Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

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Where do you grow your cacti/succulents?

1. In the garden, in soil or pots
11
26%
2.in the garden and/or greenhouse
6
14%
3.In a greenhouse, all year round
5
12%
4. In a greenhouse and winterrest indoors
8
19%
5. Indoors only
12
29%
 
Total votes: 42
Mrs.Green
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Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by Mrs.Green »

Reading on the forum , I feel a bit as the odd one out, having all my cacti indoors, year round. It seems like ‘everybody ‘ either are growing their cacti outdoors or have at least one greenhouse.

So just out of curiousity, where do you keep your cacti?
Last edited by Mrs.Green on Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:41 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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eulaspiegel
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by eulaspiegel »

So far I keep all mine indoors with the help of lights, but starting this summer I wanted to experiment with some winter hardy species (Opuntia fragilis, Escobaria vivipara, Sempervivum spp., maybe Austrocactus) outside in a balcony box..
Growing mostly under LED lights, in northern latitudes. Especially interested in stem succulents and caudiciforms. Dreaming of my first greenhouse.
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One Windowsill
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by One Windowsill »

There is no option for "I don't grow cacti". I keep my succulents in my bedroom, one third of them under my bed. As my Hoodia flava is about to flower, I may be regretting this quite soon. But it will be interesting to see who is more correct, Ulrich Meve who wrote that the smell is like old fish or PlantZAfrica who wrote that it is like rotting meat.
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eulaspiegel
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by eulaspiegel »

One Windowsill wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:01 pm There is no option for "I don't grow cacti". I keep my succulents in my bedroom, one third of them under my bed. As my Hoodia flava is about to flower, I may be regretting this quite soon. But it will be interesting to see who is more correct, Ulrich Meve who wrote that the smell is like old fish or PlantZAfrica who wrote that it is like rotting meat.
Hehe good luck with that! Sorry to Mrs.Green for the off-topic question, but have you experienced growth cessation on your indoor Stapeliads under a certain daylength? I bought a few plants relatively late last year and a some of them haven't been doing much lately, which I suspect is because I have had 10h days in my artificial environment in the last two months...
Growing mostly under LED lights, in northern latitudes. Especially interested in stem succulents and caudiciforms. Dreaming of my first greenhouse.
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One Windowsill
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by One Windowsill »

eulaspiegel wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:26 pm
One Windowsill wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:01 pm There is no option for "I don't grow cacti". I keep my succulents in my bedroom, one third of them under my bed. As my Hoodia flava is about to flower, I may be regretting this quite soon. But it will be interesting to see who is more correct, Ulrich Meve who wrote that the smell is like old fish or PlantZAfrica who wrote that it is like rotting meat.
Hehe good luck with that! Sorry to Mrs.Green for the off-topic question, but have you experienced growth cessation on your indoor Stapeliads under a certain daylength? I bought a few plants relatively late last year and a some of them haven't been doing much lately, which I suspect is because I have had 10h days in my artificial environment in the last two months...
I haven't had mine under 11 hours a day and most have been at 14 for the last year. Depends on the stapeliad. Some are from tropical regions where they probably don't have much variation in daylength. South African ones may vary if they are from winter rainfall or summer rainfall areas. Or it might just be that they are establishing in their new environment. What are they? Did you get them bare-rooted?
Mrs.Green
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by Mrs.Green »

Bummer.. I added an option and the previous votes disappeared.. :( Removed the addition but the votes are still missing.

Eulaspiegel; Hope you will be succesful growing outdoors :) I have toyed with the idea but very heavy and long rainfalls the last winters in november/december, discourages any hope of survival. Low temperatures ( almost freezing) and long periods with heavy rain, don’tseem to be a receipe for success..

No reason to apologuize, lot’s of interesting info can come from off topics :)

One Windowsill; under your bed? Rather small plants then or your bed is on ‘high heels’? From my experience, rotting meat and rotting fish smells equally bad..but it will be interesting to hear from you, when it flowers. What do you intend to do then, sleep on the coach or move the plant from the bedroom?
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eulaspiegel
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by eulaspiegel »

One Windowsill wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:50 pm
eulaspiegel wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:26 pm
One Windowsill wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:01 pm There is no option for "I don't grow cacti". I keep my succulents in my bedroom, one third of them under my bed. As my Hoodia flava is about to flower, I may be regretting this quite soon. But it will be interesting to see who is more correct, Ulrich Meve who wrote that the smell is like old fish or PlantZAfrica who wrote that it is like rotting meat.
Hehe good luck with that! Sorry to Mrs.Green for the off-topic question, but have you experienced growth cessation on your indoor Stapeliads under a certain daylength? I bought a few plants relatively late last year and a some of them haven't been doing much lately, which I suspect is because I have had 10h days in my artificial environment in the last two months...
I haven't had mine under 11 hours a day and most have been at 14 for the last year. Depends on the stapeliad. Some are from tropical regions where they probably don't have much variation in daylength. South African ones may vary if they are from winter rainfall or summer rainfall areas. Or it might just be that they are establishing in their new environment. What are they? Did you get them bare-rooted?
The ones with the least activity seem to be mostly from winter rainfall areas in Southern Africa, at least when I compare their origin according to LLIFLE to rainfall seasonality maps; namely Stapelia schinzii, Orbea lutea ssp. vaga, Piaranthus punctatus). Only the latter of the three I got bare-rooted. The temperature is constant around 20-25°C, maybe that's not ideal for the South African species in the winter, but on the other hand a book I have on Stapeliads (from the German cactus society) says those three genera should all be quite easy to keep indoors.


