Cephalocereus

 
цефалоцереусCephalocereus senile

Cactus family. Homeland Mexico. Especially characteristic are representatives of the clan for the town of Barranca de Venados, in the state of Hidalgo (popularly called the "valley of the elderly"), surrounded on all sides by a mountain ring. Of the cephalocereus of about 113 species, only one species of senile cephalocereus cephalocereus senilis has spread. This cactus was popularly called "old man's head," which corresponds to its appearance. Under natural conditions, senile cephalocereus grows up to 15 m in height and 40 cm in diameter, grows slowly.

It lives in room conditions for a long time and will also be large. The cylindrical green stem with yellowish spines is completely covered with long hairs, up to 10 cm long. Its stem is columnar, the hairs hide a gray-green stem with straight low ribs in the amount of 20-30, covered with closely located areoles. Old cacti form a cephalic (generative shoot, a brightly colored formation of bristles and spines), it is one-sided, but gradually covers the entire top of the stem with a crown . Such a cute fluffy has completely unpleasant flowers, outwardly they are the most common, characteristic of cacti - funnel-shaped, about 10 cm long, up to 7 cm in diameter, cream-colored, but they smell bad, attracting only bats, but last only one night. By the way, cephalocereuses do not bloom at home. The decorative value of cephalocereus is hairy pubescence, but in old plants the lower part of the stem is gradually exposed, the lower hairs redden, brown and thin.

Cephalocereus - care and cultivation

Temperature: normal in summer, room temperature. In winter, the rest period is at a temperature of 6-7 ° C, at least + 5 ° C, with dry content. The main difficulty in keeping is precisely cold wintering, if other cacti have a temperature of about 10 ° C, then for cephalocereus in winter the temperature should be much lower. Cephalocereus, like all other cacti, is in great need of fresh air. Therefore, for the summer it is better to take it to the garden or to the balcony, and leave it there until autumn. Round-the-clock stay in the fresh air throughout the summer period, especially hardens and strengthens cacti, increases resistance to diseases and pests.

Lighting: Maximum sunlight. Cephalocereus senile is protected from sunburn by hairs. Without proper sunlight, the stem stretches, the hairs become short, and decorative attractiveness is lost.

Watering: moderate in spring and summer, reduced in autumn, and practically without watering in winter with cold maintenance. Senile cephalocereus is very sensitive to soil waterlogging.

Top dressing: from late spring to mid-summer with special fertilizer for cacti.

Air humidity: Senile cephalocereus cannot be called resistant to dry air, with increased dryness of the air, the hairs become brittle, easily break off, become dull. In nature, in the Barranca de Venados valley, where cephalocereuses meet a fairly humid climate, dew often falls, and there are fogs. At the same time, excessive moisture in the pot culture is harmful - there is no light valley breeze on our windowsill that does not allow succulents to rot. Therefore, it is recommended to periodically spray the cactus from a very small sprayer, and in no case keep it near the central heating batteries in winter.

Transplantation: young plants annually or in a year into well-drained soil, old plants in a year - two. The soil is the 1 part of the sod, the 1 part of the sheet, the 1 part of the peat land, the 1 part of the sand and brick chips, the acidity is close to neutral, i.e.  pH is about 6-6.5. Senile cephalocereus does not tolerate organic impurities in the soil. The addition of humus even in small doses can be fatal. To preserve the hairs in good condition, calcium components are added to the soil - eggshells, old lime (3-5% of the soil volume), this is due to the fact that in nature cephalocereuses grow on the calcareous slopes of mountains, on soils containing a fair admixture of gypsum. 

Reproduction: Predominantly by seed.

Read more about the features of various maintenance modes, transplantation and reproduction in the section Cacti.

By the way

Some, especially caring cactusists grow senile cephalocereus with amazing beauty hair, characterized by a silky sheen and enviable length. These long hairs are gently combed and even braided.

By the way

In general, senile cephalocereus is considered an undemanding cactus, but in practice it turns out that this is not so. In fact, neither scars nor any other defects are noticeable on the stem covered with hairs, but without observing the correct conditions for keeping the hairs, its hairs are rare and not long and it looks more like a prickly panicle.

By the way

Long hairs on the stem of this amazing cactus collect dust and dirt, so you can periodically carry out some kind of hygienic procedures. In addition to combing hairs, some cactusists wash the "old man's head" in the shower using shampoos or soap. In fact, the use of some perfumes is undesirable. The accumulated dust can be washed off with simple water, and if there is any pollution on the hairs, then it is better to use household or children's soap. When washing hairs, you must try so that the water soaks only the hair and does not flow down the stem. The main thing is not to bathe the "old man's head" in water for too long, and then dry well in the shade and comb the tangled hairs.