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Jonny Deformed

Where can i get a portable walkin greenhouse?

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Greetings

I acquired some 50+ cacti (all Trichos) in early spring and have had them all in full sun until now.

The recent rains we've been having have got me thinking about winter.

What do you growers do with your collections over the winter months?

I hear of people bringing them indoors but this is not possible for me.

A greenhouse is the way to go I'm thinking but it would have to be portable, as in not glass.

So where can i get a portable walk in greenhouse?

I have tried bunnings, mitre10, Kmart, and others but no one seems to know their heads from their arseholes.

Cheers

JD

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Greetings

I acquired some 50+ cacti (all Trichos) in early spring and have had them all in full sun until now.

The recent rains we've been having have got me thinking about winter.

What do you growers do with your collections over the winter months?

I hear of people bringing them indoors but this is not possible for me.

A greenhouse is the way to go I'm thinking but it would have to be portable, as in not glass.

So where can i get a portable walk in greenhouse?

I have tried bunnings, mitre10, Kmart, and others but no one seems to know their heads from their arseholes.

Cheers

JD

I have seen things like this at bunnings, etc. A bit pricey though. You could always build one. I have previously left scop out in winter... and Have seen cacti in gardens planted in soil which obviously kick on through winter. I too would also like to know who keeps there cacti in greenhouses during winter.

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Building one is always an option.

Although I'm a bit retarded when it comes to handy work.

Knowing my luck I'd get it built, fill it with my babies and have the whole thing collapse on them and possible me also.

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JD if u are in QLD then u def wont have to bring your cacti in for the winter.

Will they not go doment though?

I thought if i put them in a green house they'd grow all year round?

Also what about loph's, should i bring them inside?

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they will slow down but they wont go completely dormant. As for lophs just dont water them thru the colder months. Plenty of info on this to be found with the search engine. :)

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they will slow down but they wont go completely dormant. As for lophs just dont water them thru the colder months. Plenty of info on this to be found with the search engine. :)

I found that my mature cacti can survive the low twenties and high teens (Fahrenheit), though I've been too afraid to go any lower than that. They are pretty much dormant at that point however and aren't getting any water. I've had them inside for a few months now though (keep them in the basement in the dark), as it's been consistently below zero atleast part of the day for the last few weeks. It's even dropped down to -30F a few times during the early morning hours. I'm definitely ready for spring.

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u can pik up cheap green/hot houses from ebay, look for outdoorau's products.

i purchased 2 hothouses a while back for about 80buks each and they have been great for me.

i think a dry period over winter is beneficial for inducing flowering, and will be definatley overwintering mine this winter to test the thesis.

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Winter rain is going to be a problem though no? If i decide not to get a green house.

I'd at least need some sort of cover to stop my semi dormant cacti getting wet right?

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In QLD you will have no worries with Trichs outdoors.

We dont get too much rain here during the cooler months anyway.

Just dont give them much water in winter.

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They're not walk-in greenhouses, but I have purchased two four-shelf greenhouses from Bunnings for about $30 each and they've been quite good. They're not as stable as the more expensive ones, but we've had some pretty strong winds here in Melbourne and I haven't had any problems with them. For $30, it's definitely worth trying one.

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Yeah i'v got a couple.

Not really big enough.

Thanks anyway.

Going to hold off for now, wait for the council kerb side pick up.

Never know what ye'll find.

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Yeah i'v got a couple.

Not really big enough.

Thanks anyway.

Going to hold off for now, wait for the council kerb side pick up.

Never know what ye'll find.

your a junk trawler like myself then...

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Make one mate.

This design is pretty simple

pm.

Edited by twenny47

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Trich's grow in the Ande's mountains bud.

I wouldn't worry too much as I used to live in the southern highlands with trich's in the ground summers were sweltering ,rained all the time and it snows there occasionally.Never had sick plants ever,just thinner and taller.

