Echinocereus - beautiful stems, bright flowers. Echinocereus: how to grow a "hedgehog cactus" at home

Echinocereus is a very beautiful and compact succulent from the Cactus family. hallmark genus are thorns in the form of spiders, which cover not only the stems, but also miniature fruits. Under natural conditions, the cactus can be found in the high mountain forests on the US-Mexico border. This cute plant decorates the house with a decorative stem and beautiful flowers, so it is especially loved by flower growers.

plant description

Echinocereus cactus has a rounded or columnar, rather short stem. Numerous lateral processes often appear on it. The length of the soft, sometimes decumbent stem is 15-60 cm. The thin skin is colored gray-green. Gradually, the base of the stem may acquire yellow-brown hues.

The trunk is covered with protruding ribs in the amount of 5-21 units. Areolas are densely located on the ribs. Rigid spines can be long or short, sticking out perpendicular to the stem or adjacent to it. There can be 3-30 needles up to 10 cm long in the areola.

Flowers can form even on young plants. Flower buds do not appear in the areole itself, as in most cacti, but next to it. The tissue of the stem is torn and a large tubular flower appears. The diameter of the wide open bell is 1.9-15 cm. Glossy petals are bent back and slightly twisted. Flowers are painted in greenish, red, pink or yellow shades. During flowering, Echinocereus exudes a strong citrus aroma. The core consists of a bunch of long stamens and an ovary. Even on outside flower tube arranged short hard spines.

Fruits in the form of small balls are covered with a shiny, reddish skin with many spines. The diameter of the fruit is 1-3.5 cm. The juicy pulp contains small seeds. It exudes a delicate strawberry aroma, for which Echinocereus is called a strawberry hedgehog. The fruits can be eaten.

Types of Echinocereus

There are about 70 species in the genus, suitable for indoor cultivation. Many flower shops offer catalogs of Echinocereus, where all types and photos of these cacti are presented. This helps to make the final choice and make a purchase.

The plant has a cylindrical stem with a rounded top. Its length does not exceed 20 cm with a width of 3-6 cm. The surface of the stem is covered with shallow, vertical ridges in the amount of 20-30 pieces. Radial, short spines are almost completely pressed against the stem and create a unique pattern on its surface. In the upper part of the shoot, wide-open funnels of flowers with a diameter of 6-8 cm are formed. The petals are painted pink and gradually brighten towards the core.

Cylindrical dark green stems are overgrown with many dark green shoots. The trunk is about 25 cm long and 9 cm wide. Up to 19 vertical or spiral ribs are located on the surface. Areoles consist of sparse pubescence and yellowish-white long spines. Slightly curved, hooked needles stick out in all directions. The top of the stem is decorated with large pink or purple flowers up to 10 cm in diameter. The species includes several ornamental varieties:

• armatus - the stem with 20 vertical ribs is covered with bunches of long (up to 3 cm) red-brown spines;
• baileyi - the stem is covered with rare bunches of long perpendicular spines and large (up to 12 cm in diameter) flowers;
• albispinus - a cylindrical stem up to 15 cm high is densely dotted with areoles with curved needles pressed against the trunk. The top is decorated with purple flowers with a diameter of 6-7 cm.

The plant is distinguished by spherical stems, which gradually stretch out. On a gray-green shoot there are 5-12 ribs with short spines. There are up to a dozen yellowish radial needles and about four darker central ones in the bundle.

- very beautiful plant. Its columnar stem up to 30 cm high and up to 10 cm wide is dark green and covered with 15-23 vertical ribs. The short curved spines are tightly pressed against the skin and form a beautiful, scallop-like covering. The needles can be colored yellow-white or pinkish.

The plant is characterized by very short spines. On a cylindrical light green stem, relief ribs are visible in an amount of up to 11 units. Rare areoles consist of 3-8 short silvery needles bent towards the stem. Their length is 1-7 mm. At the top of the stem are large yellow flowers 12 cm in diameter.

Reproduction methods

Reproduction of Echinocereus is possible by sowing seeds and rooting lateral processes. Seed propagation allows you to immediately get a large number of plants, but loss of varietal characteristics is possible. Before planting for a month, the seeds are subjected to cold stratification in a refrigerator at a temperature of +4 ... +5 ° C. They are sown in wet sand and covered with a film. The container is kept in a warm place, regularly ventilated and moistened. Shoots appear within 2-3 weeks. The grown plants dive and are seated in separate small pots or a common wide container with soil for cacti.

