"Over the Moon" for the Moon Cactus

A plant I would never have thought of getting for myself has sent me “over the moon”. I find myself swooning over the Moon Cactus, a plant-gift that I unboxed at the end of last month.

I admit that I never thought of the Moon Cactus much, if at all, mainly because it was so unfamiliar to me in terms of the care it needs. Surrounding the Moon Cactus, I had a few worries and plenty of questions: Is that really the extent of watering that it needs… every few weeks? Can’t be. (But it is.) Won’t it need near-constant sunlight? (It actually prefers good indirect light—and light that is on the brighter side for a couple of hours each day.)

Now that Gymnocalycium variegata, my Variegated Moon Cactus, has been in my hands for a few weeks, I realize that my questioning was good, but my worrying was completely unnecessary. Caring for this plant seems too easy—but that minimal care is all it needs.

My Variegated Moon Cactus arrived with two buds atop its “pincushion” form. To be honest, I thought it was blooming at the time I received it: Pink buds that looked a bit like elongated pinecones were pretty as could be, and I assumed that this was all the flowering I could expect. But now, a few weeks later, one flower has opened up fully, showing a multi-layered starburst in pale pink with darker pink saturation at the ends of the petals. Seeing a flower atop a “pincushion” or “full moon” is pretty amazing, considering the moon (referred to as a scion) is covered with large-sized spines.

If you do a little research on Moon Cactus, which I did when I received my plant, then you come across photos of scions that are anything but green. It turns out that they lack the chlorophyll that would make them green, and so the scions themselves almost look like flowers, bright and colorful.

The Variegated Moon Cactus does possess some chlorophyll, accounting for the tie-dye look that it takes on… some darker tones here, a perfect pink there, a little orange… you get the drift.

Now, I hadn’t realized it at first, but I have tended a Moon Cactus before. A scion had been grafted onto a column (rootstock) of another type of Cactus, with the rootstock being green with chlorophyll. The resulting shape of the plant was a lot like a tree that a child might draw, with a thick trunk and rounded canopy. I did not know at the time that two different Cacti had been grafted to arrive at a plant with this form. But I did know that this plant did not require much of me. A student at the time, I recall (vaguely, as it is hard to think back that far) doing very little to care for it. Could there have been a better plant for a busy student?

The grafted Moon Cactus apparently draws up nutrients through the rootstock. Amazing how that works…. But I prefer the look of the rounded Gymnocalycium on its own, sitting directly on the growing medium. The overall look of this little ball of many colors is interesting, sweet enough to coax out a smile on anyone who sees it. 

One thing to note is that it is actually inaccurate to talk about a “ball” of many colors, as this barrel Cactus has geometric segmentation. Its raised ridges and deep valleys create a lot of visual interest. My Moon Cactus also has spines, but those spines are well-spaced and easy to avoid. Still, to see flowers emerge from this prickly form… well, it’s quite a sight.

The Moon Cactus is certainly not a plant that I know well. Memories of the Cactus that went to college with me ages ago, coupled with the few weeks I have had my new Variegated Moon Cactus gift, do not combine to make me feel that I have put in the time to gain total confidence that, with this plant, no problems will arise. Some may arise. I may overwater it. I may allow it to lose its strong colors by not ensuring it has quite enough light during the darker months. And presently, I am hesitant to re-pot it into a nice container, considering that it is doing so well in its current grow-pot. But on the whole, I am confident that I can call the Moon Cactus a worry-free plant.

I guess we have to get out of our comfort zones with plants. Doing so makes the pleasure of plant-tending last and last over the years. When we embrace the unfamiliar, a whole new world opens up to us… heck, in this case, a whole new part of the galaxy.