Are some Echinocereus painfully slow?

[mmcavall]

I have a few Echinocereus fitchii , pectinatus and rigidissimus and they are quite slow (despite the annual flowering of one of the fitchiis).
I'm always changing the mix, since their slow growth make me think I'm doing something wrong.
So what is really happening? Are these species indeed slow growers?
Are they finicky concerning substrate, waterings, sunlight or drought stress? Is there something that makes them stunt?
(I have also an Echinocereus engelmanii and is is completely different from its congeners...it grows really fast!)
Any tips will be much appreciated, thanks in advance!

[Aiko]

Maybe it is too warm for some of them during most of the time in the year? Don't know your climate, if it is hot and humid.

Echinocereus does not mind the cold. They might flower better too when they had a good cold winter. Do they all flower for you, or the E. fitchii?

[mmcavall]

Thank you Aiko for replying.
Until now , only the bigger E. fitchii flowered (twice, in the last two years, after the dry and relatively cold season).
But overall they are very slow, the kind of plant you never know if it's slowly dying or is just too slow.
They don't take any rain, and most of the year temperatures are above 20 C Celsius, even in winter.
Winter nights can be cold as 12....rarely below 10, but it happens. During winter I avoid watering them but someone in the forum told me to do not let them bone dry like Mammillarias, otherwise they would loose their roots. Anyway, they don't grow even during summer.
I have many other species from cold places and they grow fine.
Thank you again!

[Aiko]

Winter nights can be cold as 12....rarely below 10

This sounds funny to me, calling 10C cold for a winter night (are we talking celsius or fahrenheit here, just to be sure?).
Some of my plants were in an unheated greenhouse this winter, where in February it reached -15C. I only lost two plants, both Ferocactus that have been in an unheated greenhouse for a few years (but never had to endure -15C.

Well, it looks like I can't give you great growing advice as our conditions are so much different.

[mmcavall]

Hi , Aiko. I'm always talking on Celsius...never learned the fahrenheit scale (for instance , I just can't read when people here talk on fahrenheits...I just skip the information).
Yes for sure 10C is a cold night. We don't have heating apparatus inside the houses so we sleep with several blankets. Last week we had a night with 6 C Celsius, it was cold for us, humans, but not for the cacti.

As for the Echinocereus, I think yes, you can help me, by saying whether your Echinocereus fitchii or rigidissimus are slow growers or not.

Thank you again.

[MikeInOz]

fitchii and pectinatus are quite fast growing, rigidissimus is a bit slower. They all stop growing in mid summer (here at least) when the average daily temperature is over 30C or so. They start growing again in autumn. So you should encourage them to grow then and rest during the highest temp period. In other words keep them a bit drier. They all slow down when they are mature.

[mmcavall]

fitchii and pectinatus are quite fast growing, rigidissimus is a bit slower. They all stop growing in mid summer (here at least) when the average daily temperature is over 30C or so. They start growing again in autumn. So you should encourage them to grow then and rest during the highest temp period. In other words keep them a bit drier. They all slow down when they are mature.

Thank you, Mike. From what you said, and also from what Aiko said, I can assume they don't like my hot summer. Maybe I should estimulate their growth in colder seasons.
Thanks for the input !

[snyorega]

never learned the fahrenheit scale (for instance , I just can't read when people here talk on fahrenheits

To roughly convert from F to C, you can subtract 30 then halve the result.
That way you can convert quickly in your head, and it will be accurate enough over the range of "normal" air temperatures.

[mmcavall]

never learned the fahrenheit scale (for instance , I just can't read when people here talk on fahrenheits

To roughly convert from F to C, you can subtract 30 then halve the result.
That way you can convert quickly in your head, and it will be accurate enough over the range of "normal" air temperatures.

Thank you. It is simple like that? Seriously...I have never stoped to Google it.