Image - Wikimedia / GFDL
El Echinocactus platyacanthus, known as bisnaga, it is a globular cactus that reaches a good size; in fact, it is one of those plants that is better to have in the ground since in a pot it does not develop very well.
Despite everything, it has a high ornamental value, so at Ciber Cactus we want to introduce you to what it is, without any doubt, a very interesting species.
How is it?
Image from Wikimedia / berichard
Echinocactus platyacanthus is the scientific name of a cactus native to Mexico (San Luis PotosÃ, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro and Tierra Blanca) which was described by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link and Christoph Friedrich Otto and published in Verhandlungen des Vereins zur Beförderung des Gartenbaues in den Königlich Preussischen Staaten 1827 the year.
It is characterized by developing a stem that is globose at the beginning and that over the years becomes columnar that reaches up to 3 meters in height and from 4 to 8dm in diameter. It has 5 to 60 vertical ribs, in which are the areolas. From these sprout 4 central spines 5 to 12cm long, and 7 to 11 radial spines 3 to 5cm long.
The flowers appear only in specimens of a certain size (about 40-50cm tall), and they are yellow, numerous, and with a diameter of 4 to 7cm. The fruit when ripe is dry, oblong, yellowish, and measures 5 to 7 cm long.
How do you take care of yourself?
Image from Cactus-art.biz
Would you like to have a copy? If so, you should keep two things in mind: it has to be in a sunny exposure and receive little water. Of course, if they had it in a greenhouse or in an area protected from direct sun, you have to expose it little by little and gradually to the star king to prevent it from burning.
Give it 2 weekly irrigations in summer and one every 15-20 days the rest of the year, and pay it with specific fertilizers for cacti (you can buy it here) following the instructions specified on the product packaging. Do not forget to transplant it every 2 springs, using a substrate that has good drainage such as the cheekbone (for sale here) and pass it to the garden when you see that the change of flowerpot begins to be a dangerous task.
From experience, I can tell you that resists cold and weak frosts down to -2ºC as long as they are punctual and of short duration.