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Hey Charles, it's always nice after the dreadful winter to have your plants reward you with lots of new growth. Mine are doing that. Funny all the plants I lose are during the winter (unless eaten by javelina.. ) All those plants John sent me a few years ago are quickly taking over a corner of my yard. I havent decided what I wanna do with it lol a redo is coming up. Nice to see you again. If ya see John tell him I said hi.

Charles - What are the "Pencil Cactus" you refer to? The only ones I know are Euphorbia ticurelli - & I'm pretty sure that's not what you're referring to.

White Sands Trig. I have a ten year old Echin. Trig. It has been sick for the last three years. I'm thinking of removing it. Trim the roots and cut off all but one stem. Let it dry for a week then put it in a big pot or ?
I'm on the verge of doing it. It may die, or not.
Charles censussearcher@gmail.com

Love this thread! I am looking at all the info on the plants on the first post and am thinking they would fit perfect for a project my mother in law has in mind. Does anyone have any from the first list for postage? Would love to get my hands on 5-6 different plants/pads!! Would pay postage!

Hi all,

I'm planning to sow E. Missouriensis. I'll order my seeds at ADBLPS and I'm wondering which is the most winter hardy of them. I've read somewhere on this forum (can't remember the topic anymore) that there is a difference in DNA make some 'varieties' more winterhard than others.

E. missouriensis [GK 1196/95] s-4 à 5-d3-13
E. missouriensis fa. > San Ysidro/NM/USA [GK 4787/97] s-4 à 5-d2-13
E. missouriensis RP 81 > Montrose/CO/USA [MG 383.77/97] s-4 à 5-d2-13
E. missouriensis SB 1071 > Larimer Co/CO/USA [MG 383.42/98] s-6-d2-13
E. missouriensis 'wissmannii' [GK 1198/90] f/ms-4 à 5-d3-13
E. missouriensis v. asperispina [GK 1195/90] f-4 à 5-d3-13
E. missouriensis v. caespitosa [GK 1199/97] s-4 à 5-d3-13
E. missouriensis v. marstonii [SW 4380/96] s-3 à 4-d2-13
E. missouriensis v. navajoensis RP 33 > Navajo Co/AZ/USA [MG 412.1/94] s/f-4 à 5-d2-13
E. missouriensis v. similis [DH 497/96] f-4 à 5-d3-13
E. missouriensis v. similis [GK 1197/95] f-4 à 5-d3-13

I don't understand much about field numbers, but I guess the ones from the North can stand a little bit more cold than the ones from the South.

Any advice?

Gypsco - I just placed a Large order with Alplains, doing much the same, but also with E. vivipara, & many Echinocer. -- almost anything saying Zone 4 - 6b. Leo Chance has a great book, "C & S for Cold Climates" that goes thru many, many possibliites from Z7 --> Z3. So I'm taking a real "shotgun" approach & basically testing (@ 50 species/ssp.) what's going to survive much gray, much moisture & a return to "70's style" Winter! I'll let you know in 2 -3 yrs ....meanwhile....get growing!

Cool! Good growing to you! I wish I had the space to grow that much.

Not sure if hoteldoc is still on here, but 3 years later I'd be interested to know how this worked out for you?

Hey, Ricelg -- Not on much, usually just answering a stray question from the Forum like this But very much growing, doing fairly large #'s of seeds. Have moved to a new "farmette" with 2 horses now, so between having to start all over with new C & S beds (13 with @ 4 more to go; but doing it right with deep gravel under the cactus soil; can't change the Northeast weather-crazy as ever!). Maybe when I retire from the racetrack job (this Nov?), I'll have more time to get back to the Forum, but learned EVERYTHING I know @ growing C & S (still much to perfect) on the Forum & missed the Real Standard Go-To people . Still maintain contact with 1/2 dozen or so people, esp. thru Flickr, in the U.S. & out.
Doc

OK, great. Well if you ever get time to share some pics, I'm sure it would be interesting!

Reviving an old topic wich has a great list, Thanks!!

But a cactus outside always has a minimum temperature under which it doesn't survive, no?

What minimum temperatures apply to this list?

Thanks in advance for any reaction!!

Mesa Garden used to have a list with an indication of a lot of species what their supposed hardyness would be. Unfortunately due to their not very progressive updated of the website this information is now lost.

The hardyness of a plant differs from species to species, but also within a species it matters from which locality a certain plant is from. And then there is the case where one individual plant can cope a bit better with certain temperatures than another plant from the same batch of seeds. So it is always a bit of trial and error. And what also can be a big influence is if a plant was raised from seed yourself or if it was bought. A self raised plant could be better equiped to your growing methods, including temperatures through the year it will endure.

But for maybe a few species (Melocactus, Discocactus, Pilosocereus and some others) almost every cactus can handle 0C and even a bit lower (say -3C) with ease.

Assuming they are dry and have been for a while and have had time to shrink a bit before the frosts arrive. Moisture is the biggest risk of a cactus, especially when not in active growth. A cactus kept outside unprotected from European winter rains is basically doomed. But in a greenhouse unprotected from cold it has a good chance of surviving every year.

So, a cactus planted in full soil hasn't got a chance due to the moisture of winter?

I see you are from The Netherlands, so the climate is almost the same as in Belgium.

Not when planted outside and rain gets splashed on them. Maybe a few choice Opuntia species and some others (Escobaria?) might still survive, but you really need to provide a very very very good draining soil.

But, if you want to keep your plants outside without a greenhouse (you don't have one?), make sure there is something above the plants that will keep the rain out.

Which of these cold-hardy species get the tallest? I am curious if it would be possible to build a "fence" or allow plants to grow up a loose metal fence that's sheltered on one side from the rain. I'm thinking probably Cylindropuntia?