The “Golden Barrel Cactus” (Echinocactus grusonii ) or hedgehog cactus is so-called because if you squint at it and hold your mouth just right you can imagine that it looks like a hedgehog. It also goes by a few other common names, including:
The popular Golden Barrel cactus has an appealing, round shape and is covered with golden spines and a few longer golden hairs at the top, which eventually develop into flowers.
Growing Conditions
Light: Plenty of sunshine will keep this cacti more than happy. In a glass room you may have to provide some shade during a hot summers day to prevent sunburn.
Water: From spring until fall water similar to many other house plants by watering when the soil begins drying. Before and during winter barely water the plant. Overwatering, especially when the temperature becomes cold can rot this species.
Temperature: Temperatures averaging 50°F (10°C) to 75°F (24°C) are ideal but not below 40°F (5°C) and avoid frost.
Soil: A pot mixture used for cactus plants that drains well will suffice. Adding gravel or small pebbles at the bottom first few inches of the pot will encourage drainage.
Fertilizer: Feed every 4 weeks with a high potassium fertilizer during summer.
Humidity: Humidity does not seem to be a major concern for the Golden Barrel Cactus, which makes the average indoor environment fine, as it is. Provide as much fresh air as you can, but not cold drafts.
5 Tips For Success Planting Small Barrel Cactus Outdoors
Flowering: The golden barrel cacti will produce yellow flowers during mid-summer, although these are unlikely to appear indoors. These are grown mainly for the foliage rather than flowers; for the desert look that's appealing to cactus growers and collectors.
Growing and care: The Echinocactus grusonii is fairly quick growing at first; then the growth rate slows right down. So you can expect to wait about 10 years for the cactus to reach 10 inches in diameter. Like most cacti they're drought tolerant and need very little care and attention to grow well. Not enough sunlight and over-watering are common mistakes. When handling, it's best to use gloves to protect your hands from the prickly spines.
Propagation: As a hobby gardener you will want to limit yourself to the easiest method of propagation since procedure and quality expectations for successful propagation through use of a mother cactus require a high level of expertise and skills as well as sensitivity. This is the simplest one.
Sowing: For this purpose it is ideal to use seeding material that is sold by a specialist retailer because it is very difficult to collect seeds from cacti since they flower rather seldom.
Then follow this 12 propagation procedure:
Diseases: This cactus species (Echinocactus grusonii ) is very robust in terms of susceptibility to diseases. Diseases usually occur only as a result of wrong or too well-meant tending, waterlogging being of especially high importance because it quickly leads to root rot in golden barrel cacti.
Root rot: If a cactus is kept too moist and waterlogging develops, the plant quickly reacts with root rot. This is accompanied by a moldy smell that rises up from the soil and the entire body increasingly softens. When this is the case, you should act immediately and lift the plant from the wet soil. Cut off rotten parts of the root and prune highly drenched roots by about a third.
Then let the root ball dry for a few hours and plant it again or put it back into fresh, dry soil. Moisten the soil only ever so slightly and adjust the amount of watering in the future so that it does not exceed the tolerable limit. Also ensure that a drainage is inserted to allow any excess water to run off.
- Mother-in-Law’s Cushion
- Mother-in-Law’s Pillow
- Barrel Cactus
The popular Golden Barrel cactus has an appealing, round shape and is covered with golden spines and a few longer golden hairs at the top, which eventually develop into flowers.
Growing Conditions
Light: Plenty of sunshine will keep this cacti more than happy. In a glass room you may have to provide some shade during a hot summers day to prevent sunburn.
Water: From spring until fall water similar to many other house plants by watering when the soil begins drying. Before and during winter barely water the plant. Overwatering, especially when the temperature becomes cold can rot this species.
Temperature: Temperatures averaging 50°F (10°C) to 75°F (24°C) are ideal but not below 40°F (5°C) and avoid frost.
Soil: A pot mixture used for cactus plants that drains well will suffice. Adding gravel or small pebbles at the bottom first few inches of the pot will encourage drainage.
Fertilizer: Feed every 4 weeks with a high potassium fertilizer during summer.
Humidity: Humidity does not seem to be a major concern for the Golden Barrel Cactus, which makes the average indoor environment fine, as it is. Provide as much fresh air as you can, but not cold drafts.
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| source pic:pinterest.com |
5 Tips For Success Planting Small Barrel Cactus Outdoors
- The distance between the cactus and other plantings should be a little over twice the circumference of the cactus.
- Top the soil surrounding the cactus with gravel or quartz sand to facilitate good drainage.
- Tamp down the soil around the plant to prevent hollow spaces.
- The size of the hole should be double the size of the root ball.
- Begin with generous watering.
Flowering: The golden barrel cacti will produce yellow flowers during mid-summer, although these are unlikely to appear indoors. These are grown mainly for the foliage rather than flowers; for the desert look that's appealing to cactus growers and collectors.
Growing and care: The Echinocactus grusonii is fairly quick growing at first; then the growth rate slows right down. So you can expect to wait about 10 years for the cactus to reach 10 inches in diameter. Like most cacti they're drought tolerant and need very little care and attention to grow well. Not enough sunlight and over-watering are common mistakes. When handling, it's best to use gloves to protect your hands from the prickly spines.
Propagation: As a hobby gardener you will want to limit yourself to the easiest method of propagation since procedure and quality expectations for successful propagation through use of a mother cactus require a high level of expertise and skills as well as sensitivity. This is the simplest one.
Sowing: For this purpose it is ideal to use seeding material that is sold by a specialist retailer because it is very difficult to collect seeds from cacti since they flower rather seldom.
Then follow this 12 propagation procedure:
- fill the pot for propagation with special propagation soil.
- thoroughly moisten the soil.
- distribute the seeds on top of the soil and lightly press down on them.
- because these seeds are light germinators, they are not covered with soil.
- cover the pot with transparent plastic wrap.
- lift the plastic wrap daily for a few minutes.
- make sure the soil is constantly kept moist.
- optimal temperature for germination: 25 degrees centigrade.
- Time required for germination: between three and five days.
- optimal location: sunny, but without direct exposure to incoming sunlight.
- Roguing: after two cotyledons have developed.
- once it has reached a size of about five centimeters in height, it can be transferred into a normal substrate.
Diseases: This cactus species (Echinocactus grusonii ) is very robust in terms of susceptibility to diseases. Diseases usually occur only as a result of wrong or too well-meant tending, waterlogging being of especially high importance because it quickly leads to root rot in golden barrel cacti.
Root rot: If a cactus is kept too moist and waterlogging develops, the plant quickly reacts with root rot. This is accompanied by a moldy smell that rises up from the soil and the entire body increasingly softens. When this is the case, you should act immediately and lift the plant from the wet soil. Cut off rotten parts of the root and prune highly drenched roots by about a third.
Then let the root ball dry for a few hours and plant it again or put it back into fresh, dry soil. Moisten the soil only ever so slightly and adjust the amount of watering in the future so that it does not exceed the tolerable limit. Also ensure that a drainage is inserted to allow any excess water to run off.
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