Cactus Blog

8/8/2019 Cactus Blog

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´Role Out a Barrel, Role a Barrel Cactus of Funµ by Norman Newell

Hi everyone! Norman here with today·s blog for ABS 360 Southwest Home

Gardening. Today I will be talking to you about my favorite local landscape

tree or shrub for our Creative Assignment 1. I come to you live from San Tan

Valley, Arizona, where all the women are prickly, all the men are stout, and all

the cacti are blooming.

I am lucky to have some fantastic cacti in the front of my home, my favorite

being the Ferocactuscylindraceus, also known as the Ferocactuswislizenii . The

common name is the Arizona barrel cactus. Out of all the cacti, it is my favorite

because it of its beauty. Right now it is in full bloom. It ´has ringed clusters of

small cup-shaped flowers at the terminal meristem in shades of red to orange to



yellowµ (http://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/Ferocactuscylindraceus.html). The

flower sepals are a bright red color. After it flowers, yellow, oval-shaped, scaly

fruit develop. Amazingly, up to 30,000 seeds are contained in each fruit.

Because this cactus flourishes in zones 8-24, it is quite adapted to our Arizona

climate. It requires full sun and no irrigation is needed.This is great for Arizonabecause, as we know, conservation of water is a must! Plus, you won·t have to

stand outside in the hot sun watering this cactus. It·s important to note that

compass barrel cacti that do not have revolving ridges around their barrel often

grow faster on their shady side, which causes them to lean in a south to

southwest direction. Its tendency to lean can be affected by where one places

the cactus in regards to other buildings and trees. Be aware of what is casting

shade onto this cactus and to direction of direct sun exposure. Last, it requires

well-drained soil with limited topography.

The cactus longhorn beetle is known to attack the barrel cactus. The adultbeetle is about 1 to 1¼ inches long, has white markings on its antennae, and is

black and shiny. The antennae are often longer than the overall body length of

the adult beetle. Damage to the barrel cactus is caused by the beetle of feed-

ing on the terminal buds of the cacti. Cactus longhorn beetle can be

controlled by hand picking the insects off of the cactus. You will have more luck

finding the beetles when they are most active, such as the in the early morning

or late evening, especially after warm summer rains. Using chemical is not

recommended, as the number of beetles on a particular cactus is usually not

high and hand picking is effective, as long as you are not the squeamish type.

Works CitedKelly, Jack and Mary Olson. ´Problems and Pests of Agave, Aloe,



Cactus, and Yuccaµ October 2008. September 12, 2010.

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1399.pdf

Western Garden Book.Ed. Kathleen Norris Brenzel.

Sunset Publishing. 2007.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/

Ferocactuscylindraceus.html

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