Which side of the house should my cacti be on?

[Nailthesnail]

So I have quite a few big trichocereus species that I have purchased so this will be my first year with a full growth season for them.

I have been searching round but couldn't find what side of the house I should have them growing on. I get they don't like sun at most intense but I am wondering if that will matter through spring. at the moment they are north west facing and get sun for most the day.

I want them to keep the beautiful blue colour but also grow very well.

I have 3 cuttings that are rooting will they show signs of growth within spring?

Cheers

[powerinformation]

East I believe?

[in_spirit]

Definitely the out side they do ok on the in side but tyhe outside is better and in the ground

[Optimystic]

You in NZ? form what I understand it doesn't get super hot there...

if thats the case then full sun all the way the brightest spot you can find for optimal growth, especially bridgesiis and peru's
but if they haven't been in bright sun then introduce them slowly to brighter conditions... Dreamwalker is from there

and should be able to share his experience with them there

[Alice]

They should adapt fine to full sun, so I'd put them on the north side. If you're worried about sun burn, then you can shade them from the harsh afternoon sun but planting them on the eastern side, as Powerinformation suggested. But then they'd only have a few hours of direct sun each day, not ideal. Plant them on the north side.

[Dreamwalker.]

yeah....I have seen giants out in full sun...but as everyone says watch for sun burn, if they haven't been exposed to it before...I have some in full north sun ...but the local san p are really robust, here, & if people can see them from the path, they may go a wondering I've meet a few locals who have complained kids nabbed their cactus......(can't imagine why ).....so maybe against your back fence if that get's a good amount of light.............the frost here don't seem to bother them......at least not the mature ones....

Bogfrog....may have some advice about keeping them blue...I'm not sure about that

Edited September 20, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[Gunter]

N, E or W.

[TheExplorer]

I always put my plants on the North side with a bit of shade during the early afternoon. If you have any large trees in your backyard you can work with them so that your plants get full sun to midday and then filtered light / part shade during the afternoon. I get a good balance of growth, limited sunburn and glaucousness on most of my plants. Having said that, I live in an area with brutal summers, so your situation might allow for full sun all day.

As for your cuttings, it's hard to know what they will do. IME: Some root in a few weeks and take off; some just sit there and take forever to root and don't show any growth till the following season; and some split their energy between rooting and growing and start to etiolate. They can be funny sometimes.

[Dreamwalker.]

didn't you have floods last year?....I guess your going to put them in raised beds ...so their feet don't get wet.

[Nailthesnail]

Yea it flooded last year so I lost a few of my homies, I have moved since then. I will keep them where they are and if they start to show signs of sunburn I will move to shadier spot. I have 3 really blue cuttings I bought that I want to keep that colour so hopefully it is algood.

I fertilized one of my bridgesii's a few days ago with a really high nitrogen mix :/ what is the problem with me doing that again?


I could put them on my back fence yeah!

DreamWalker I'll hit you up in summer I might have some cool seedlings to send your way

[Dreamwalker.]

re nitrogen...others probably know better than me...I think N promotes growth that tends to be susceptible to rot in winter....better to use high phosphate....like blood & bone or fish emulsion....Veganism may be an issue..I mix blood & bone into water & dilute the liquid fert into the watering can ..& apply once per week or so from late spring too late summer...I've been pissing into the mix...seems a cheap vegan alternative...stinks though........

http://www.bigblogofgardening.com/human-urine-as-fertilizer-in-your-home-garden/

"Believe it or not, human urine contains almost the same ingredients in the same proportions as a bag of fertilizer. So why aren't we all just peeing on our lawns and gardens?"

re seedlings...maybe we can do a swap late summer

Edited September 21, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[Nailthesnail]

I can't be vegan in all aspects of life, I am not too fazed about using a fert because if they are gonna do it they may aswell use everything.

It's better then wasting the remains in my opinion, I used nitrosol with nitrogen at 8 lol.

Wow I heard it premotes pupping or flowering but that is amazing. If the bathrooms in use I just piss outside so I think that might be the go too and just make sure it's dilute as!

Could be a huge money saver aye because I piss like a horse

[solaritea]

If you deal with frosty nights, I've found that my trichocereus planted in areas that get sun first thing in the morning do better than those that are shaded from the morning sun.

[Nailthesnail]

in what way do they do better? Growth rate, health, color?

Cheers

[franky]

I've got a san p in my south facing garden bed that gets decent morning shade, turning into a monster with only late morning afternoon sun

[solaritea]

I've noticed significantly more frost damage in trichos planted in areas that don't get morning sun.

If you don't get freezing temperatures morning sun isn't going to be as important.

Edited September 22, 2014 by solaritea

[Nailthesnail]

We are just getting up to our last frost, all of my tricho's that could get effected bad are inside.

I put one that may frost damage out in morning sun this after noon though