In the lower part of the Echinocereus stem, small processes often form. They are carefully separated and dried for 2-3 days. When a whitish film forms on the cut, you can lightly press the cutting into moist sandy soil. Until the roots appear, it is recommended to support the seedling. It is better to water it with a wick method so that water does not accumulate at the base of the stem. Rooting is easy, after 15-20 days the plant will begin to develop more actively.

Growing Rules

Echinocereus care does not involve special measures. Usually pots are placed in bright places: near windows, on balconies or in greenhouses. It is recommended to expose them to fresh air in the summer, protecting them from drafts and rain. Lighting should be bright, it is desirable to ensure that direct sunlight hits the cacti. Instances with rare spines accustom to light gradually.

In summer, Echinocereus easily tolerate even intense heat, but from autumn it is necessary to provide cooler content. The air temperature must not exceed +12 °C. In nature, plants can withstand harsh winters, but indoor flowers should not be tested with frost.

Echinocereus should be watered moderately, allowing the soil to dry well between waterings. Water is used warm, settled. The cactus can survive in dry air, but infrequent spraying will do him good.
In April-August, it is recommended to fertilize monthly. Mineral top dressing for cacti is diluted in water and watered the plant. You should not use non-specialized formulations. It is better to just transplant the flower into fresh soil.

Transplantation is carried out in the spring every 2-4 years. Pots can be chosen not very deep, but wide, capable of accommodating numerous offspring. Sherds, expanded clay or broken bricks must be poured at the bottom. For planting, a neutral and light soil mixture of:

• soddy soil;
• gravel;
• sand;
• charcoal.

The transplanted Echinocereus is not watered for 2-3 days.

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It is believed that these cacti are capricious and poorly flowering plants in our latitudes. However, if you create suitable conditions for them to live, there will be no problems with them.

Bloom

Often, a rather nondescript-looking plant delights with the appearance of huge flowers up to 10-13 cm in diameter, which, moreover, delight with their magnificence for quite a long time (up to two weeks). But even in small-flowering species (1-6 cm in diameter), the shape of the flower and its saturation will not leave you indifferent. The color of the petals is all shades of white, yellow, green, brown, red, purple.

The pistil, mostly emerald green, also distinguishes this genus from thousands of other members of the Cactus family. The ability to bloom comes from different types differently. And if E. pulchellus can bloom at 3-4 years of age, barely reaching the size of a small walnut, then flowering of some forms of E. pectinatus can be expected for more than 10 years.

Watering and planting

The content of Echinocereus must obey certain rules. The main ones are rare watering, preferably with rain or well-settled soft water and a well-permeable earth mixture (up to 30% sand), and so that the water does not leave quickly, add red brick chips with a fraction of 3-5 mm (about 20%) and the same gravel size (up to 20%). As an antiseptic, it is desirable to add crushed hardwood charcoal (about 5%). The remaining components of the mixture can be made up of peat chips (5%) and loamy or soddy soil, preferably from molehills (20%).

Lighting

The thicker your pet's spines, the more sunlight it needs. Only under such conditions will he be able to develop not only the correct shape of the stem, but also get enough nutrients to form buds. Therefore, densely spiky species must be kept on the windows of the south and southeast orientation. For low-thorned and thornless plants, any windows are suitable, except for the northern ones, and on the southern and southeastern ones they will even have to be shaded, especially at noon. I put such plants, as it were, in the shade of larger plants.

Fresh air and food

The next important factor in the successful cultivation of Echinocereus is fresh air. In the height of summer, when kept on the windowsill, they need to be periodically ventilated, avoiding drafts. A very good option is to place the collection outdoors in the summer, under a canopy of film or glass. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers in the first 2-3 years after transplantation, Echinocereus is not needed, since a properly prepared earth mixture contains everything necessary for the life of a cactus. Later, you can occasionally use in a weak dosage (half or less of the recommended rate) fertilizers for indoor flowers with trace elements that contain a minimum amount of nitrogen.

