Islaya

Its name comes from the Peruvian locality, where the first specimens of this genus were found by the German botanist Backeberg. They are rather rare cacti, which do not reach great dimensions, but have a strongly rustic character, with their dark globular stems and spines of variable length. They have a fairly slow growth and care must be taken if you do not want to incur into unpleasant rot, Islaya is in fact highly subject to this risk. To grow it strong, therefore, some simple attentions are used such as surrounding the collar with sand or grafting it on more robust cacti, however, if well kept, this plant will be able to generously reward you with its tendentially light and delicate flowers, which will give a touch of elegance to your indoor and outdoor environments. Here are some tips for its and cultivation: It likes an exposure to full sun in rather airy locations. It is preferable to keep it at mild temperatures and never below 5 °C, for this reason it is recommended to shelter it during the winter period. Water moderately only when the soil is dry. It is enough to water it once a week in spring and summer, reduce watering to once every two months in autumn, and to suspend it completely in winter. The best soil is a well-draining one, even better if further enriched with inert materials such as pumice, sand or lapilli. They do not need frequent fertilization, it is sufficient to dilute the fertilizer with watering once a year.