacti dies naturally. At the same time, the beginnings of new roots are formed on the root neck and old roots.
Gymnocalycium transplantation technique:
- Put broken shards, expanded clay or pieces of brick on the bottom of the pot
- Cover shallow fertile soil
- Put the cactus roots on the ground
- Cover the roots with fertile steamed earth
- Pour on top a layer of the same earth, but coarser, mixed with fine gravel
- Spread clean gravel on the surface or sprinkle coarse steamed sand
The transplanted cactus is placed in a shady place for a week. Watering can be done 4-5 days after transplantation.
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reproduction
Photo of cactus seeds at 20x magnification
Vegetative propagation in the case of hymnocalyciums can fail. Many species form offshoots very reluctantly. Sometimes in ten years the plant deigns to form only one layer.
The shoot must be removed when it reaches a width of at least a centimeter and placed on a wet mixture of sand and cactus soil. In a cool, bright place, the baby will take root in one to two months. If several side layers are formed, it is recommended to trim the excess ones, leaving one.
The second method of reproduction is seed. Sowing cacti is best in October and November. Seedlings are kept under lamps all winter, and in the spring they are exposed to the sun, gradually accustoming them to natural light.
Seeds are sown in a mini-greenhouse under daylight lamps. Without heating and highlighting, seedlings will not survive even in summer.
The substrate is made up of:
- leaf ground 0.5
- crushed charcoal 0.2
- fine sand 0.25
Gymnocalycium at home
The mixture must be steamed in a colander over boiling water for at least an hour. Hot steam kills mold spores. Without steaming, seedlings will certainly die from fungal diseases.
Then the mixture is sifted through a sieve steamed or scalded with boiling water. Large particles are laid down, small ones are poured on top.
Seeds are sown dry, one per square centimeter. Before sowing, they are soaked for 20 minutes in a pink solution of potassium permanganate, which increases germination by 10-20%.
Seeds are laid out on the surface of dry earth and slightly pressed. The bowl is placed in a pan with boiled warm water so that the earth is saturated with moisture. The seeds should not float.
Crop care
Chlorophilic Gymnocalycium grafted onto Céreus
Cactus crops are kept in a greenhouse under glass and aired daily, draining drops of moisture that has settled on the glass to the ground to simulate rain. Air temperature 35-40 °C, air humidity 90-100%. Under such conditions, cactus seeds will germinate in 5-8 days.
Gymnocalyciums, like no other indoor plants, have seasonal germination. If the seeds have not sprouted, it means that it is not yet time. After a month or two, reseeding can be done.
Often among seedlings of hymnocalyciums, chlorophyll-free specimens appear: white, pink, pale green in whole or in part. They will live for a month or two, and then die from lack of food. A chlorophyll-free seedling can be saved by grafting onto an ordinary green rootstock. This is how strange-looking cacti with a red spherical top appear in stores.
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spider mite
The juicy stem and soft skin of Gymnocalycium attract sucking pests. Of these, the most formidable are spider mites. The fight against them consists in maintaining high air humidity and treatments with Fitoverm, and for prevention, the entire collection is sprayed with Actellik, Neoron or Karbofos in spring and autumn before wintering.
Wet wintering will certainly lead to root rot. A rotten plant will have to be thrown away.
If a lot of small whitish insects appeared on a cactus - this is a mealybug, a dangerous sucking pest that can quickly bring hymnocalycium to death. The worm will disappear if insecticidal preparations are applied or the stem is washed with an alcohol solution.
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Blooming Gymnocalycium baldianum
There are cactus lovers who specialize in hymnocalyciums. In such cases, it is impossible to assemble a complete collection, since photographs with the names of hundreds of species are posted in the taxonomy catalogs.
Gymnocalyciums in room culture are represented by several dozen popular species. Among them:
- Gymnocalycium Mikhanovich (Gymnocalycium Mihanovichii) - one of the most common cacti, height no more than 5 cm, flattened stem, pink and crimson flowers
- Gymnocalycium mix - a mixture of seeds of various types of cacti that can be grown in one container, making a beautiful composition.