Echinocereus in winter

Wintering of Echinocereus should be absolutely dry and cold, preferably light, so as not to waste precious time at the beginning of the growing season on accustoming the plant to light. Spring sunshine can burn the cactus, so a little shading in the early days from active solar radiation is simply necessary, even with light wintering. Most Echinocereus are hardy, but temperatures of 8-12 ° C will be enough for them to overwinter well and prepare for future flowering.

spring awakening

The appearance of woolly buds is the first sign of the onset of vegetation. During this period, you can start a light foggy spraying, but only after the establishment of sufficiently stable sunny days. In the middle lane, this can be in March-April. However, if the plant is very "shrunk" during the winter, and the weather does not favor, then, without waiting for it to improve, it will be necessary to spray with slightly warm boiled water (without watering). This will prevent the buds from dropping. The procedure can be carried out at an air temperature of at least 10-12 ° C and make sure that drops of moisture do not accumulate on the surface of the stem.

All types of echinocereus and photos

Comb (Pectinatus)

Succulent of the cactus family, reaching a height of 15 cm and a diameter of 6 cm. The stem of the plant is cylindrical with low ribs, covered with small, bright, radial spines, comb-like adjacent to the surface of the stem. Has a rounded top.

For culture, it is necessary to observe full sunlight, only in these conditions will flowering be complete.

Flowering time: April-June. Lilac color flower, funnel-shaped, with a wide-open corolla, 8 cm in diameter. The petals gradually brighten towards the core.

Scarlet (Coccineus)

Numerous and widespread. The size of the plant can be from 8 to 40 cm, the stems are semi-erect, densely covered with spines or almost completely without them, dark green, 5 cm in diameter. The ribs can be from 8 to 11. The spines, 7.5 cm long, do not have a division into central and radial.

Scarlet cactus does not need special conditions for growth and flowering.

In adulthood, the plant forms colonies of 50-100 thick stems. The flowers have petals with rounded tops, 8 cm long and 3 cm wide. Stigma with 7 or 8 lobes. The color of the flower can be lilac-pink, yellow or red-orange.. After flowering, fruits ripen in 2-3 months.

Reichenbach (Reichenbachii)

Latin name: Echinocereus reichenbachii

Cylindrical cactus, can have up to 12 shoots. Covered with comb-like spines pressed against the body. The stem is erect, simple or branching, up to 25 cm high. The ribs of the plant are from 10 to 19, they are pronounced, narrow, straight or slightly wavy and divided into tubercles.

The plant requires more moisture than desert cacti.

We talked about cacti growing in the desert.

Areoles elliptical in shape, elongated upwards, close to each other. Woolly, but as they grow older, the plants become naked. Radial spines from 20 to 36, they are thin, straight and hard, 5-8 mm long. The spines of neighboring areoles tend to intertwine with each other. Flowering period: May-June. Flowers large and numerous, pink or purple(read about cacti with pink flowers).

Three-spined (Triglochidiatus)

This type of cactus has thick, spherical stems, the diameter of which reaches seven centimeters and a length of thirty. Branches profusely at the base. The plant has seven ribs, the spines are few, powerful, ribbed, 2.5 cm in size. There are up to ten yellowish radial needles and about four darker central ones in the bundle. Red colored flowers.

Green-flowered (Viridiflorus)

It belongs to dwarf plants, with stems not exceeding 4 cm in diameter. It forms small groups that are formed due to the growth of lateral shoots.

In preparation for wintering, the stems of cacti plants dry out and, being in this state, easily tolerate low temperatures.

Flowering occurs in the spring, plentiful. Numerous flowers are greenish in color. and subtle lemon flavor.

Barbed (Subinermis)

Native to Central Mexico. This species has a spherical stem and 5-8 large ribs. The spines are very short, yellowish in color, up to 4 mm in size, quickly fall off, and sometimes are completely absent. Flowering falls on summer period. The flowers of the plant are yellow, up to 9 cm in diameter. During the growth period, the plant needs to be protected from direct sunlight and regular watering.

Sheri (Scheeri)

The specific name of the plant was in honor of the flower collector Frederic Scher. The stems are elongated, glabrous, up to 15 cm long and with 8-10 low ribs, form a bush. The spines of the plant are short, up to 3 mm, radial and one central, more powerful, dark, up to 1 cm long. Red colored flowers, open at night, exuding a delicate aroma (more about cacti with red flowers).

