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Overwintering Trichs

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Hi everyone.

 

I have some questions about overwintering my Trichocereus, and I hope some of you more experienced growers can give some advice. I’ve spent considerable time trying to find info, but because answers vary so much based on location in the world, I thought it best to just ask locals (NSW) what they do to prevent etoliation during the colder months.

 

I’ve had nice plump growth over summer and I’m really hoping to avoid my cacti getting stretched sections over winter as they have the last few years. I went to move a 3ft cactus the other day and because it had a weak spot in the centre and was top heavy from nice growth this year it snapped which I was not happy about. Most of them seem to have this shape to their growth ie. fat / skinny / fat.

 

My options at the moment seem to be:
• let them dry right out and put them in a cold, totally dark garage to let them go dormant (this is something I read about, but it worries me to try this one).
• Buy a green house so that light and heat can still get to them but deprive them of water over winter

 

My cacti have always been outdoors all year round, and because we get so much rain over winter here on the coast I feel the amount of water and short hours of sunlight are responsible for this cycle of skinny growth in the winter. This being said I know of growers in NSW in similar locations with enormous established cacti that are fairly consistent in thickness. Most of these are grown in the ground, outdoors all year round and I want to know how they are getting this consistency?

 

I’ve uploaded some images as reference.

Cac1.jpg

Cac2.jpg

Cac3.jpg

Cac1.thumb.jpg.6afe30e1f5352693b50faadcdf5928b3.jpg

Cac2.thumb.jpg.e0485b29dbef9ddef7e96583311685dd.jpg

Cac3.thumb.jpg.306341bc6302b7df2625f667834e50fa.jpg

Cac1.thumb.jpg.6afe30e1f5352693b50faadcdf5928b3.jpg

Cac2.thumb.jpg.e0485b29dbef9ddef7e96583311685dd.jpg

Cac3.thumb.jpg.306341bc6302b7df2625f667834e50fa.jpg

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They only go dormant if it's cold enough

 

Edit - I'm not sure of the exact point, but it's defo under 8 degrees. It has to hold under the point, or they'll try to jump off again. 

Edited by waterboy 2.0

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Hi, I was wondering how dormancy effects Trichs grafted onto Peres.  If the Peres is less 'domant prone' for example does the Trich continue with growth ?

 

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Hi I was wondering the same thing. I'm in SA, and it seems to be getting to around 6-8 degrees C at night lately (i'm sure there will be plenty of 0 and -2 degree nights over winter). I have moved them to a spot where they won't get much rain (only some splatters, and if the wind blows the rain on them), but they should be able to get all the diffused sunlight that is available. I'm not sure if I should not water them for the whole of winter or just water them every 2-3 weeks.

 

 

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