Monday, June 23, 2014

More Bloomin' Cactus: Parodia Uebelmanniana

Here's a lovely cactus with origins in the uplands of Argentina. I don't see this one for sale often here, and I've grown this one outdoors for several years now. First, the buds....
And then, the bloom!
For me, growing Parodia indoors or outdoors has been a real dilemma. Indoors, their water intake is carefully controlled, so they stay nice and dry most of the time. But they really need outdoor sunshine. They never bloomed indoors. Outdoors, I worry that they are going to rot with the summer rains, but so far, it's a better environment for them. I made sure the soil in their patch was augmented with lots of perlite, so any monsoon-type rains would drain away from the roots quickly and  prevent rot. I don't fertlize them often at all, maybe just twice a year. So far, so good....


4 comments:

  1. Nice one - lovely color

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  2. Those flowers are gorgeous!

    I'm rediscovering my childhood love of cacti (and other succulents). My first batch of cactus seedlings are in their second year now, and mostly doing great. I think you said that you'd been growing cacti from seed too, didn't you? How are yours doing?

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  3. Hi, Ellen!
    A fair number did well, and several are in my indoor collection, and several outdoors. The columnar varieties did the best overall, no idea why. I have some Astrophytum seeds I'm planning on sowing next.

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