Hardest (Rigidissimus)

Near geographical distribution the species is called the Arizona cactus hedgehog. A plant with a cylindrical straight stem, 7-10 cm in diameter. The flowers of the plant are large, up to 10 cm, pink or purple hues. There are 15-23 radial spines and they are located in the areoles in a comb-like manner, that is, they are slightly bent towards the body of the cactus. Central spines are absent. Areoles bristly, golden brown. In this species, the spines are painted in white, pink, brown colors and often form multi-colored zones on the stem, for this feature the plant received the name "rainbow cactus".

Dry wintering is necessary for successful flowering. Outwardly, it has some resemblance to another member of the Cactus family, Echinopsis.

The diversity of Echinocereus is endlessly surprising. They are big and small, prickly and fluffy. They can be in the form of a ball, a bush and a column. A plant that responds gratefully to care will surely reward the grower with its magnificent abundant flowering.

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Echinocereus is a separate genus of the cactus family, which includes about 60 plant species. This cactus is native to South part North America.

flower description

Distinctive features characteristic of all cacti of this genus are the following features:

• Small size (the height of this type of cactus does not exceed 60 cm);
• Strongly branching shoots;
• The presence of a halo with spines on buds and tubes;
• The appearance after flowering of edible fruits covered with a reddish skin, in place of the buds.

Perhaps this is where the similarities end. Otherwise, Echinocereus cacti can vary greatly from species to species. The stem of a flower can be either spherical or cylindrical. The ribs may be spiral or straight, well-defined or ill-defined. The flowers that the plant produces can also vary. The color, shape of the trunk, the number of petals and spines in the aureoles, the size of the flower, the shape of the bud in different species can vary greatly.

The spines of the plant can be stiff, straight and long and short, adjacent to the stem. The needles cover almost the entire surface of the plant, as well as the fruits and stems of flowers.

More than 30 varieties of cacti have been successfully cultivated by gardeners and turned into pets. Read about the most popular of them below.

types of cactus

Echinocereus comb, grown at home, may refer to the following species:

• Echinocereus comb. The cactus of this species is characterized by a cylindrical shape of the stem with a rounded top, the height of which does not exceed 20 cm. There are 20-30 scallops on the surface of the stem. Short spines pressed to the stem. During flowering, voluminous funnel-shaped flowers of soft pink color with a diameter of 6-8 cm appear on the upper part of the trunk.
• Echinocereus Reichenbach. The length of the cactus trunk of this subspecies reaches 25 cm. The stems are painted dark green and, in the process of growth, produce many green shoots. On the surface of the cactus there are 19 spiral-shaped ribs, completely covered with halos with white-yellow long spines and light pubescence. The spines are slightly curved, which makes this type of cactus well recognizable. During the flowering period, Reichenbach has pink or purple flowers, the diameter of open buds of which reaches 10 cm. The species includes several varieties: armatus (covered with red-brown spines), baileyi (covered with rare bunches of spines) and albispinus (needles pressed to the trunk).
• Echinocereus trispinous. The spherical stems of the plant stretch out during growth and turn into cylindrical succulents. The gray-green stems of the plants are covered with 5-12 ribs with short spines. One halo contains several central spines and a bundle of yellow radial spines surrounding them. During flowering, the plant produces small flowers with rounded petals.
• Echinocereus is the hardest. This is very beautiful flower. On the columnar stem of the cactus, there are 15-23 vertically arranged ribs. The dark green skin of the stem is covered with spines of reddish or yellow color adjacent to the stem. white color. Since the needles are slightly curved, an original scalloped coating forms over the stem. During the flowering period, the flower produces large lilac, pinkish or yellow flowers.
• Echinocereus thornless. This type of cactus has spines. But they are so short and pressed against the stem that it seems that the plant does not have them. The surface of the stem is covered with relief ridges in the amount of up to 11 units. During flowering, the cactus produces large yellow flowers with big amount petals with a diameter of 12 cm.

How to grow a cactus

Echinocereus is a plant that does not require the creation of any difficult conditions for full growth and reproduction.
Comprehensive home care involves simple, regular activities, which you can read more about below.

Lighting

Echinocereus, like all other cacti, loves a lot of light, so they place pots with such flowers in well-lit greenhouses, on balconies or on window sills facing south. It is desirable and useful to get direct sunlight on the skin of the stem. Therefore, in summer time it is recommended to expose the pots to fresh air, providing protection from rain and drafts. If you have cacti with rare thorns, they must be accustomed to the sun's rays gradually so that the plant does not get burned.

