Cactus Parodia Ottonis Subesp. Horstti

Parodia Ottonis Subesp. Horstti is a cactus who is almost always alone, but over time can make small groups, as if they were small colonies. It comes from Brazil, more specifically Rio grande from Brazil and the scientific synonym known to most people is Notocactus Horstii.

When small, it is almost a perfect sphere, but over time, as it grows, it becomes cylindrical. It does not grow very much, reaching thirty centimeters high by fifteen in diameter. The body is light green, and curiously we can see a whitish and apparently woolly crown, which are the areoles with their respective spines, which the number always varies.

In terms of flowering, it begins in early spring and offers us flowers between three and four centimeters in diameter, with colors that can vary from yellowish orange, pink or purple violet. In order for the flowers to come out, we must respect temperatures, which should not exceed three positive degrees during the cold season. We must also remember that the genre of Parodia generally does not like direct sunlight, so we will try to put our specimen in a place where it is very bright but not direct.

The irrigation must be moderated from spring to autumn, it must also be said, that with this variety we must not stop irrigating completely when winter comes, because this may become a problem. Knowing this, we will water every fortnight in the spring, weekly in the summer and the rest of the year (autum and winter) irrigate monthly. One important thing is that if you live in an area where minimum temperatures drop from zero degrees for many days in a row, don’t water it, wait for the most intense cold to happen. If you have no water for a month, nothing will happen to you.

Finally, we must be careful with the waterlogging that may occur when we water, and above all also with the excess moisture as ambient as that which may have the same roots.