Species library › Cochemiea › Cochemiea fraileana
Succulents Well documented

Cochemiea fraileana

A small clustering cactus with hooked central spines (formerly Mammillaria fraileana) from the hot coastal desert around La Paz in Baja California Sur and nearby Gulf islands. It needs strong light, heat, a very free-draining mix and a dry winter, and it is frost-tender.

Cochemiea fraileana
Photo: Peter A. Mansfeld, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Rocky granite and volcanic slopes and coastal flats in Sonoran Desert scrub, often in rock cracks or beside shrubs.

Recorded from near sea level to about 450 m (median 43 m).

Mexico Northwest

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Cochemiea fraileana? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 3.0 licence, unmodified.