Species library › Echinocereus › Echinocereus viereckii
Succulents Well documented

Echinocereus viereckii

A clumping hedgehog cactus from the Sierra Madre Oriental of north-eastern Mexico, with yellow-spined stems up to 20 cm and large purplish-pink flowers. It comes from a warmer, wetter, shadier habitat than most Echinocereus, so it wants bright light without harsh sun, summer water and a cool, dry winter.

Echinocereus viereckii
Photo: Juan Cruzado Cortés, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows on rocky slopes in scrub and oak-pine woodland edges of the Sierra Madre Oriental foothills, often among rocks and leaf litter with some shade from shrubs.

Recorded at 200–1700 m, with a median of about 1225 m; most records are around Monterrey.

MexicoNuevo LeónTamaulipasCoahuila

🔒 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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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 4.0 licence, unmodified.