They actually benefit from moisture on the skin especially if sprayed at night when the pores open up for transpiration.You can even treat them to a ceremonial pissing every now and then...they'll actually appreciate it :wink:

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wicked tip about the spraying at night mesc.

i have been scared mine will rot if they have water droplets on em. i guess you just dont want waterlogged roots yeah?

also wary to piss on them.

i killed a P.Carth not long ago while exposing it to a dose of morning urine that was full of nutrients to a toxic level i guess.

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Don't they store chemicals for years...

When they're one day legal to eat i don't really want to be munching down my of piss.

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your piss is reach in nutrients that help the plants to grow. urea is rich in nitrogen.

i also water my plants with charlie carp but that doesnt mean that one day my cactus will taste fishy. the nutrients get broken down and put to good use in helping the cactus to grow.

chemicals that cant be broken down that accumulate in the cacti are the ones to worry about. like chemical fungicides. if the plant stores em up, doesnt break them down and if they are harmfull to your health, then you dont want to be watering your plants with it.

if the chemicals can be broken down and put to good use then use them freely to water your plants.

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your piss is reach in nutrients that help the plants to grow. urea is rich in nitrogen.

i also water my plants with charlie carp but that doesnt mean that one day my cactus will taste fishy. the nutrients get broken down and put to good use in helping the cactus to grow.

chemicals that cant be broken down that accumulate in the cacti are the ones to worry about. like chemical fungicides. if the plant stores em up, doesnt break them down and if they are harmfull to your health, then you dont want to be watering your plants with it.

if the chemicals can be broken down and put to good use then use them freely to water your plants.

i was under the impression that cacti weren't big on nitrogen

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i was under the impression that cacti weren't big on nitrogen

Iv'e never heard that, although it's usually better to just use a good balance of N, P and K for an all round feed

PS: I've seen decent portable walk in hot houses for sale at bunnings :wink:

You can always try building a small poly house from old tent poles and some plastic sheeting from the hardware [or variations on this theme], opaque white is usually the best option to cut down the UV rays a bit, see how you go, I recommend a hothouse or polyhouse any day :)

Edited by tonic

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yeah some people give cacti native fertiliser mixes low on nitrogen

i use a slow release fertiliser which has a fairly high amount of nitrogen and my plants are absolutely powering.

currently i see no evidence that mine dont like it.

will cut back on the high levels of fert im currently using in the winter though.

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yeah some people give cacti native fertiliser mixes low on nitrogen

i use a slow release fertiliser which has a fairly high amount of nitrogen and my plants are absolutely powering.

currently i see no evidence that mine dont like it.

will cut back on the high levels of fert im currently using in the winter though.

(N)= Nitrogen is great for growth, i;e with normal vascular plants the leaves will turn very green and grow extremely well the same applies for cacti

(P)= Phosphorus is great for promoting root growth and helping in fortifying against plant disease

(K)= Potassium is great for flowering and then seed production

As I said it's usually good to have a balance of all 3, but it is also good to give a good dose of (N) at the start of the growing period.

Native plants [mainly PROTEACEAE] are intolerant of, particulary (P), most native plants don't mind a little bit of (N), and Acacia spp. have Nitrogen fixing nodules on thier roots which actually feed surrounding plants :) . Always do your research before feeding any native plant with any of the above elements, generally they shouldnt need too much feeding if in the ground anyway [if any].

I always feed my cacti with either high N feed [example fish emulsion, worm poo juice] or a more balanced feed something like miracle grow isn't too bad and has a ratio of (N): 15.0% (P): 13.1% (K): 12.4% as you can see the balance is quite close, though some schools of thought choose to use ONLY organic plant food as gnomes who may consider going to be ingesting ect; may noy not want chemical contaminants within the substance, gnomes are funny like that :wink:

....and you probably shouldn't feed plants through the winter months as it can stress them, if you really want to just do it once in winter as opposed to the growing period [spring-summer] which would be more likely to be fortnightly [at HALF STRENGTH] applications.

Anyway hope that helps a bit :)

Edited by tonic

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I saw a little portable greenhouse advertised in an Aldi-catalogue for 50 bucks or so.

Looked pretty crappy on the pic but maybe it's ok for your purposes?

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