Cochemiea grahamii

A small, hook-spined pincushion cactus (long known as Mammillaria grahamii) that is common across the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of the US Southwest and northern Mexico. It takes hot summers, frosty nights and a strongly seasonal rain pattern, and flowers in pink rings after summer rains.

At home, aim for

Day Cool-growingTargets 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 slopes, bajadas and desert flats, often growing under the edge of nurse shrubs or among rocks rather than fully exposed.

Recorded from 30 to about 1,590 m, median around 610 m; the measured sites span the Phoenix and Tucson basins up to 1,660 m.

United States: Arizona, California, New Mexico, TexasMexico: Sonora, Chihuahua and the northeast

🔒 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

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More Cochemiea

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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-SA 2.0 licence, unmodified.