Description
💧 Watering
Water sparingly. Like most cacti, it stores immense amounts of water within its fleshy pads. Only water thoroughly when the soil is completely bone-dry. During the autumn and winter months, cease watering entirely to match its natural dormant cycle. It handles the blistering, dry Maltese summers effortlessly.
☀️ Light
It demands absolute full, unobstructed direct sunlight. This plant requires a minimum of six to eight hours of intense sun daily to fuel the development of its large flowers and subsequent fruits. It is completely unbothered by extreme, baking heat waves.
🍃 Foliage / Growth
It features large, thick, ovate green pads that perform the role of leaves. While some selected cultivars are relatively spineless, they still possess glochids—tiny, hair-like barbed spines that easily transfer to skin upon contact. In late spring, yellow-to-orange flowers erupt along the margins of the pads, transforming into delicious, colorful egg-shaped fruits by late summer.
🪴 Potting Mix
Excellent, sharp drainage is vital. It thrives in poor, sandy, stony, or volcanic soils and easily tolerates the highly alkaline limestone conditions native to Malta. If growing in large pots, use a specialized cactus and succulent mix heavily supplemented with gravel, perlite, or pumice to prevent water retention at the roots.
🌿 Fertilizer
Requires minimal feeding. If you are growing it primarily for its fruit harvest, apply a low-nitrogen, high-potassium fertilizer (similar to a tomato feed) once a month during spring and early summer. Avoid high-nitrogen blends, which result in floppy, bloated pads and zero fruit production.
⚠️🐕🐈 Pet Safety**
Physically hazardous to pets. While the plant tissue itself is non-toxic if ingested, the presence of invisible, highly irritating glochid spines poses a significant physical danger to curious dogs and cats. It can cause severe mechanical irritation to paws, noses, and mouths. Always position this cactus well out of reach of domestic animals.
🌬️ Air Purifying
While it doesn’t clean indoor air chemical toxins, it acts as an incredible outdoor architectural windbreak and soil stabilizer. Its massive, heavy growth habit easily breaks powerful coastal gales, and its roots are exceptional at preventing soil erosion on steep, exposed hillsides or retaining banks.
*Pictures shown may vary from actual product due to the live nature of the items. Some items may be out of stock for various reasons, we will issue a refund or offer alternatives should that be the case.
The Price is per one individual plant.
**The consumption of any plant material may cause vomiting and gastrointestinal upset for dogs and cats. Sherries will not be held accountable to any symptom. If you believe that your animal is ill or may have ingested a poisonous substance, please contact a vet immediately.
