Blooming cactus - Lobivia arachnacantha

This is probably one of the last flowers from my cacti I will show this season. Unless I find some lost photos that I forgot about that is. The blooming season is over and now they just look like green spiky mess until next spring. Some still show one little flower now and then, but I already showed them when they were in full bloom earlier in spring, so I don't see the point of repeating doing it again.

Lobivia arachnacantha

This cactus is native to Bolivia and Argentina and grows on higher elevations among rocks and some small bushes or grasses. It is nit big and never will be. It will produce multiple offshoots though and spread sideways a bit. You can see on the photos that my one already started to do it.

It is small, but it's tough as a rock! It can handle hot days with full sun but also freezing cold temperatures in winter for short periods of time. To survive the winter cold it needs to be kept completely dry though, otherwise it will rot and die in no time!

The flowers are gigantic! One of the biggest from the cacti I own (most Lobivia type has quite big blooms) especially if you compare it to the size of the cactus. The main stem is about 2-3 cm across. The flowers are probably double that.

I also found a little unwarted guest while I was shooting - mealybug! Those little shits attack and can kill a cactus and you don't even know why it dies. Sneaky little ****.

As a bonus another guest, but a very wanted one - my furry quality control assistant :)

My other blooming cacti:

_{Click on the image to view full post.}

Chamaecereus hybrid	Sulcorebutia Canigueralii	Mammillaria camptotricha	Mammillaria Glassii
Gymnocalycium baldianum	Mediolobivia mudanensis	Lobivia Arachnacantha	Rebutia hybrid
Mammillaria Bombycina	Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap	Mammillaria haageana	Mammillaria backebergiana
Chamaecereus silvestrii	Mammillaria prolifera	Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora	Lobivia Wrightiana
Aylostera Flavistyla FR756	Parodia concinna	Mammillaria Copper King	Gymnocalycium Bruchii
Mammillaria backebergiana	Gymnocalycium damsii	Echinopsis subdenudata	Rhipsalis pilocarpa
Mammillaria Prolifera	Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis	Mediolobivia atrovirens	Mammillaria magnimamma
Sulcorebutia langerii	Sulcorebutia frankiana	Chamaelobivia no ID	Rebutia Albiflora
Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri	Gymnocalycium damsii var. tucavocense	Notocactus Ottonis	Gymnocalycium Friedrichii
Turbinicarpus Viereckii	Rebutia neocumingii	Notocactus Rubrigemmatus	Lobivia no ID
Sulcorebutia albissima	Lobivia arachnacantha II	Notocactus mueller-melchersii	Mammillaria Prolifera
Aylostera heliosa var. condorensis

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.}