Chamaecereus sylvestrii
The peanut cactus, Chamaecereus sylvestrii (syn. Echinopsis chamaecereus and Lobivia sylvestrii), is a low-profile, mat-forming South American cactus with lily-like, aromatic, red-hued blossoms.
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It’s appropriate for out of doors cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11 and makes a horny, easy-care houseplant.
C. sylvestrii has fleshy, finger-like stems coated in vertical columns of brief spines.
They’re small and peanut-like when immature however develop longer, sprawling and winding as they age. Mature heights are three to 4 inches with an expansion of 12 to 24 inches.
Peanut cactus is native to mountainous Argentinian areas.
Fast Look
Frequent title(s): Peanut cactus
Plant sort: Cactus
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 10-11 (outside)
Native to: South America
Bloom time / season: Spring, summer time
Publicity: Full solar, shiny oblique mild
Soil sort: Sandy loam, succulent potting soil
Soil pH: 6.0-7.0, barely acidic to impartial
Soil Drainage: Effectively-draining
Mature measurement: 12-24 inches extensive x 3-4 inches tall
Greatest makes use of: Beds, containers, floor cowl, houseplant, window field, xeriscape
Taxonomy
Order: Caryophyllales
Household: Cactaceae
Genus: Chamaecereus
Species: Sylvestrii
It has undergone a number of reclassifications since Italian-Argentinian botanist Carlo Luigi Spegazzini first recognized it as Cereus silvestrii at first of the twentieth century.
Along with the principle species, there are two naturally occurring variations, C. sylvestrii f. cristata and C. sylvestrii var. giganteus, the latter with crested stems resembling wavy, flattened cockscomb flowers (Celosia spp.).
Learn on to discover ways to develop peanut cactus outside and indoors.
Easy methods to Develop Peanut Cactus
By cactus requirements, C. sylvestrii is among the quicker growers, including a couple of inches a 12 months.
It’s helpful to transplant seedlings, divisions, or nursery inventory in early spring when progress is lively, relatively than throughout dormancy.
Mild
Full solar is greatest for blooming, however crops additionally tolerate half shade, particularly in scorching climates.
Houseplants thrive in shiny, oblique daylight, about three ft from a south- or east-facing window.
Temperature
The perfect temperature vary for rising peanut cactus is 50 to 80°F with low humidity.
Cool temperatures throughout dormancy and funky nights at first of the rising season set off late spring to early summer time blooming.
Soil
If rising within the backyard, free, sandy loam with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0 is good.
Such non-compacting soil permits for wholesome root improvement, and sharp drainage inhibits rotting.
Indoor gardeners ought to select a substrate that accommodates about 50 p.c natural matter and 50 p.c gritty inorganic matter.
You possibly can make your personal succulent and cactus soil or purchase a industrial product like Hoffman Natural Cactus and Succulent Soil Combine.
Hoffman Natural Soil Combine
This potting combine accommodates compost, limestone to manage pH, peat moss, and sand for a free, gritty, well-draining combine, perfect for cacti and succulents.
Hoffman Natural Cactus and Succulent Soil Combine is out there from Hoffman through Amazon.
Watering
Cacti have shallow roots, so present water when the highest few inches of soil are dry.
In-ground cacti might have supplemental water as soon as a month, relying upon rainfall and temperature.
If the highest two to a few inches of soil are dusty and the temperature soars, soak the bottom across the crops, aiming the hose on the soil and never the stems.
For potted specimens, use the “soak and dry” methodology, letting a container dry utterly earlier than drenching the soil. Use a moisture meter to information you.
As soon as established, C. sylvestrii are drought-tolerant.
Cut back watering within the fall and winter, evenly moistening the soil each month. In early spring, resume the dry and soak methodology.
Fertilizing
Peanut cacti don’t want fertilizer to outlive, however many growers apply it a couple of times in the course of the rising season to encourage blooming.
Keep away from overfertilizing, as it could burn tender roots.
For in-ground specimens, fertilize within the spring when the primary new progress seems and once more about eight weeks later.
Use a balanced granular, water-soluble product and water instantly after utility. A product with a nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (Okay) ratio of 4-10-10 is adequate.
Lilly Miller Bulb and Bloom Meals is a slow-release product that accommodates bone meal for sturdy roots and has an NPK ratio of 4-10-10.
Lilly Miller Bulb and Bloom Meals
The low nitrogen and better phosphorus and potassium promote flowering.
Lilly Miller Bulb and Bloom Meals is out there through Amazon.
For potted specimens indoors and out, use liquid houseplant meals diluted to half-strength in early spring and apply once more eight weeks later.
Schultz Cactus Plus provides important vitamins to succulent species. It has an NPK ratio of 2-7-7.
Schultz Liquid Plant Meals
This product is out there through Amazon.
Repotting
Repot container-grown crops each two to a few years to replenish the rising media.
Go up a pot measurement if the roots begin to protrude by way of the drainage gap.
The place to Purchase
You usually tend to discover peanut cactus seeds in a combination than packaged individually.
Gardeners in Zones 10 and 11 could discover crops in inventory at native nurseries, and growers exterior this area can supply naked roots on-line.
Observe that they’re usually offered underneath the earlier botanical title, Echinopsis chamaecereus.
Peanut Cactus
Three- to five-inch naked root starter crops are out there from Loopy H Cactus through Amazon.
Upon receipt, place starter crops in particular person three-inch pots stuffed with well-draining potting combine. Water till it drips from the drainage holes. Don’t water once more till the pots dry out.
New progress signifies the specimen is able to transplant to terra cotta pots or the backyard as mentioned within the propagation and rising sections above.
