Trichocereus pot size?

[Trevyn]

Hiya Gang!

 

Hey I am in Texas now.  When I was in AZ I could grow in the ground and cover the cacti a couple of times during the winter with no problems.  Now I am in HZ 9A and not sure I can do that safely. 

 

So growing in pots, what size pot do I want to put my tall boys in?  Is 10 gallon sufficient?  25 gallon too much?  I have no idea where to go from here. 

 

Thanks for the assist!

[DiscoStu]

if they're (the plants) big then the bigger pot the better imo, 

but you need to factor in if you need to move them, obviously shifting around a 50kg spiky death pole isn't exactly easy

[Trevyn]

Yeah certainly in a few years I am going to transition to a greenhouse.  I have 12 specific clones and am starting some seedlings soon, so it's only a matter of time.   If I plan on keeping them to a max of 7' then the greenhouse will be perfect.  I just don't know what size pot to put them in.  They would come out in early spring to the south side of the house, go back in during early winter.   They will move about 60 feet from point A to point B.  

 

I am guessing from pictures I see on here that I am looking at 5 to 10 gallon pots, but I see some that look like 25, which probably gets into the "move with a dolly" territory.  

If people in a similar situation could just post what they use with results of advice, I will open up an Amazon tab and put in the order.   

Edited October 9, 2016 by Trevyn

[sagiXsagi]

They might be fine in the ground too but I dont know what are the minimums there. 

[Trevyn]

The record low was 0F or -18C. 

Average low is 39F or 3.7C. 

The problem is the jet stream can pull air directly down from Canada and give us a swing from 70F to below freezing in a matter of hours.  

 

I think I would be fine in the ground on the average year, but the only Trichocereus the San Antonio Botanical Garden has kept alive outside of the enclosed habitats is the t. terschecki.  So eventually I would lose the annual coin toss. 

[Quixote]

When it comes to pots, bigger is better, I think. So it's mostly up to you how big pots you can practically handle. The cactus will happily fill any pot you care to give it.

 

And don't believe the stuff you read about gradually replanting into bigger and bigger pots. My experience is that roots quite quickly fill all the available space. There's no downside to having the unused soil sitting empty before the roots reach it.

 

As long as the pot is free draining in the bottom and has plenty of pebbles and coarse sand mixed in, the plant won't get waterlogged. 

[Trevyn]

Thanks for your input everybody. 

 

I have been scouring the net for what others have done.  I would like to build a sealed habitat like the San Antonio Botanical Garden has their tricho's in, but that's just a bit out of reach. 

In the meantime I though I would share some links:

 

For a 12" typical cutting World Seed Supply says a 10" wide by 10" deep pot is an ideal start.  

https://www.worldseedsupply.com/tag/growing-trichocereus-cuttings/

 

I was surprised at how often sources suggest annual repotting.  Even when I was in Indiana, I did a two-step process.  Put cuttings to root in the fall under artificial light.  Repot in the spring into the final size container it will go into.  I had my LER Pachanoi in it's final pot from the first spring that I obtained it.  

http://www.csssj.org/welcome_visitors/basic_culture.html

 

http://sacredcacti.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/C2_CactusCultivation.pdf

http://www.desertplantsofavalon.com/plant-pots-and-containers/

 

http://www.cactus-mall.com/ccc/