Succulent dormancy and flowering questions

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SpriteFish
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat May 11, 2024 12:05 am
Location: Wellington, New Zealand. 70 - 80% humidity

Succulent dormancy and flowering questions

Post by SpriteFish »

Hello, I've been growing both cacti and succulents and wanted to ask some questions about doramcy.

I understand that all cacti go dormant in winter typically, and that succulents can be either winter or summer dormant. I also know that dormancy is more temperature and light based then season based (e.g. if you live somewhere with a hotter winter you might not experience winter dormancy). What I wanted to know was just general information about dormancy and general growing temperatures for differnt succulents and cacti. (Like what sort of temperatures do winter growing succulents grow in?)

Thank you for reading. :D (repost from cultivation for succulents growers help)

EDIT: I realized I didn't actually include all my questions, and I could probably write this better, so here is a more clear list of my questions:

1. If a succulent is described as 'winter-growing', that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't go dormant when it's super cold, it just means it tends to grow when it's colder (like 18C) compared to other plants, and it's usually colder in winter. This is less of a question and more me just asking for confirmation.

2. When do succulents typically flower? Does it happen during the growing season, right after the growing season, etc?

3. What what temperatures do winter-dormancy and summer-dormancy typically happen? So far from what I've gathered heat-dormancy tends to happen when over night-lows are 25C+ (atleast in cacti), and cold-dormancy typically happens when overnight lows are 10C or below (atleast in cacti). Could this roughly apply to other succulents?

Thank you for reading!
Wellington, New Zealand.

Humidity 60% - 75%.
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MrXeric
Posts: 574
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:31 pm
Location: California, USDA zone 10a

Re: Succulent dormancy and flowering questions

Post by MrXeric »

Dormancy (period of arrested stem growth) is triggered by seasonal changes in temperature and in day/night length (and availability of water). Even summer growing plants grown in climates with "hot" winters can experience winter dormancy if kept dry, the temperature difference between winter and summer is "sufficient", and if the winter nights are longer than in summer. Obviously how well a plant will tolerate climates different than the climate of the habitat they ev0lved in will depend on species.

1. That's true, even winter growing plants will go dormant if temperatures stay below freezing during the day for a prolonged period. If this is accurate for your local climate, https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/new ... on/climate, then many winter growing succulents should grow just fine for you (I think there is enough of a seasonal difference from winter to summer to trigger dormancy? likewise from summer to winter to wake the plants up).

2. Flowering depends on species. Some flower while in growth, others while dormant.

3. Those temperatures are a good rule of thumb, but nothing beats observing how specific species behave throughout the seasons in your local climate.
keithp2012
Posts: 321
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:26 pm

Re: Succulent dormancy and flowering questions

Post by keithp2012 »

MrXeric wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 6:32 am Dormancy (period of arrested stem growth) is triggered by seasonal changes in temperature and in day/night length (and availability of water). Even summer growing plants grown in climates with "hot" winters can experience winter dormancy if kept dry, the temperature difference between winter and summer is "sufficient", and if the winter nights are longer than in summer. Obviously how well a plant will tolerate climates different than the climate of the habitat they ev0lved in will depend on species.

1. That's true, even winter growing plants will go dormant if temperatures stay below freezing during the day for a prolonged period. If this is accurate for your local climate, https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/new ... on/climate, then many winter growing succulents should grow just fine for you (I think there is enough of a seasonal difference from winter to summer to trigger dormancy? likewise from summer to winter to wake the plants up).

2. Flowering depends on species. Some flower while in growth, others while dormant.

3. Those temperatures are a good rule of thumb, but nothing beats observing how specific species behave throughout the seasons in your local climate.
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