Frost Damage on Golden Barrel? UPTDATE

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:06 am

Ok here is an uptdate.

At first I thought it was rot but,

It appeared after a frost. It was on the north side of the E grusonii, all of the roofs in the area had frost only on their.... North side.

And it started from the tips of the ribs.

The day I saw it (Tuesday Jan. 6 2009)

Today after a few days out of the ground and in the garage.(Saturday Jan. 17 2009)

But the other side is thick, plump, and green like normal

As I said above, the other half is fine, it is green and plump. The roots are tough, not like the roots on my plants that I lost to rot that just pop off. It's roots are still strong. The other half (that is Forst damaged or Rotten) is a bit mushy and brown and the spines come off fairly easily. It has not spread any, really, just on the ribs it originally affected.

What do you think

Is it doomed with rot

Or scared with frost damage

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:11 am

Well, It's to bad to hear that the other side is not getting any better. It could be rot. Was the Golden Barrel exposed to any water recently?

P.S. How do you know which side is the north and which side is the south?

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:16 am

Saguaro123 wrote:Well, It's to bad to hear that the other side is not getting any better. It could be rot. Was the Golden Barrel exposed to any water recently?

P.S. How do you know which side is the north and which side is the south?

I think there was a small amount of rain in later december it was a small amount of water though nothing substantial.

Well when it was in the ground the north facing side is the side with the rot/frost damage on it.

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:24 am

One more thing,

We also had a few times with pretty high humidity. Enough to make the top of the ground(such as concrete and grass) wet as if it had rained. It was like that the day before the frost.
Don't know if that would have something to do with it?

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 6:18 am

How cold were your temps because Golden Barrel are supposed to be pretty hardy down to 25F. What i meant is what is the weather like in the garage? I am also facing this kind of yellowish discoloration on a couple of my plants too and the reason why was because the plant was lacking some nutrients or as Tony said, it could be because the sun is striking it's rays sideways at the plant instead of overhead. How often do you water the Golden Barrel? Do you fertilize it?

iann · Post by **iann** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:34 pm

E. grusonii is hardy to at least 20F, probably quite a bit lower for short periods.

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:29 pm

I have seen E grusonii survive frost and 24/26 f deg. with no problems.

Was that planted there recently or has it been growing there for awhile?
If it was recently planted and not aclimated to full sun on the side where the damage is, it could be sunburn.
Frost bite and rain would not help it at that point either, whatever it is, its badly scared for life

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:37 pm

Saguaro123 wrote:How cold were your temps because Golden Barrel are supposed to be pretty hardy down to 25F. What i meant is what is the weather like in the garage? I am also facing this kind of yellowish discoloration on a couple of my plants too and the reason why was because the plant was lacking some nutrients or as Tony said, it could be because the sun is striking it's rays sideways at the plant instead of overhead. How often do you water the Golden Barrel? Do you fertilize it?

Well it got down to around the mid 20s before it appeared. but about a month ago it survived the lower 20's just fine.
I have not watered it. I have only let the occasional rain water it so far.
I have not fertilized it yet.
The weather in the garage is dry and stays a lot warmer in there than outside.

Tony wrote:I have seen E grusonii survive frost and 24/26 f deg. with no problems. Was that planted there recently or has it been growing there for awhile?
If it was recently planted and not aclimated to full sun on the side where the damage is, it could be sunburn.
Frost bite and rain would not help it at that point either, whatever it is, its badly scared for life

The plant was planted pretty recently. In early-mid october of '08 I think. I think it was pretty well acclimated but I may be wrong. The nursery I got it from had it outdoors in full sun and then I had it in mostly full sun in my backyard for about a month then it went out in the garden to full sun.

tvaughan · Post by **tvaughan** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:34 pm

In the northern hemisphere partial frost damage is usually on the north side, and sunburn is usually on the south side. Nutrient damage isn't on just one side, nor damage from under or over watering, nor damage from pests and diseases.

Post by **daiv** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:33 am

tvaughan wrote:In the northern hemisphere partial frost damage is usually on the north side, and sunburn is usually on the south side. Nutrient damage isn't on just one side, nor damage from under or over watering, nor damage from pests and diseases.

I agree with Tim here. If the damage is only on the north side, it rules out the other possibilities like sunburn.

Are all E. grusonii of the same hardiness? I wonder if a soft greenhouse grown plant got suddenly exposed to extreme weather changes if the that is the cause.