Hello from the Central Valley of Northern California

[Harrison]

Hello,
I am new to the forum but have been reading it for a while. I've been interested in cactus for a long time, but only recently started to put them on display. I plan to make my front yard a cactus and rock garden when spring rolls around next year. I started to spread my rock topping over weed block landscape fabric, for now I just placed some of the potted cactus out there to get a better idea of how to arrange them if I really do put them all in the ground. I've had the most luck with growing a few types of Cholla, and also Pachycereus Pringlei. Anyway it's nice to be here now and look forward to reading more posts in the future, I've also enjoyed seeing all the different photos!

[gemhunter178]

Welcome!

[hegar]

Welcome to the Cactus and Succulent Forum. You are one of the lucky ones, who can grow cacti outdoors. Are you located in California?
Where I live it is a little too cold in the winter to successfully grow Pachycereus pringlei, but here too chollas grow like weeds.
Well, I do wish you lots of success with your planned cactus and rock garden.

Harald

[hegar]

Oops, I did not even notice the headline, telling me, that you do live in the Central Valley of Northern California. So the climate is probably a little more moderate than that of Southern California, but what is the elevation where you live?

Harald

[Harrison]

Hello and thank you for the welcomes! I live in Tracy, CA and I think the elevation is 55 feet or so. Very hot in summer, winters are cold at night but daytime is usually in the low 50s. All of my cacti are outdoors, but this year I've added several others I've never had before so it's a wait and see to find out how they do this winter. My first cactus was the P. Pringlei, I got it when it was 15 inches tall and it's now about 51 inches if you don't count the spines. Took about 7 years to get there. I've never done anything to protect it from weather and it just keeps growing, though I do think it is getting a little big for it's planter, I want to put it in the ground next spring. It also has the longest spines of any of it's kind I've seen, some look like pencils! Cholla seem to do very well, I am starting to amass more cuttings than I know what to do with!

[Harrison]

It took me a while to figure out how to update location but I eventually figured it out. This is the P. Pringlei I was referring to. I hope to see it flower in the next couple of years!

Pringlei.jpg (161.52 KiB) Viewed 1144 times

[cactushobbyman]

You're 2 plus hours north of me and I have had an outdoor garden 20 plus years. Tracy may not get as cold as here, but you should get more rain. I cover the growth points on some plants that can't take the cold as much and most have no issues. I have a Ferocactus that had standing water in the growth point and when the temp went below freezing, the growth point died. Now it has new growth as a clump of about six and flowered with seed pods. I was sadden by the growth point dying being the height was over 24" tall, but now it is taking on a whole new look just as if it was in the wild. Take Hwy 120 east past 99 about six miles and visit Poot's Cactus and look at their outdoors garden and get ready to buy. Great selection of cactus for sale.

[Harrison]

Yes I know Poot's House of Cactus, love that place! I've picked up about 5 cacti there. Always nice to drop in and talk to them, very friendly people. The first one I can remember getting is this columnar labelled as Trichocereus Werdermannianus. Looks healthy but hasn't grown at all since I brought it home, I repotted in late summer so hopefully something will happen next year.

Trichocereus W.jpg (440.97 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

I also picked up this one labelled as Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose, but I think it was mislabeled. I did sunburn it when I first brought it home but it appears to be growing well anyway.

Cereus P.jpg (136.06 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

The same day I brought home this little still unidentified cholla labeled as just Opuntia SP. It hasn't put on any growth but the stem is getting fatter at least!

Opuntia SP.jpg (168.06 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

I also got a smallish Trichocereus Terschekii there, I hear they are fast growers so I look forward to seeing that!

Trichocereus Terschekii.jpg (148.79 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

I got my first Saguaro there too a couple of months ago, I made a trip to Arizona and saw them in the wild and had to get one. I know I won't live long enough to see it branch but I hope to see it get taller than me someday! I also picked up a very small one but I don't have a photo of it handy.

Saguaro.jpg (419.59 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

Anyway thanks for looking!

[Harrison]

And also I forgot to mention, sorry to hear about your cactus damage from the cold and wet, I've noticed that at Poot's they will put a bucket on the tips of some of the larger specimens in winter time.