Return to the Cacti & Succulents Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Growing Cacti in winter?
| | |
Posted by paolo27th (My Page) on Wed, Nov 18, 09 at 16:55
I came across some Peruvian Torch seeds. I`m wondering whether I could plant them now or I should wait for spring.
The`d be indoors in any case. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Growing Cacti in winter?
| | |
| I'd wait until Spring, when Nature provides what you'd have to provide if you started now. |
RE: Growing Cacti in winter?
| | |
| If you are planning to row them indoors, you can plant them around mid-January. They will take 1 to 3 weeks to sprout and then they can start taking advantage of the ever lengthening day, since they should gradually get adjusted to a little more light. Then they will be a good healthy size to take advantage of spring warmth. Just keep them moist, and avoid real cold so they don't get mold. I begin my seed planting around January 15. |
RE: Growing Cacti in winter?
| | |
Also to avoid mold, make sure there is air circulation. Moving air, a fan will help I learned this when I was in England, no heat but doors opened on both ends of the little greenhouses, and a fan going, this is what Calif. did in the old days to keep the oranges from freezing in the fields. another tip, let the soil dry out before you water again, constant wet soil with heat may cause mold. Cacti does not respond to these conditions and will get diseases.
I have had experience with mold twice in the Huntington propagation house, no outside air was coming in. Now we have built the new automatic greenhouses, we now have air coming in, it works on computers automatically. Cacti in Winter needs next to no water, remember that their bodies are full of water, they need to go dormant during the winter so they can flower in the spring, start to fertilize after all danger of frost is gone. If it rains, I don't give them any water for at least two weeks, I use a chop stick or pencil and put down within a inch of the bottom of the pot then water if the water meter come up dry. I don't want to water now, because we are starting to get real cold. 50F Repotting with fresh soil, gives them a jump start do this in early spring, after you know that you will not have another frost, do not water until you know they have roots this is the dangerous time of the year. We don't know if we should water or not, or fertilize or not, winter growers are doing fine, but now I let the rain take care of all of my outdoor plants on the tables. I sure wish it would rain. But if it gets really cold after the rain the plants are in trouble. So I cover with bubble wrap to keep them warm and dry when it gets cold. This may give you some ideas that you can adapt to your growing conditions, soil, weather, air etc. be sure to use some judgement you know your conditions better than I could. I don't know if any of this will apply to you, feel free to ask the group to make more suggestions. Norma |
|
|
|
|
