Echinocereus PENTALOPHUS

Echinocereus PENTALOPHUS - Ladyfinger cactus, Five-winged hedgehog cactus, Echinocereus pentalophus.

Echinocereus is a genus of cacti in the cactus family (Cactaceae), numbering about a hundred species. All of them grow in the arid regions of North America, from the southern United States to central Mexico, on rocky slopes, in deserts and semi-deserts.

The plants vary from globose to elongate-cylindrical, solitary or clustering. Ribs are clearly pronounced, and areoles are large. Spines can be long and rigid, slender and soft, or pectinate along the ribs.

Flowers are large, bright, often fragrant, blooming at the apex or along the sides of the shoot and breaking out right through the skin of the stem. Fruits are fleshy, edible in a number of species. Seeds are rounded, small, and dark.

Five-winged hedgehog cactus is a species from southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Stems are slender, narrow, green, about 2.5 cm (1.0 in) across, decumbent and spreading into loose clusters. Ribs are usually five, rarely four, - hence the specific name.

Areoles are evenly spaced, each with 4-7 short white or yellowish spines. Flowers are strikingly large for such a slender stem: broadly funnelform, 8-10 cm (3.1-3.9 in) long and 10-15 cm (3.9-5.9 in) across, bright pink to purple-crimson, occasionally white, with a white or yellow throat. For its slender stems, the species earned the English common name ladyfinger cactus.

Echinocereus seeds are small, rounded, dark, ripening in fleshy fruits. Soaking such small seeds is impractical, so the substrate itself is sanitized: before sowing, it is drenched with a weak potassium permanganate solution and dried. Scarification and stratification are not required.

Sowing is carried out across the surface of a moistened mineral substrate with acidity pH 6.0-6.5, without burying. Sowing is moistened from a spray bottle with a growth stimulant solution: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon, covered with a lid or glass or placed in a greenhouse propagator, and germinated at a temperature of 24-28 °C (75-82 °F) with regular ventilation.

Under favorable conditions, the first sprouts appear in as little as 7 days, main germination is completed within 7-15 days, and individual seeds may delay for a very long time - from 4 to 12 weeks, and sometimes for several months. For cacti this is normal, and sowings should not be discarded prematurely. Pricking out is carried out after the appearance of the first spines: young plants tolerate it well.

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The plant is placed on a south- or southwest-facing window with bright sunlight. Direct rays are acceptable most of the year. Good ventilation and low air humidity are required.

In summer, the temperature is maintained at 22-30 °C (72-86 °F), and in winter around 8-12 °C (46-54 °F). Cool, dry overwintering is mandatory: without it, the plant will not set flower buds.

Watering is carried out only after the substrate has dried out completely. In winter, watering ceases entirely to ensure a dormant period.

A mineral substrate is used, with the addition of coarse sand, perlite, and gravel. The pot must have drainage holes, and drainage is placed at the bottom.

Fertilizer is applied once every 4 weeks from spring to autumn, using a cactus fertilizer low in nitrogen. During the winter period, feeding is not needed.

Repotting is carried out in spring, once every 2-3 years. Shaping is not required. Offsets form rarely in echinocereus, so the primary method of propagation is from seed.