Outdoor cactus bed in Houston, Texas

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:00 am

I'm finally going to do it. I've been browsing other members topics trying to decide how I'm going to build it. I'll probably do something like Ralf's raised bed seen here:

http://www.kakteensammlung-holzheu.de/w ... itung.html

I have a few Cacti I trust would survive the warm humid conditions here during the summer and the cold and possibly wet conditions during the winter. It usually doesn't drop much below 30 degree in the winter. I have some Opuntia cuttings I've gotten from the few cacti I've seen growing outside here. I've also got some Cacti from a local cactus nursery here in Houston. They're hard grown cacti that the owner grows outside in pots. My girlfriend, who is awesome bought, me a 4.5 foot tall Trichocereus pachnoi today for a late Valentines day present since we didn't get to celebrate it(long story). I'm a little worried about him getting adequate drainage if I plant him in the bed though. I guess I'll just have to make it a tall bed and see how he does come winter time.

Right now all the cacti I have lined up for the bed are Opuntia stricta, Burbank Spineless, Echinopsis Hybrid, Trichocereus Pachnoi, and some Notocactus that I'm not sure of the species; it's about to bloom though so I'll post pictures and see if you guys can ID it. I probably have some other ones I can't think of off the top of my head.

Can you guys recommend any other cacti that might do well in Houston. Heck and Aloe, Yucca, or Agave would be welcome too. I've checked out the cold hardy sticky, but I'm worried about them getting cold and wet. That zone hardiness nonsense does nothing for me. Whomp whomp whomp... I bet Harriet might have some ideas. I think the climate in Florida is probably similar.

Any input and ideas is welcome. I'll try and keep this thread updated with pictures as I actually make progress. Oh, and here's some crappy cell phone pictures of the Notocactus and Tricho Pachnoi I got today. Thanks guys.

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:00 pm

Thats going to look awesome.

Post by **daiv** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:28 pm

Is it really that wet in Houston? I wouldn't have thought so. I think temp-wise you can grow a lot of variety. It might be easier to list the things you can't grow.

But some you should grow would be Cylindropuntia (bigelovii, acanthocarpa, echinocarpa, and others), Echinocactus, Echinocereus, Escobaria, Coryphantha just for starters.

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:42 am

Well I suppose it's not really that wet so much as humid. I'm probably just paranoid about my cacti rotting since it's my first cactus garden. Thanks for the ideas on what to start with. I'll start checking out some of the hardy cacti sites.

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:15 am

So far I have had better luck with my in-ground cacti dealing with humidity and rain and/or watering than some others in my greenhouse. Depends on the cactus I suppose.

Ralf · Post by **Ralf** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:49 am

I'm glad and surprised that you've enjoyed my site.
You should have a look at this site. At the below end you'll find a lot cold hardy plants.

http://www.kakteensammlung-holzheu.de/e ... cacti.html

The names are all links to the description sites with images of it.

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:46 pm

Hey thanks Ralf! Good thing I took German in high school. I'm still very bad at it though. Every time my teach would ask me a question I didn't know, I would tell her "Ich muss die katze mähen."

I've commenced construction. The pictures don't show how much higher it is than the surround ground very well. I promise it is though. Water won't be collecting in it.

I've got to stack more rocks today!

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:30 pm

Oh what fun! The higher you mound that bed the better... both for drainage and for enevitable erosion/sinkage. Keep us posted!

Post by **daiv** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:45 pm

That's going to be great!

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:30 am

Wow coming along nicely!

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:08 am

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I worked on it a bit more today. Finished stacking rocks and man that takes it out of you. I'm tired! I'll post pictures tomorrow. I probably won't get to work on it again until the end of the week. I think I might take Harriet's advice and build my mound up a little more.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:41 am

I would build it up pretty high in case you get a lot of rainfall at once, which from what I understand can happen in Houston sometimes.

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:17 pm

Yeah it most certainly can. I had my friend come over with his crazy digital SLR camera with macro lense and he took some nice pictures of my notocactus/parodia in bloom. He took other pictures too. There was actually a house fly impaled on one of the spines ill get them from him and post them.

m4rkz0r · Post by **m4rkz0r** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 1:55 am

I finally finished it! I got lazy and didn't take a lot of in between pictures, but I mounded it a littler higher.

Here's what I used for soil.

I didn't get a good picture of them mixed though. I'll have to do that. Mixing that much soil is a PITA.

Here's some just for fun pictures.

Parodia linkii I think...

And Parodia herzogii growing some buds!

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 6:52 am

looks really nice! I bet where you live those cacti will do great!