Thelocactus bicolor, Turbinicarpus viereckii

[estación seca]

Thelocactus bicolor is a beautiful Chihuauan Desert species, known in the US as Glory of Texas. This is the earliest one of my Thelocactus has flowered. The flower is almost 4" / 10cm across. There is a lot of variability in flower color (light to dark, throat rings) and petal tip shape between individuals.

The glazed ceramic container has a diameter of 18" / 46cm. About 10 years ago, I transplanted six individuals into this container. They were small blooming size, about 2" / 5cm diameter each. They set seed prodigiously, and sprout and grow readily. There are many hundreds, perhaps over a thousand plants in this container. At least a hundred are blooming size.

At our cactus club sales, I recommend this cactus to all beginners. It is very easy to grow. It tolerates blazing sun and incredible heat all day long, and overnight frosts into the low teens F / -12C.

It blooms every few weeks all summer. This container last had blooms in late November 2015, so it has been just two months out of flower. Later in the season multiple plants will bloom together, and it will be hard to see the plants for the flowers.

It does not mind overwatering. In fact, I try never to let this container dry completely during warm weather. I used local granitic soil. I fertilize as often as I can with ammonium sulfate, 1 tablespoon / 30ml powder per gallon / 3.78 liters of water. This works out to about once a month. More fertilizer means more cactus flowers.

The next plant has previously been called Gymnocactus. You may be surprised to find out cactus names have been changing too, and cactus hobbyists are not too happy about it. The core Turbinicarpus species look nothing like this plant.

It is easy for me to grow, but not so easy in more humid climates. It also tolerates our freezing and heat, but needs half shade in the summer. The flower is about a half inch / 1.25cm in diameter. The genus shares an interesting feature with a lot of prickly pears and chollas (genus Opuntia.) The stamens are thigmatotropic. This means they curl over rapidly and visibly when touched, the better to deposit pollen on a bee's back.

[WhiteRabbit]

Nice!

[Helene]

Ah, cool😎
This forum makes me wanna:
1. Get more orchids
2. Move to a warmer country
😜😂

[isurus79]

Beautiful! I've slowly been collecting more cacti over the years and it seems like a lot of other orchid growers have been doing the same. Thanks for posting this! I'll have to see if I can find some of these locally.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Very pretty.

[Tindomul]

Wow nice bloom.