SASS x Super Pedro – Whole Plant

Commonly know as Argentine Saguaro or Cardon Grande, Terscheckii cacti are one of the hardiest cacti around. This is one of the few you can grow outdoors and will handle our weather year round (you might need to wrap up through coldest part of winter). That being said, temps in the negatives for short periods shouldn’t be an issue.

Trichocereus terscheckii are native to Catamarca In North West Argentina as well as the western slopes of the Andes, Peru & Ecuador.

Adult Tr. terscheckii ‘SASS’ (South Australia Short Spine)

Super Pedro

History

Super Pedro is a very interesting Trichocereus scopulicola cultivar or hybrid involving it! It is closely related to the cultivar Trichocereus cordobensis.

SUPER PEDRO is a very popular clone within the Trichocereus community. I (and many others) originally thought this plant to be some kind of hybrid between Trichocereus pachanoi and Trichocereus scopulicola, but the exact parentage is unknown. It is a hybrid that was grown from a whole lot of unlabeled seeds by Jim Hall from Cactuscountry.com. The whole body and the flower traits point towards it being a form or hybrid involving Trichocereus scopulicola. There are definitely many differences between it and the standard Scop FR991, but you can clearly see the relationship to this species. Friedrich Ritter also collected and sold populations from Tarija that he described as Trichocereus crassicostatus. NMCR also collected a whole lot of seeds that produced versions of Trichocereus scopulicola that clearly differed from Ritter´s main collection. There are very few collections of Trichocereus scopulicola, so it´s either one of those or a hybrid with another parent.

Trichocereus.net

Watering

Terscheckii can handle way more water than most cacti, but, it is still a cactus. Watering from Spring (April) to beginning of Autumn (End September). Depending on what kind of summer we get will depend on how frequent you need to water, but, less is better with cacti. During the winter months, little to no watering is required or the roots could rot (they do not like to be wet for long periods).

Substrate

In warmer climates, you could go for a more nutrient rich mixture (50% organic / 50% inorganic). But, in the UK, it is best to err more on the side of inorganic (60% – 70% inorganic) to ensure the pot is drained quickly. You can also plant Terscheckii outdoors in the UK, this is one of the only cacti you can.