Species · genus Parodia · Cactaceae

Balloon Cactus

Parodia magnifica (F.Ritter) F.H.Brandt

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Brazil South

Reference · P. magnifica

Cultivars of P. magnifica

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under P. magnifica yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Parodia magnifica is a clustering succulent subshrub from the highlands of southern Brazil, built to store water in its ribbed body and to drain fast in gritty soil. Give it the brightest spot you have, ideally direct sun, and a sharply draining mineral mix; water deeply only once the soil has gone completely dry, roughly every two to four weeks in active growth and far less in winter. It rots if left sitting wet, so let the mix dry through before watering again.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–30 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Offsets or seed

Fertilizing

Dilute low-nitrogen cactus feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Yellow blooms in summer on mature plants

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Balloon Cactus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.