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Species library › Melocactus › Melocactus pachyacanthus
Succulents Well documented

Melocactus pachyacanthus

A heavy-spined Turk's cap cactus from the hot, semi-arid interior of Bahia, Brazil, where it sits on rocky outcrops in full sun. Like other Brazilian Melocactus it wants warmth all year, very bright light and a mineral mix; once the woolly cephalium forms on top the body stops growing and all new growth goes into the cap.

Melocactus pachyacanthus
Photo: vitordematos12, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-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 on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Recorded from the dry interior of Bahia, where Melocactus of this group grow in rock crevices and thin gritty soil on outcrops among caatinga scrub. Conditions here are inferred from the measured climate and the genus, not from a species-specific habitat study.

Records span 0 to 750 m with a median of 670 m; the zero values are probably missing elevations, so the plant is best treated as a mid-elevation plateau species.

Brazil NortheastBrazil Southeast

🔒 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.