Ferobergia
Family: Cactaceae
Habitat: Mexico
Cultivation: If seeds are not easy to obtain, the cultivation of the plant is quite easy. High pots are recommended (plants have robust and deep roots ), a temperature above 5 ° C and a sun exposure.
Curiosity: Ferobergia is not really a genus of its own, but a hybrid of two other cacti: Ferocactus and Leuchtenbergia. The name is a mixture of the plants used as a parent to obtain Ferobergia seeds.
FEREBORGIA KEY FEATURES
In the desert areas of Mexico there are two kinds of cactaceae, the Ferocactus and the Leuchtenbergia, which sometimes hybridize among themselves. When the female plant is one of the many species of Ferocactus and the male plant Leuchtenbergia (precisely Leuchtenbergia principis), this hybridization gives rise to Ferobergia. Being a hybrid, it is sometimes indicated as X Ferobergia, where the “X” in front of the name indicates precisely that it is the result of a hybridization.
It is a hybrid that can also occur in nature, but it is more often made by nursery and lovers, though it is not particularly easy to get.
The aesthetic characteristics vary depending on the starting plants: in general, these are small round cacti with the body subdivided into tubercles that protrude more accentuated by the central body, with long white or brown-red thorns. The flowers are generally yellow, but they can also have very different colors.
VARIETIES AND TYPES
The different varieties of Ferobergia are distinguished by their starting plants.
We can have, for example:
- Ferobergia Acanthoides
- F. Horridus
- F. PRI-FOR (L.principis x F. fordii)
- F. PRI-LIN (L.principis x F. lindsayi)
- F.– forme variegate
TIPS FOR CULTIVATION
If seeds are not easy to obtain, plant cultivation is rather easy. These are our tips for cultivating:
- Exposure must be at half sun.
- Temperatures should remain above 5 ° C even in winter, although it can tolerate short frosts if not too intense.
- As with other cactacees, it is recommended to pay great attention during the watering: in summer, wipe the soil every 5-7 days, making sure that the soil is dry thoroughly before the next watering. If you notice that the tip of the tubercles tends to yellow it means water is too weak.
- You can use standard soil for cactacea.
- The Ferobergia have a rather robust and deep rooting root; we therefore recommend deep vessels . There is, however, no need for frequent repotting.
- Ferobergia is mostly reproduced by seed as it is not suitable for cuttings, like many other round cacti. To facilitate the grafting, put the seeds in a very sandy soil and in a warm, damp environment until full germination.
