Cactus e Dintorni

Habitat: West Indies, Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Mexico. In their native countries they can be also found growing on the seashore.
Description: globular cacti with straight ribs and very variable in spination. Small flowers are produced profusely during the summer followed by mostly red fruits. The development of the cephalium on adult plants enables them to flower but precludes further growing of the stem. Some species like matanzanus and violaceus produce a cephalium only four years after sowing while it may take from seven to ten years for others to do the same.
Soil: fertile mix (with low-acidity peat, pH of 6); surround the root with perlite.
Location: full sun in the winter, filtered during the hot months.
Temperature: keep the a minimum temperature around 14°C (57°F). They are best overwintered indoors, so that they keep growing all year round. Young plants can withstand low temperatures better than mature specimens, especially if the latter have already developed the cephalium.
Water: average but controlled; excess water may cause the plant cephalium to divide into two (dichotomy).
Cultivation tips: they’re not so easy; young plants should be feed with fertilizer only once in spring, adult specimens once every two months. They’re slow growing, susceptible to high atmospheric humidity and prone to rotting, so they’re best grown indoors in the winter when they should be watered once every three weeks. Due to their long, fibrous roots it’s preferable to grow them in bowl-like pots. The Caribbean species are the most delicate with the one exception of M. matanzanus. They’re easily raised from seed.
Main species of Melocactus: Melocactus azureus; Melocactus  amoenus; Melocactus  conoideus;
Melocactus  caesius; Melocactus  bahiensis; M. curvispinus; Melocactus  concinnus; M. erythracanthus; Melocactus  disciformis; Melocactus  ernestii; Melocactus  salvadorensis; Melocactus  matanzanus Cuba; M. longispinus; Melocactus  neryi; Melocactus  melocactoides; Melocactus  glaucescens; M. levitestatus (rubrispinus); Melocactus  peruvianus; Melocactus  intortus.