A venerable spegazzinii

[Nick_G]

Here's an old Gymnocalycium spegazzinii I photographed earlier in the year near Cachi, Salta Province, Argentina. It was not only the biggest I saw but was starting to offset, no damage apparent, and also flowering not only from the top but also from the shoulder. You can see a crushed plastic bottle next to it in one photo. This area near the cemetery and airfield is a bit of a dump. The flowers on top had been eaten by something. The last photo is of a cristate specimen. I saw a few. Gymnocalycium spegazzinii is thankfully a common plant in habitat and easy to find though most are pancake flat and a globular plant like this is unusual.

[Tina]

Thats is a big one, unusual for me I don't like the cristate maybe if it was plumper

[ralphrmartin]

Very impressive. The biggest I saw in habitat was a flattened grapefruit size.

[iann]

Maybe I need to move mine to bigger pots?

[Benjy]

One of my favourite Gymnocalyciums, and never seen one that big before, it's awesome.
Maybe mice ate those flowers, I've seen similar on many Copiapoas in Chile in locations where mice activity was evident.

Also, interesting to see that flowering from the shoulder ?
I've had people send me pictures of Copiapoa doing this 'in cultivation',
but I haven't had any myself in over 20 years of growing copious amounts of them.

[Conrad]

Great photos, I love habitat shots, more please.

Weirdly I've always struggled with scorch on my spegs, which always surprises me when I see habitat shots. I find they require partial shading for the first few summers.

[Tina]

Gymno's can take/like a lot more water than other cacti. Apart from friedrichii

[Nick_G]

Here's a couple from a previous visit in November 2018. This is how the majority appear. They're looking quite dry and dead plants aren't uncommon.

[ralphrmartin]

Maybe I need to move mine to bigger pots?

or just live to 300 years old?

[Keith H]

Gymno's can take/like a lot more water than other cacti. Apart from friedrichii

If they are not used to it they will split their sides. Don't ask me how I know this