Sign in Start free
Species library › Deamia › Deamia testudo
Succulents Partly documented

Deamia testudo

A climbing, flat-ribbed jungle cactus from lowland forests of southern Mexico and Central America that clings to tree trunks and rocks with aerial roots. It wants warm, humid, bright-but-filtered conditions year round, much closer to an epiphyllum than to a desert cactus.

Deamia testudo
Photo: Wendy Cutler from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restClimber

Where it grows wild

Climbs tree trunks and limestone rocks in lowland tropical semi-deciduous and evergreen forest, rooting along its stems as it goes. Most records are from the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize and the Gulf lowlands.

Recorded from near sea level to about 1,400 m, with a median of 120 m; essentially a lowland plant.

Mexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaCosta Rica

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

Start free Sign in

More Deamia

Deamia montalvoae Deamia chontalensis

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.