Indoor Flowers in Minnesota 2009

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 5:36 pm

great job growing in not-so-cactus-friendly Minnesota, Daiv. As I've mentioned before, I admire most the growers who get good results in basically hostile climates. My point of view is oversimplified but it's basically that *anyone* can grow cacti and succulents here in AZ where I live. It takes special skills and real horticultural practice to succeed in Minnesota, or Connecticut, or Maryland, or the UK. (Or the Netherlands!)

peterb

Post by **daiv** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:06 pm

Ahh Thanks Peter. Of course, one must consider that I lost about half of the plants that I brought from California. Although, I don't think the casualties would have been as high if I had the greenhouse right away.

Really, the greenhouse makes all the difference. I don't think I'd stand a chance without it.

Tonight is a good example: The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is 32F and 33F respectively. So we're definitely going to have spots of frost if not frost all over. On top of that it has been raining off and on. I'm going to run a little heater to keep the frost at bay for those two nights.

So without the greenhouse, the cacti would not only get frost, but they would be soaking wet!

masscactus · Post by **masscactus** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:27 pm

My point of view is oversimplified but it's basically that *anyone* can grow cacti and succulents here in AZ where I live. It takes special skills and real horticultural practice to succeed in Minnesota, or Connecticut, or Maryland, or the UK. (Or the Netherlands!)

That's really cool to hear coming from an established grower! When one is struggling to master their environment and develop skills, it is inspiring to look at the Western based growers and their results, but then frustrating to think...*gulp*...how easy they have it! (comparatively of course) Conditions are overcome - 4-6 months of real winter - but it is a lot of extra work and skill. Massachusetts is a long, long way from Argentina and Chile.

Daiv - the plants look awesome! You leave them out for temps in the 30's? I started to bring mine in already.

John C · Post by **John C** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:56 pm

Looking good Daiv!

Frost ALREADY!!!!!!!!!

It's still in the 80's-90's here!

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:42 am

thanks so much for saying that! winter isn't so bad here though, sometimes the first real frost doesn't come before late december.
also I have the privilege of using a commercial greenhouse, which brings me to a question though..
normally I would put my cacti away 'cold and dark' in the attic. since I get to use this greenhouse I'm wondering if it's better to keep them dark or just in the cold greenhouse in full (winter) light. they told me that when it's freezing outside it will be about 10 celsius in there.

süleyman · Post by **süleyman** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:45 am

a wonderful collection and photo show, great

Post by **daiv** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:01 pm

Thanks all!

masscactus wrote: You leave them out for temps in the 30's? I started to bring mine in already.

I leave them outside in the greenhouse - temps stay a bit warmer in there. If it gets below 30F or if the day is cool/cloudy and then it drops near freezing, I will put on a propane heater on low to keep the frost off.

Having a greenhouse is such a HUGE advantage. Right now it is raining and is supposed to carry on for the next 3 days. Current temp at 1:00PM is 45F and low is supposed to be 41F. While that is a ways from freezing, only the hardiest of cacti would stand these cold/wet conditions.

@StrUktO - You are better off with them in the light. If they are cool and dry they will be dormant, this is true, but there is no advantage to being dark while dormant. In fact, I've heard just the opposite. The key is not to have them too warm so that they grow when there is not enough light. Better to sit dormant in the dark than grow in poor light. Better still to be dormant in the light. Best to be growing in strong light!

Dalesmicro · Post by **Dalesmicro** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:06 pm

As always, great plants and pictures. It is really encouraging what you have been able to do going from California to Minnesota. You definately have a green thumb!

Based on your last post, I am pondering whether to let the cacti grow or to try to let them go dormant this winter.

This is the first year I will have any cacti in the tent-green house here in Toluca. Although it will be getting gradually cooler until nighttime temperatures approach and occassionally reach freezing from December through January, at first there will also be an increase in hours of sunshine as the rainy season ends and the afternoon clouds and rains go away. The humidity will also go down and at our high altitude (almost 9000 feet) moisture loss due to evaporation will increase somewhat, but how much is anyones guess.

Summer/winter day length changes are much less drastic here than further north. We curently have about 12 hour days, but even the shortest day will still be almost 11 hours long (although the sun will be more slanted so less intense). Any guess as to whether or not I will have enough light to keep the cacti happy and any other advice you might give?

Thanks, Dale

Post by **daiv** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:19 pm

Hi Dale,
I guess cold and wet is what you want to avoid most of all. From how it sounds in your area, I would stop watering mid-November and then start again in Late February/Early March. If the plants look thirsty, you can give them a little.

The key with cacti is that you are much more likely to kill them with too much water than not enough.

Does the temp inside your tent get the same as outside?

Dalesmicro · Post by **Dalesmicro** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:44 pm

daiv wrote:...Does the temp inside your tent get the same as outside?

Hi Daiv, and thanks for the input. I need to get a thermometer to measure the maximums and minimums, but based on last winter when my wife had some fairly tropical plants in the tent (Palo de Brazil, African Violets, some orchids, etc.) and all survived, it must stay quite a bit warmer, but I will probably put in a couple of incandescent lights just in case.

How well can cacti aclimatize if the tmeperatures decrease gradually and what do you think would be a minimum safe temperature?

Thanks again, Dale

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:51 am

thanks daiv! I guess I'll leave them in the light then

Post by **daiv** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:35 pm

Dalesmicro wrote: How well can cacti aclimatize if the tmeperatures decrease gradually and what do you think would be a minimum safe temperature?

Probably much better than the way I do it, which is a sudden and drastic change, but I can't do much else about it on a practical level.

Low temps depend on the species for sure. Ian and Peterb have a lot of experience with cacti getting well into the freezing temps. Their conditions in England and (formerly) New Mexico are much more similar to your setup than mine.

Here, I can't leave plants in the greenhouse as it will easily have an inside temperature of -20F! Previous to that, I was in Southern California and everything stayed outside in the same place all year.

So I haven't got any experience with "mild" winters and can't say which species you can keep in the cold, but I know it is a lot more than most people realize. In fact, it might be easier to list which species (or genera) won't take those conditions.

Post by **daiv** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:04 pm

Dale, some good info in this post:

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6847

Dalesmicro · Post by **Dalesmicro** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:21 pm

Thanks Daiv for the additional information and the link to Ian's thread on growing cacti in unheated green houses. I think it is very aplicable to my situation. Dale

iann · Post by **iann** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:45 pm

September has been warm and dull here, not even thinking about temps in the 30s yet. Nights have rarely been below 50F even! Just a shame we've hardly seen the sun

I have very few plants that can't stay out right down to freezing. My "tender" plants are Copiapoas, Turbinicarpus, Lophophoras, Ariocarpus, etc., and they will all stay out until nights drop well below freezing. I've tested several expendable plants through a whole winter, but don't risk it for ones that would be difficult to replace.

Indoor Flowers in Minnesota 2009

Winter growing