Cactus Alworthia Black Gem

I’m talking to you today about one of the greediest hybrids in the world of cacti and succulent. This is Alworthia “black gem”. It originates from the natural crossroads of Aloe speciosa and Haworthia cymbiformis and both species are quite rare, making this succulent one of the rarest and most sought-after species at present.

It is highly prized by collectors for the characteristics it brings together: the beauty of its leaves, the ability to change in pitch with great ease depending on the light intensity they receive, the ease of cultivation and the ease of multiplication. We can recognize her for the way she’s shape. It is characterized by forming a very compact rosette, with elongated, erect and conical leaves. They do not exceed fifteen centimeters high. Although we can’t see it with the naked eye, it has a short stem that is from where the little plants come from, that we can either let them grow up with the mother or we can remove them to reproduce the species and create new plants. This stem can be seen if we remove some of the large leaves.

Unfortunately, this alworthia and all hybrids that are considered strange make no flowers or other reproductive structure. This has been genetically modified because if it were to be the case that one of these specimens went into nature, it would not be able to reproduce and thus prevent new specimens from emerging, and for this reason only the human hand can get new plants for sale.

Likes intense illumination, can hold the direct sun, but is not advisable because very prolonged exposure to the sun could affect the leaves. It grows very well in places where temperatures are around twenty or thirty degrees and tolerates temperatures below ten degrees and close to forty degrees. One of the points to avoid if you do not want to lose this succulent is to avoid temperatures below zero degrees, as a frost could rot and kill the plant. When irrigating, it must also be taken into account that it wants water without there being a staggering, because if a lot of water accumulates, the roots rot and it is another way of bringing succulent to death. In the summer, therefore, it suits water once every fifteen days, waiting for the substrate to be completely dry and withdrawing the water when the minimum temperatures fall from the ten positive degrees.