Polaskia
Family: Cactaceae
Habitat: South Mexico
Cultivation: Water every 4-5 days during the vegetative period and suspend completely, during the winter. As a soil use a standard one for cactacea or a mix of peat and fine sand.
Curiosity: The Polaskia name is a tribute to Charles Polaski, an American cactus lover from Oklahoma.
Polanskia Key Features
The Polaskia genus includes only two species of columnar cacti, chichipe and chende. Plants of both species can become very high, reaching even 4 or 5 meters in height. The barrels are of a very light green color that is covered with 6-8 deep vertical ribs. They have areolas at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other and gray thorns, short and very robust. They tend to ramify a lot, especially the P. chende, which can have many intricate branch formations.
Generally, branching increases with the age of the plant and also for this reason young plants can sometimes be confused with Stenocereus or Myrtillocactus. The flowers are large, with yellow stamens and white flowers but with shades of pink or green. They bloom in the middle of summer and grow along the areoles near the top of each branch. The fruits are small fleshy berries.
VARIETIES AND TYPES
As already written, the two varieties known today are:
- Polaskia chichipe
- P. chende
TIPS FOR CULTIVATION
Here are our tips to cultivate the Polaskia cactaceae:
- EXPOSURE: These cacti prefer a position in the sun. Just pay attention to very young plants.
- TEMPERATURE: With a completely dry soil, they also survive short frosts, with temperatures up to -4 ° C or -5 ° C.
- WATERING: Water every 4-5 days during the vegetative period and suspend it, instead, during the winter.
- SOIL: Use a standard soil for cactaceae or a mix of peat and fine sand.
- CONCIMATION: It can be fertilized only once, in spring, using a specific fertilizer for cactaceae, poor in nitrogen but complete with necessary microelements.
- REPOT: Repot each year, in the spring, with special protective gloves and careful not to hurt your hands.
- REPRODUCTION: In addition to sowing, these cactacea reproduce well with branch cuttings, partly buried in spring in sandy soil.
