Cactus Gymnocalycium Baldianum

Here is Gymnocalycium Baldianum from South America, known by the scientific synonym Echinocactus sanguiniflorus. Little is known about this variety. They are small, globular, flattened cactus at the top, which will not be more than fifteen centimeters high. It has between nine and eleven ribs with very prominent tubercles.

It has no central spines, only five to seven radial and is small, white or grey and attached to the cactus surface. The flowers may be purple, red or pink and surprisingly, they appear in relatively young specimens. They bloom in the early summer, and when they have been tainted, they leave their way to green fruits from which the seeds can be extracted to reproduce new specimens.

This Gymnocalycium prefers to be in semi-shadow (if outside) or in a very well-lit room, but above all not to touch the direct sun. It is also important that in winter the minimum temperature does not fall from five positive degrees. A punctual frost, it won’t hurt our plant. The irrigation will be moderate in the heat and scarce or null times of cold. In view of this, I recommend that you follow this order: once every fortnight in the spring, once a week in the summer and in the autumn, irrigate only once and cancel the irrigation until the following spring when the cold comes. Every time you water, you have to make sure that the substrate is completely dry.

Cacti that are young may be attacked by the cottony mealybug, but apart from that, in adults and also young ones, they usually do not present problems of pests and disease.