- Gymnocalycium Friedrich - a ball with a pink-brown stem and flowers 3 cm in diameter. At the tip of well-defined ribs are numerous lateral spherical buds
- Gymnocalycium humpback (Gymnocalycium Gibbosum) - a giant among species, the height of the cactus reaches 50 cm, diameter 30 cm. It blooms with 7 cm cream-colored funnel-shaped flowers
- Gymnocalycium Schroeder Bes Rubra - a subspecies of Schroeder's hymnocalycium with long cream or white flowers. Stem flattened, spherical, solitary, spines adjoining, ribs covered with hump-like formations
Gymnocalycium Quel
- Gymnocalycium Quel (Gymnocalycium Quehlianum) - up to 10 cm in diameter, the spines are very small, not dangerous, as they are bent towards the stem. Flowers large, white, numerous. Even in the photo, Quel's hymnocalycium surprises with its smooth, shiny skin and small spines pressed against the stem. Blooms with light large flowers
- Naked (G. Denudatum) Gymnocalycium Naked is an interesting cactus with slightly pronounced ribs and tubercles.
- Gymnocalycium Bruch - a gray-green, almost perfect ball in shape, tightened, like a cobweb, with light pressed spines. The flower is larger than the cactus itself, white or pink
- Anisitsii Gymnocalycium Anisitsii - size up to 10 cm, flowers are white, pink
- Gymnocalycium Tiny (G. Parvulum) - a spherical cactus with 13 ribs and large high areoles. The spines are pressed to the stem, the flowers are light in color
- Small-flowered Gymnocalycium Leptanthum – stem diameter 7 cm, flower 6 cm, white petals
- Japanese hymnocalycium - this is the name of a grafted plant, consisting of two parts. The lower one is green, the upper one is red, pink or yellow. It is obtained when the cuttings are connected by pressing the sections against each other. Gradually, parts of the cactus take root. Vaccination allows you to get a copy that does not exist in nature
G. saglione - very beautiful but late flowering
Many hymnocalyciums are similar to each other. To make the collection look more interesting, it should include cacti with the most contrasting look:
- Andrew
- Asterium
- Bayrianum
- Bruchi
- Cardenasianum
- Carminan-thum
- Vatter
Becoming the owner of these species is difficult. They are not sold in stores and are almost never found among amateurs. The only way to replenish the collection with rare hymnocalyciums is to prescribe seeds in online stores.
Gymnocalycium Baldi
In the store you can buy only the most popular types:
- Gymnocalycium Baldi - a spherical stem of gray-green or bluish-green color, up to 10 cm high, up to 7 cm wide. Ribs 9-11. The flowers are pinkish-red, dark red or purple, up to 5 cm in diameter. Spines are radial, thin, hooked to the stem, 1.5 cm long
- Gymnocalycium Saglio (saglionis) - a single flattened spherical plant with a dark green or bluish-green surface. Height up to 15 cm, width up to 30 cm. Spines yellowish-brown up to 4 cm long, bent towards the stem. Flowers white or pinkish, diameter up to 3 cm
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G. Ragonesii forms a dark stem up to 3 in diameter and only 1 cm high
Some hymnocalyciums are very capricious. These are:
- valuable varieties of the heat-loving G. Michanovichii with a brown-green flower
- Ragonesii is a showy delicate plant with a velvety chocolate-colored stem, rare, difficult to grow.
Capricious species can only be obtained by sowing seeds, growing seedlings independently, under constant supervision. Such planting and care contribute to better adaptation of the hymnocalycium to environmental conditions.
Features of caring for a cactus:
- In order for hymnocalyciums to be guaranteed to bloom, they must be kept in winter in a dry cool and grown in neutral land.
- For watering the hymnocalycium, it is better to take rainwater, and tap water must be boiled or acidified with citric acid (two drops per liter)
It is not surprising that the spectacular and unpretentious cactus hymnocalycium is very popular with amateurs. The diverse shape and color of the stems, amazing spines, long, beautiful, lush flowering attract the attention of not only beginners, but also experienced cacti growers.
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