Sunlight Intensity - Amount of Sunlight required

[magical9]

I need some advice. Id like to plant a large plot of cactus on the side of my house. the area measures about 40ft x 8ft. now its positioned so that its mostly shaded all day except when the sun is directly overhead. Is this going to be enough light? I live in arizona so keep that in mind.

[hostilis]

If I were you I'd put a couple potted plants there for a few months and see how it goes.

[MrDoRight]

I read someplace that morning sun is ideal for cactus because its bright enough for their liking & its not so intense that it will sun burn them . What you described sounds like a nice landscape , as long as they don't have too reach for light .

I've seen cactus in California growing on the shady side of people's houses and they look pretty chunky , I think being in Arizona you have a good opportunity

[Philocacti]

I live in North Africa. And it's a semi desert climate and most of my columnars are yellow and relatively slow because of the sun intensity.

I'll put a shading cloth this season and see how it will make a difference

[hostilis]

I do know that the columnar cacti usually do most of their photosynthesis when the sun is hitting the sides of them since that is where the most surface area is. If it's only hitting the tops of them they may not get enough light. The only way to know for sure is to test out a few before you put the work into planting all of them out there.

[zelly]

magical- if you have a choice in the subject, paint all of the inside surfaces of your planned enclosure a bright white color. The side of the house, the fence, etc etc.

Then put in your cacti....cacti in the ground are 100x better than cacti in pots.

Then one day maybe the cacti in the ground will tower over the houses & fences that enclose them.....

[magical9]

cool thanks for the info guys. i think upon further inspection that ill have a decent amount of light. zelly that white paint is a good idea. Im planning on making wood boxes that i can lock into place over my plants during storms as well. they should be super safe and sound for monsoons. my plan is to have a large amount of potted plants close together so in a few years ill have nice sized potted plants to clone/sell/etc. im looking to start with 50 potted 1-2ft plants. goal of 300 ;) ive got the space and time. but im starting "small" so i can continue to learn before i get TOO crazy HEH.