You take a nondescript, simple, green, column cactus, chop off its head, and glom on a lurid, glowing Jack o' lantern head and you have our Moon cactus. Thing is, it's alive and growing, as improbable as it looks. During WWII a Japanese gardener collected and grew some wild Moon cactus seeds. Some of those seeds became mutant oddities in wild colors which he kept on selecting and breeding for brightness. The spiny, prickly, colored balls are actually due to a special gene combo action; truly naturally colored like that in neon coral red, sunshine yellow, neon pinks and oranges, and sometimes beautiful combos of those colors like a flaming sunset. They have no chlorophyll of their own, poor babies, but benefit from the nice, green, chlorophyll filled stems they sit on. There's also a dark purple one that actually has some chlorophyll and could survive without a host. Deep ridges march down the sides where baby prickleballs cling to mother, unable to survive if they fall off unless you want to try your hand at grafting them onto something green. (It's not hard) Happy Moon cacti will bust out big, frilly flowers in red, pink, and yellow.
- Drought Tolerant
- Low Maintenance
Quick Care Guide:
- Water - Low (1): Needs very little water to survive. Wait until the plant is completely dry then fully soak. Drought tolerant by nature.
- High - (5): Plant needs a lot of light; direct is even better. These plants do best when placed on a window sill or next to a bright window. Avoid concentrated, hot light from window which may cause burning (magnifying glass effect).
- Difficulty - Low (1): These plants need barely any attention to thrive. Set it and forget it.
View full breakdown of Care Guide here.