Temperature

In summer, the comb-shaped plant of the Echinocereus species is comfortable even on very hot days. But in the autumn, the cactus will need to be kept in cool (not to be confused with cold!) Conditions. On cold days, it is desirable to keep the temperature indicator around + 12 ° C. In nature, Echinocereus survives frosty winters well. But houseplants it is not worth experiencing such low temperatures.

Irrigation Features

The flower is watered sparingly. Subsequent watering is carried out only when the soil in the pot dries out. It is recommended to use settled water at room temperature. The cactus grows well and develops at low humidity. However, infrequent spraying with water will still benefit.

Important! Over watering can cause root rot. In such a situation, watering is suspended, the plant is transplanted into fresh soil, and the roots are treated with fungicides.

top dressing

Fertilize the cactus Echinocereus from April to August monthly. For this, special compositions are used, which can be purchased at a specialized store. Chemistry is diluted in water and the flower is watered. The use of non-specialized feed formulations is not recommended. It is better to transplant the plant into fresh soil.

How to transplant a flower

Adults are transplanted 1 time in 2-4 years. It is advisable to choose pots wide, but shallow (such containers can accommodate a large number of shoots). At the bottom of the pot, expanded clay, broken bricks or shards are necessarily poured. For transplanting a plant, a light soil mixture is suitable, which you can buy in a store or cook yourself.

Prepare the soil for planting cacti as follows. Mix 1/2 of leaf and sod land and river sand, and 1/4 of fine peat.

Important! Do not use soil from flower beds, vegetable gardens and front gardens for transplanting plants, since pests may be present in its composition.

The transplanted flower is watered over the next 2-3 days.

The plant has good immunity, thanks to which Echinocereus cacti are almost never exposed to pests and infectious diseases.

Echinocereus (Echinocereus) is a genus of plants of the Cactaceae family, numbering about 60 species growing in North America, in its southern part.

A feature of all cacti of this genus is their short stature, up to 60 cm, strongly branching shoots and, most importantly, the presence of areoles with spines on flower buds and tubes, thanks to which these cacti received the prefix “Echinus” in their generic name, which translates from Greek for "hedgehog".

The flowers of these cacti, like most members of the family, are solitary, tubular, funnel-shaped, multi-petal. After flowering, small juicy fleshy fruits are tied, in many species they are not only edible, but also very tasty.

Otherwise, there are strong differences from species to species. Stems can be either spherical or cylindrical. The ribs are both straight and spiral, both barely noticeable and deep, clearly defined. Flowers are both small and large.

More than half of the species are successfully cultivated and loved by flower growers. And the most common ones are:

Echinocereus Reichenbach(Echinocereus reichenbachii) - a cactus with cylindrical branching shoots, reaching a length of about 25 cm and a width of 9 cm in adulthood. It has 10 - 19 straight or slightly curved ribs dotted with fluffy areoles with light straw spines that stand out in contrast against a dark green surface stem. There are 20 to 36 radial spines. They are slightly bent and pressed against the surface of the cactus, resembling appearance scallops or spiders. The central spines may or may not be pronounced, depending on the variety of the cactus. The flowers are large, up to 10 cm in diameter, bright pink-purple. Petals lanceolate form a 3 - 4-tiered corolla.

Popular subspecies of this plant:

– E. R. armatus(E. r. armatus) has about 20 straight low ribs. Central spines, 2-4 in number, about 3 cm long, straight, light brown at the base, dark brown at the ends.

– E. R. Bayle(E. r. baileyi) is distinguished by longer, up to 3 cm, and rare radial spines. In this variety, they are straight, sticking out in all directions. Central spines are absent. Flowers are about 12 cm in diameter.

– E. R. albispinus(E. r. albispinus) is one of the most attractive and popular variety among cactus growers. Areoles large, with white pubescence, radial spines-"spiders" of white color, no central spines. Pink flowers are relatively small, only 7 cm in diameter. The tips of the petals seem to be torn.

– E. R. Alberti(E. r. albertii) is one of the smallest varieties, only 5 to 15 cm tall. There are practically no central spines, or they are barely noticeable, no more than 3 mm long. Areoles are located almost close to each other. Radial spines are also small, only 3 - 6 mm long, like in the main species, they look like comb-shaped spiders. The flowers are purple, about 7 cm in diameter.

Echinocereus three-spined(Echinocereus triglochidiatus) at a young age has spherical stems, which later elongate and become cylindrical. There are relatively few ribs, 5 - 12. Like the previous species, it has many varieties that differ greatly from each other in the number and length of spines. But common to all plants of the species is a long flowering, the flowers last 2 - 3 days.

