This is one of the last cacti that was still in a clay pot this year. I have 3 or 4 left that will report later on (more spines in the skin.. yay!). Few years ago when I got lots of little cuttings I bough tons of small clay pots as I thought they will be ideal for cacti in my climate. And also because I really like the look of clay. Unfortunately the small ones are no good at all. They dry out way too fast, even for cacti. So slowly I was moving them to plastic ones. This one got a new pot after it was done blooming, so the photos are still with the clay.
Lobivia Wrightiana
The plant has a big tap root so planting it in a bit bigger clay made sense to me at the time. Most of all I am worried about root rot and those with tap root are more sensitive to soil staying most too long.
But for the 3 years it didn't grow very much. It was also shrinking a lot during the winter.
Last year it started tog grow a flower bud, but it blasted. And of course you can see the ugly marks, which are probably after spider mites. The growth was very slow and miserable.
Now that it has been in a new pot for a few weeks it looks like it got a new life and I already see a significant new growth. I am really hoping to see more flowers next year and maybe some offshoots too. Fingers crossed.
This cactus can be also found under Echinopsis backebergii name or Echinopsis winteriana. I am gonna keep it in Lobivia category though as this is how I received it.
It is rather small cactus native to Bolivia. It is meant to be easy to grow but as I mentioned it can be easy to rot due to the fatty root that stores water and nutrients.
To bloom it needs dry and cold winter, even close to 0 (zero) degrees C. It can withstand frosty nights if kept completely dry.
 |  |
I wish I had another Lobivia blooming in the same time - I could try to cross-pollitnate them. This one bloomed for me twice and it never had any fruits after.
My other blooming cacti:
 Chamaecereus hybrid |  Sulcorebutia Canigueralii |  Mammillaria camptotricha |  Mammillaria Glassii |
 Gymnocalycium baldianum |  Mediolobivia mudanensis |  Lobivia Arachnacantha |  Rebutia hybrid |
 Mammillaria Bombycina |  Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap |  Mammillaria haageana |  Mammillaria backebergiana |
 Chamaecereus silvestrii |  Mammillaria prolifera |  Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora |  Lobivia Wrightiana |
 Aylostera Flavistyla FR756 |  Parodia concinna |  Mammillaria Copper King |  Gymnocalycium Bruchii |
 Mammillaria backebergiana |  Gymnocalycium damsii |  Echinopsis subdenudata |  Rhipsalis pilocarpa |
 Mammillaria Prolifera |  Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis |  Mediolobivia atrovirens |  Mammillaria magnimamma |
 Sulcorebutia langerii |  Sulcorebutia frankiana |  Chamaelobivia no ID |  Rebutia Albiflora |
 Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri |  Gymnocalycium damsii var. tucavocense |  Notocactus Ottonis |  Gymnocalycium Friedrichii |
 Turbinicarpus Viereckii |  Rebutia neocumingii |  Notocactus Rubrigemmatus |  Lobivia no ID |
 Sulcorebutia albissima |  Lobivia arachnacantha II |  Notocactus mueller-melchersii |  Mammillaria Prolifera |
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
Wow, Ewa! @ewkaw Are those all at your house and balcony? That has got to be one huge balcony!
I have a love/hate relationship with cactus. I have gotten bitten by them, had one die on me, one I gave to someone and they gave it back 6 months later with root rot. I lived in the Southwest and there were cactus all over, in landscapes and especially growing wild. It was pretty amazing.
There are so many that I like, especially the prickly pear. I had a lot of them and we ate the fruit and made jam.
Which one is your favorite?
Yea, they are all mine :D But they are really small and don't take much space.
I keep getting bitten and kill them :) Can't avoid that. But they handle the weather here and are easy to care for. Plus the flowers are really adorable.
I tried to grow annual flowers in pots, herbs, shrubs... everything eventually died. So I still with cacti, succulents and some random plants that manage to survive with me :)
We have those prickly pears around too. They grow huge and have the fruits too.
They are all my favourite :D
Or rather... every time a new one blooms for the first time becomes my favourite... for a while :p
Haha!!! I can totally relate to that!❤️
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Thank you!
Beautiful color!
Do you add charcoal or activated carbon to the soil?
I add it helps with root rot.
No, I never did.
Thanks! I will read a bout it :)
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
The move to plastic should help get rid of the spiders. Clay is only ok if they stand outside in summer rain, like mine do
Yeaaa I learned it the hard way. There is hardly any rain here in the summer and winter is cold and wet.
The large clay pots seem to do well for succulents though. They don't dry out as fast, but still fast enough not to rot the plant.
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Hi ewkaw,
Visit curiehive.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @ewkaw, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @pixresteemer for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Congratulations @ewkaw! You received a personal badge!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Beautifool cactus ;))
Thanks :)
Exquisite purple flower! Very dainty too.
Thank you :)
And should there still be fruits after flowering? I never would have thought.
If the flower got pollinated, then yes :)
They produce tiny fruits/berries with seeds inside.
Hi, how long does it take to bear flowers like that?
It depends on a cactus. Some will bloom in their second year, some need 70 years to bloom :)
This one is about 5 years old now. Most small cacti will bloom within few years.
Ouch! 70 years is too long. I will try to plant next month.
Please show when you do it :)
I will, thanks.