newly acquired echinopsis, seeking guide :)

[Eleila]

Hello everyone!
I recently added quite a few 'friends' to my collection. I've done a few reading regarding their care, but I still don't have full confident with actual thing
so any helpful tips/guide or directions would be greatly appreciated!!

first I got a few echinopsis/Trichocereus hybrids shipped to me overnight bare root with a ball of original dirt around it, I've planted them in ceramic/azalea pots with ~30% pumice, 30% 2mm coarse sand, 15% 3-5mm MVP and 25% organic potting soil. I haven't watered them ever since the planting 2 weeks ago. All of them are indoor facing south west for winter.

The instruction I received said I could do a throughout watering right after repot but hold back afterward (also they mentioned I could use regular soil from homedepot etc) but most places I've read said do not water for at least 1 week to let the root heal, so should I water them? or would they become dormant for winter and does not need any water?

here are the pictures of those new best buddies:


picture showing the mix I am using




the one on the left is 'delrue' and the one behind is 'pink delight', they are potted in the soil I mentioned above.


the one on the left is 'pink diamond', I've been told those scars are normal and I do not have to worry about it. the one on the right is 'edwardian lady'


hopefully I can be their new forever home and keep them healthy + strong! will definitely share pictures of their bloom once next spring comes!


Thank you everyone!

[MadridPeter]

They all look nice and healthy so watering isn't urgent also consider that you want to winter them now so I would even leave watering another 2 weeks and even then just a splash of water and absolutely no fertiliser at all (I.e. Splash every 4-5 weeks) open windows during the day for some air and if possible don't heat the room the cacti are in..well how damp it is where you live is a factor but considering the high draining soil you use there shouldn't be any problem

[jp29]

Don't forget to visit Growing Cacti via the link at the top of this page for some excellent cultivation information.

[7george]

so should I water them? or would they become dormant for winter and does not need any water?

Depends on how warm or cool is their spot.
Echinopsis is hard to kill even if you are trying. In a cool place it is careless till the spring. Splashing... keeps dust and mites off.

[Eleila]

thanks for all the advises!
I will leave them for another week or so before water them

they are probably strictly indoor, so I'd say temperature will be around 65-75 during winter and I'm thinking about get a couple CFL full spectrum lights to keep them happy during winter as well. humidity is around 40-50%
I will be ever vigilant with mite and all those weird stuffs!

[esp_imaging]

I'd say temperature will be around 65-75 during winter and I'm thinking about get a couple CFL full spectrum lights to keep them happy during winter as well. humidity is around 40-50%

Those are more like growing temperatures, not resting temperatures, for Echinopsis.
They may not flower unless they are quite a bit cooler and get a proper winter rest.
If they are as close to the glass as possible, a south-west facing window with no extra light may be great for them.

It's hard to see your set-up in the photos - do you have a terrace or balcony? They may be happy there for most or even all the year, especially if they are sheltered from winter rain.
What country do you live in, what's your climate?

[Eleila]

It's hard to see your set-up in the photos - do you have a terrace or balcony? They may be happy there for most or even all the year, especially if they are sheltered from winter rain.
What country do you live in, what's your climate?

Yes we have a balcony, right behind the racks as seeing here:



I live in Atlanta Georgia, so it is around 7b I assume? we get below freezing during winter and a few 20 F (-7 to -9 C) days. I just moved so I'm not sure the temperature on my balcony will drop below freezing during winter... (we are on the 22nd floor facing west-south if that matters)

would you think after a couple months when they more or less established their roots indoor (with occasional watering) I should stop watering all together and move them out on the balcony during the day? (8am to 7pm) to get them a cold shock and move them back indoor at night? ideally the ambient(not under sun) temperature will be around 30-40 during the day (0C to 8C)

or it would be too much of a shock and I'd better wait until spring to do that? our current temperature is from 60-70 (15C-21C) but there are plenty of insects still active outside.

[esp_imaging]

Their ancestors come from areas with winter daytime termperatures which may be quite warm, but with cool to cold, maybe very cold, nights.

If you are brave, you could leave them outside all year round - assuming they will get shelter from all or nearly all winter rain.
If you are less brave, you could bring them in for the coldest nights of the year.

If you are even less brave, keep them inddors as close to the glass as possible, preferably on the top of your stand so they get as much light as possible and are as cool as possible. Your epiphyllums may need to be relegated to the floor...

You could maybe water them once and then let them dry out for a winter rest. If kept indoors and quite warm, them may need some water during winter.

[Eleila]

haha I'm probably not that brave at all!

how long would a cold shock do they need? I could start to move them out right now since night temperature is still very tolerable (high 50/60s around the day and low 50/40s at night, no freezing. 10-15C for day, 5-10 C for night) this weather probably last a month or so before it drop below freezing, so do you guys think a month worth of cold dip would be able to suffice as a trigger for flowering next year or they'd prefer a longer 'winter'?

Thank you for all the helps!

[esp_imaging]

haha I'm probably not that brave at all!
how long would a cold shock do they need?

You may struggle to get an answer here.
Most people will let their plants get cooler for the whole winter, they won't give them a short "cold shock".
Flowering may be be triggered from some combination of cool temperatures in winter and temperature rise in spring as well as short daylength in winter and day length increase in spring. I bet it hasn't been researched very thoroughly for most cacti.

[7george]

so I'd say temperature will be around 65-75 during winter and I'm thinking about get a couple CFL

O, yes - provide strong light or better leave those Echinopsis outside dry for the winter. At least I would try to do that. It's complicated to keep cacti in the living rooms. My thermostat is set to a night temps at 16°C and plants are put close to windows cause even dry some of them may decide to grow at low light and ugly elongate. Just watch closer.

[Eleila]

I probably will move them out once the rain stops! I also got them a 45W LED grow light which hangs about 10cm above them, hopefully it is more than enough for cloudy days

[RichR]

I leave my potted echinopsis outside for the winter, but keep them out of the rain. However, I have some in the ground that do get wet and they have for the most part been okay. We sometimes get to 25 F in winter for short periods. I cover their tips with styrofoam cups sometimes since that seems to be where most of the freeze damage occurs. I will cover them with blankets or insulating cloth (from the garden center or Home Depot) when we are going to have extended cold spells or multiple nights in a row below freezing. Huntington Gardens claims they will survive temps in the teens if they are kept dry. I haven't had the opportunity to test that yet. Here in south-central Texas, the summer heat is actually much harder on them than is winter.

[Eleila]

awesome that is good to know! we only had 1 night below zero and now back to low 50s, I will try to blanket/cup method next time