Popular subspecies of this plant.

– E t. mojave(E. t. mojavensis) has many flat, curved spikes up to 5 cm long, which is commensurate with the size of the cactus itself. Due to this, the stem of an adult plant is practically not visible through the "thickets" of thorns. The central spine is one. And it does not differ in length from the radial ones. The flowers are red-orange, about 8 cm in diameter. A feature of this variety is "family" - over time, the cactus grows and forms rather large clusters, uniting up to 100 specimens.

– E. t. mojave inermis(E. t. mojavensis inermis) - unlike the previous variety, this cactus has no spines at all or there are few of them and they are very short, up to 5 mm long. Flowers do not appear like all cacti, from the areola, but a little higher, which is why after flowering and falling of peduncles, clearly visible scars remain on the skin.

Echinocereus hardest(Echinocereus rigidissimus) has a straight cylindrical stem up to 30 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. Radial spines are located in the areoles of 15-23 pieces. and form rather large "combs" (or "spiders"), bending towards the body of the cactus. In shading, they are yellow-white, and in bright enough light, they become pink in color, due to which the whole cactus becomes multi-colored. There are no central spines. The flowers are bright pink, with a white core, about 10 cm in diameter. The petals are elongated-oval, form 2 - 3 tiers.

Variety ‘ rubrispinus’ the spines are almost completely red.

Echinocereus spiny(Echinocereus subinermis) has a short cylindrical stem up to 20 cm long. At a young age it is light green, in mature plants it acquires a purple hue. A feature of the species are strongly pronounced deeply cut ribs, of which there are from 5 to 11 pieces. Areoles rather small, bearing 3-8 short, grayish radial spines. Their length varies from 1 to 7 mm. The flowers are large, up to 12 cm in diameter, yellow. Petals lanceolate or oval, with a pointed tip, shape. They stay on the plant for almost a week.

Echinocereus care at home

The popularity of Echinocereus among flower growers is caused not least by their unpretentiousness. Even among other cacti, they are distinguished by undemanding content.

Lighting. Echinocereus all year round needs bright lighting, direct sunlight is desirable. That's why best place for its placement there will be windows facing south. In summer, the cactus feels good outdoors, on a balcony or in a garden.

Temperature. The optimal summer temperature range is 25 - 30 °C. In winter, these cacti should be provided with a dormant period by placing them in a cool room where the air temperature does not exceed 12 ° C.

It should be borne in mind that many types of Echinocereus are frost-resistant plants. So, for example, Echinocereus scarlet and Echinocereus triglochidiatus withstand frosts down to minus 20 - 25 ° C, while completely freezing and becoming transparent. But with the advent of heat, they thaw and come to life again. Therefore, some flower growers keep their Echinocereus on glazed balconies and loggias both in winter and in summer.

But not all species are capable of this. So, Echinocereus thornless dies when the temperature drops to minus 1 - 2 ° C.

Watering. In the spring and summer, watering should be moderate. Plants are watered only after a thorough drying of the earthen comm. The bay is not allowed. If the soil does not dry out for a long time, the roots may rot.

When watering, use soft, well-settled water at room temperature. You can further filter it.

In winter, watering is completely stopped and the cacti are kept completely dry. This requirement especially applies to those plants that are taken out to cold rooms, and, moreover, to frost.

Humidity. Echinocereus do not need spraying. In addition, they are very susceptible to root and stem rot, and prolonged stagnation of water on the surface of the stems can severely damage the plants.

The soil. These cacti need loose mineral soil. At home, ready-made and succulents are quite suitable for them as a substrate, to which a fourth of coarse-grained river sand and the same amount of fine gravel should be added.

fertilizers. Echinocereus rarely feed, for this they use specialized fertilizers for cacti and succulents or orchids. During the growing season, it is enough to fertilize once a month. From autumn to spring, plants do not need to be fed.

Transfer. Young plants are transplanted annually, old ones - as needed, when they become cramped in a pot. Usually such a transplant is carried out every 3 to 4 years, in the spring.

breeds cactus is quite easy both by seeds and baby cuttings.

Diseases and pests. Echinocereus are resistant to both pests and diseases. Almost their only enemy is various rots that develop with high humidity or waterlogging of the soil.