After a nice hot month, October ended with a whole bunch of cacti that told me they're not ready to go dormant yet. Since any chance for real summer downpours are pretty much a nonstarter in my part of L.A., I was hoping that rain in the forecast for Halloween night might be a great opportunity to give my charges something I wish I could do more often in the growing season. And it came to pass, about .5" -- nice! The only thing I had to do in preparation Thursday night was move some plants around so that anything that really didn't need the rain would be under protection in Shady Glen. This was the view yesterday morning:
Some of the cacti in Shady Glen did get a little rain anyway, but it was more sip than soak. The real soaking took place exactly where it was needed. Now, timing the rain was perfect given the fact that L.A.'s climate is favorable toward a growing season that can last well into November. Perhaps it'll happen this time, although more rain could spell trouble if November turns cool on me. Such being the case, the timing couldn't be better...
My biggest problem maintaining a small, yet diverse collection is that while some of my cacti are fine with winter rain, others will turn into puddles of goo if they aren't protected. Since I have to treat them all the same in this respect, getting ready for winter has meant rigging up a portable GH in early November. The theory is to keep it up until our rainy season is done in April. Great theory, but not very good in practice when your rain shelter is plastic sheeting from Home Depot. My first 2 efforts ended the same -- okay until constant UV exposure degrades the plastic in about 4-5 months. Then it goes to pieces, usually just in time for the last big storm of the rainy season, and it's not fun having to chase after all the cracks with tape. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of going through this yet again, so I'm not messing around anymore. Howzabout UV-resistant polycarbonate? Yep, there we are, and the material I selected is 6 mil polyfilm from Poly-Tex, guaranteed to last 4 years. (I know people who use the product, and its lifespan may go beyond 4 especially since my polyfilm setup will stay outside only through the November-April months. The rest of the time it'll be stored safely in my garage.) The Poly-Tex order arrived on Wednesday, and here's the result after a busy weekend -- I now give you portable GH 3.0. Here it is with the front off when there's no sign of rain, and the cacti are getting plenty of ventilation:
Whenever I see rain in the immediate forecast, the front goes up:
Aside from the rain shelter aspect, this has dual use application as a heat-trapper when the front stays up. That's what I'm doing now as I deployed the new portable GH this morning. The daytime high yesterday was only 68, and temps observed by my local NWS station show the same today. So let's do a bit of observation coming from my outdoor thermometer. When I put up the GH sans front at 11 a.m., it was 77. After I added the front, my high temp came out at -- 92! The cacti barely even noticed their day of coolness yesterday, so I'm sure they're enjoying the heat under there as they take up the rain they just received. The local forecast has us ramping up to the 80s starting Tuesday, and I'll take the front off Tuesday morning. Why not Monday night? Well, my overnight low briefly dipped down to 45 (although nothing to worry about), which was 8 degrees below the NWS's observed lowest temp. When I look at the overnight observation between there and the plant bench, I'll have to see if the GH's heat-trapping property during the day spills over into a bit of residual warming at night. A couple of nights should tell me if there'a a difference. If there is, it may not mean much now, but this could factor into how often I'll use the front not for the rain, but some extra heat to ease the collection through winter. Not that the winters have been difficult, mind you -- but if I make the most of the situation here, the practices I've developed since 2012 could pay dividends with a start of the new growing season in late February.
Finally, here's another view from this weekend. Working on my first-ever Ariocarpus flower:
Melocactus matanzanus showing the fruits of its labors -- literally!
Cheers, everyone!
That storm almost matched last years total. 