Peanut Cactus Propagation
You can begin your personal peanut cactus from seed, offsets, or buy a potted plant from the nursery.
Let’s speak about every.
From Seed
Cacti began from seed are the slowest to mature. Some take greater than a 12 months to show recognizable species traits.
As a result of potted crops are available and it’s simple to divide offset pups, ranging from seed is the least fascinating propagation methodology.
Nonetheless, it may be fascinating to match propagation strategies and domesticate persistence within the course of if you’re gardening with kids.
- To develop a peanut cactus from seed, you’ll must supply seeds from a good purveyor.
- Buy or make your personal potting combine.
- Fill a three-inch diameter plastic pot three-quarters filled with media. Don’t use the biodegradable pots, as your seedlings will spend many months in these starter pots they usually could start to interrupt down.
- Moisten the soil.
- Floor sow three seeds an inch aside in every starter pot.
- Place a warmth mat underneath the pots and set it between 70 and 80°F.
- Put the mat and containers in shiny, oblique daylight.
- Maintain the soil moist, however don’t oversaturate it.
- When seedlings emerge, choose essentially the most strong and skinny them to at least one per pot.
When the finger-like stems fill the soil floor space and/or roots protrude from the underside of the container, transplant them to particular person four- to six-inch vessels or backyard soil, as mentioned under within the transplanting part.
Dividing Offsets
Dividing peanut cactus is simple. If in case you have a plant with a number of stems, you’ll be able to separate a number of of those to create new specimens.
- Grasp a younger peanut-like offset that has grown up beside a trailing mother or father stem.
- Twist it barely to disconnect it from the principle plant.
- Set the offset on a paper towel out of direct daylight for about three days to kind a skinny callus over the “wound.”
- Fill a three-inch plastic pot three-quarters filled with applicable potting combine.
- Bury the stem barely in soil as much as the second set of spines – simply sufficient to help it so it doesn’t flop over. Roots can develop from the callused base and the areoles.
- Evenly moisten the floor of the media and keep even moisture as roots kind. Don’t let the potting medium change into waterlogged as this could trigger rotting.
Indicators of recent stem progress signify a profitable division transplant.
Transplanting
Whether or not you go to a backyard middle and buy a potted plant or obtain a bare-root specimen by mail, you’ll need to transplant it to the backyard or a everlasting container as quickly as doable.
The identical directions apply to seedlings that outgrow their starter pots and offsets which have rooted.
- Water the plant the day earlier than transplanting except the soil is already moist.
- Put together the backyard soil to a depth of about 4 inches till it’s crumbly and freed from particles reminiscent of rocks.
- Set the contents of the nursery pot within the floor so the plant sits on the similar depth because it was in its authentic container. Set naked rootstock deep sufficient to bury the roots and maintain the plant upright.
To transplant right into a container, choose one constructed from porous ceramic, like terra cotta, for optimum airflow and to permit for extra moisture evaporation.
The scale must be about two inches wider than the plant and two inches deeper than the roots. Keep away from utilizing a big container which will trigger the surplus soil to remain moist too lengthy and promote rotting.
Ensure that the container has satisfactory drainage holes.
Take away the peanut cactus from its nursery pot and set it into the brand new container on the similar depth because it was beforehand. Backfill with potting combine.
Tamp the soil and don’t water or fertilize presently.
House crops 12 to 24 inches aside to accommodate mature dimensions with out overcrowding. Ample airflow aids in inhibiting pests and pathogens.
Now, let’s contemplate the cultural necessities for in-ground and potted specimens.
Managing Pests and Illness
Whereas this species is just not significantly vulnerable to issues with pests or illness, there are some to be aware of.
Houseplants are extra weak to infestation than out of doors specimens as a result of there aren’t any pure predators indoors and pots usually tend to change into oversaturated than floor soil.
Wholesome crops are least weak to pests and illness. Present satisfactory daylight and keep away from moisture stress from over- or underwatering.
Bugs
Pests which will feed on these crops embody:
These sapsuckers extract juices, leaving flora desiccated and disfigured.
See our information to controlling 11 cactus pests for administration particulars.
Illness
The almost certainly illness to afflict your peanut cactus is rotting from Fusarium and/or Neocosmospora pathogens that proliferate in oversaturated situations.
Telltale indicators are mushy stems and collapsed, malodorous, slimy roots.
Maintain natural fungicidal, insecticidal, and miticidal neem oil readily available to deal with sapsucking pests and fungal pathogens.
Neem oil is derived from the fruit of the neem tree. Use it as a preventative measure or remedy utility for a number of pests and ailments. Observe that it has a powerful garlic-like odor.
Bonide Neem Oil
Bonide® Neem Oil is out there from Arbico Organics. Select a ready-to-spray quart, ready-to-spray gallon, or pint focus.
With pests and illness addressed, let’s talk about the perfect placements for this low-profile, sprawling species.
Greatest Makes use of for Peanut Cactus
In-ground out of doors peanut cacti are well-suited to low-water xeriscape beds and borders the place they supply a nectar supply for bees and different helpful pollinators in a water-wise surroundings.
Allow them to sprawl as a floor cowl or insert them between the stones of a rockery.
You possibly can show in out of doors containers, in window packing containers, or hanging planters with the stems creeping downward for vertical curiosity.
Indoors, take pleasure in potted specimens in areas about three ft from south- or east-facing home windows the place they’ll indulge in shiny, oblique daylight.
A Cactus with Character
With its meandering stems and daring crimson flowers, peanut cactus will certainly be observed in spring-to-summer landscapes or residence decor.
Present full solar or shiny oblique daylight and fertilize twice in the course of the rising season to get essentially the most out of this easy-care, water-wise succulent species.
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