@Mrs.Green Thanks! I am curious whether it will work, but I am only testing it with species I know can handle being covered in snow for months in habitat, and that can handle cold + wet conditions. I guess it's more difficult further south (or anywhere in Norway really), then you need to protect most species from all the rain. I might have to cover them in autumn as well for it to work, but I will test without covering first.
I found a nursery in Germany (called Winter-Kaktus) that has been breeding cacti to survive German winters completely exposed to the elements, I might try to order some from them if it doesn't work out with my seedlings.
Growing mostly under LED lights, in northern latitudes. Especially interested in stem succulents and caudiciforms. Dreaming of my first greenhouse.
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7george
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by 7george »

I have 3 categories: 1) Most staying all time indoors; 2) 40 - 50 pots being taken outdoors for the frost-free period; 3) Hardy for zone 3 plants that grow all times in the soil or pots in the garden or my deck.
Well, maybe four types: 4) Hardy seedlings that have been grown for the first 2 - 3 years indoors and than transferred to grow in the garden.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
Mrs.Green
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by Mrs.Green »

Eulaspiegel; I had a look at Winter-kaktus’ site, the pictured Cholla was very tempting! If ‘my’ winters started as they usually are from january and onwards( at least one meter ( 100 centimeters) with snow and freezing temperatures, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But as mentioned, the last 4 or 5 years, the ‘winter’ have started with long and heavy rainfalls. Off course I could have covered the cacti but for me, some of the point with growing them outdoors, would have disappeared then.

You haven’t considered trying Opuntia humifusa? :)

Completly off topic but love your avatar!
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One Windowsill
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti?

Post by One Windowsill »

eulaspiegel wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:18 pm
One Windowsill wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:50 pm
eulaspiegel wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:26 pm
The ones with the least activity seem to be mostly from winter rainfall areas in Southern Africa, at least when I compare their origin according to LLIFLE to rainfall seasonality maps; namely Stapelia schinzii, Orbea lutea ssp. vaga, Piaranthus punctatus). Only the latter of the three I got bare-rooted. The temperature is constant around 20-25°C, maybe that's not ideal for the South African species in the winter, but on the other hand a book I have on Stapeliads (from the German cactus society) says those three genera should all be quite easy to keep indoors.
I haven't tried those so I couldn't say. Could they have got cold when they were being delivered?
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One Windowsill
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by One Windowsill »

Mrs.Green wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:53 pm One Windowsill; under your bed? Rather small plants then or your bed is on ‘high heels’? From my experience, rotting meat and rotting fish smells equally bad..but it will be interesting to hear from you, when it flowers. What do you intend to do then, sleep on the coach or move the plant from the bedroom?
It is a loft bed from Ikea. The flowers will probably be removed quite soon after I get a good photo.
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CactusBoss
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by CactusBoss »

I keep all mine inside my apartment. They’re all epiphytes so they don’t need the scorching sun that’s hard to achieve indoors like the desert ones
Daniel (age 25)

Zone 5a
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ohugal
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by ohugal »

In the bedroom without artificial lighting. It's far from an ideal setup. Me and my better half bought a house with a garden, so (hopefully) in a few years I'll be able to put them outside during summer. In the house I will have a room with a big window and a lot of sunlight in which I have more control over the temperature and artificial lighing if needed. Look so much forward to that.
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DaveW
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by DaveW »

I solely grow cacti, so the exact opposite to Windowsill. Also the hardier ones stop in a bubble wrapped insulated unheated greenhouse over winter, but the tender ones come indoors. In cold weather those in the greenhouse get covered by a layer of newspaper that can be left on day and night for a week or so if the plants are not growing without them etiolating. However it's usually taken off during the day if the greenhouse temperature rises high enough.

Watering in the greenhouse stops about September through to March in the UK. In warmer conditions in the house I may need to give a little mist spray occasionally or they would dehydrate too much, but are OK in cool conditions even in the house.
keith
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Re: Where do you keep your cacti/succulents?

Post by keith »

Cactus and Lithops outside in cold frames and covered with plastic if its a hard Winter rain or just general spring fog. Most succulents left out in the weather .

It gets pretty dry in Winter between rains and almost never hard freezes.
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