Do Trichocereus go Dormant in Winter?

[Guest Ramon]

I was just wondering if members of the Trichocereus family become dormant through winter.

Specifically in Brisbane's climate.

[Torsten]

Generally yes, but in Brisbane (or Byron area) they grow for a lot longer than in sydney. You've got a few weeks of growth yet, but it is certainly slowing down.

[Ed Dunkel]

And down here in Vic they are pretty much dormant now.

E D

[Guest reville]

yep.perth report is-

growing strongly through till early april

by the begginning of may its all 0ver,In stasis now.

[Guest Ramon]

18th May

Happy to report that in Brisbane pups on T.bridgesii are still growing

and yesterday I discovered that T.pachanoi is starting to form a pup

[Guest Ramon]

18th June

Brisbane

My Tricho's are still growing

[Torsten]

I fertilised mine just before the cold spell we had a couple of weeks ago and they are still growing. Not very fast, but definitely still growing.

[rkundalini]

Even in Melbourne a short fat cutting I planted several months ago still seems to be growing. The others seem to have stopped.

[earthalchemist]

sydney: all is on hold for the winter.

to further complicate things, the tricho's are all recovering from what i now know is pyrethrene (pyrethrum??) burn ... which, according to Peyote and Other Psychoactive Cacti by Adam Gottleib, only affects tricho's. can anyone elaborate on the pyrethrene/pyrethrum theme?

happiness

earthalchemist

[Guest reville]

you know how i said the trichos were in stasis - it appears they arent - just slowed considerably

i believe this is unusual and perhaps due to

the warm/ dry winter weve had so far.

T terscheckii is doing fine and ive got some

T peruvianus seeds that should germinate indoors soon - will post on germ times experienced

seeya

[Ed Dunkel]

My opinion is (I might be wrong here) that when they go dormant they actually just grow realy slowly and this is probably noticed with the annual thinning they show along there length.

Over the several winters that I have had my Tricho's growing outdoors I have noticed even in the dead of winter that they slowly creep on up.

On the topic of dormancy, I have read somewhere that most desert type cacti exhibit a 'dormancy' period during the hottest part of summer as a way to conserve water. And so heavy watering might result in water logging and root rot.

Personally I haven't noticed this with my T.pachanoi as they are quite resilient but I am careful with my other cacti as they show some slowing (maybe from my lack of watering/imagination).

Has anyone noticed similar behaviour?

E D

[Natura]

Is it in Winter There ?

[Ed Dunkel]

In the southern hemisphere the seasons are pretty much out of phase by half a year. And Melbourne being on the southern end of Australia we are very much in the winter here.

Luckily it is mild compared to northern European winters (i.e. Like you experience in Paris)

E D

[This message has been edited by Ed Dunkel (edited 11 July 2000).]

[Natura]

No season in Green house, This is my Mother ship !

I think trico survive in north Europe climate, EDDY ?

[Ed Dunkel]

Some cacti are very cold hardy. Check out this site as it might answer your question.

Too Cold for Cactus Group: http://vvv.com/~amdigest/hardy.htm

I never had the chance to try and grow tricho's in N. Europe, sorry I don't know.

E D

[Guest UV1]

Do Cacti require the Winter dormancy period, with the right lighting and heating is it possible to keep them at their peak growth rate year round?

[Guest Ramon]

I think that in some cacti the dormancy period. ( or at least a period of cold and less water ) is considered important for inducing flowering.