A few outdoor cacti in BC

Discuss hardy cacti grown outside all year.
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cosmotoad
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:09 am
Location: British Columbia

A few outdoor cacti in BC

Post by cosmotoad »

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Yeah they don't look all too happy but I chose them to stay outside all winter and they've survived it for a couple years. The yucca is seed grown from a few years ago, I just shoved the seedling into some gravel and I guess it liked it since it's looking pretty good. There's a maihueniopsis darwinii, a few kinds of opuntias from places like Midale, Saskatchewan - Vancouver Island - Keremeos, BC - Mt. Kobau, BC - and Utah, High Mountain wherever that is. I had them covered from rain with some flimsy plastic lids but they kept blowing away so I'll just leave them at the mercy of nature again for now.
kak tus
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Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:16 pm

Re: A few outdoor cacti in BC

Post by kak tus »

Nice to see some cold-hardy cacti being put to the test. Thanks for the pictures.
cosmotoad
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:09 am
Location: British Columbia

Re: A few outdoor cacti in BC

Post by cosmotoad »

Hello, the real test isn't so much the cold as some of those opuntia can probably go down to something like -40C, but the months of heavy rain can be a problem (even for the opuntias which can tolerate a lot of water). Usually by the next spring they can look a little worn out. I should construct a more permanent tent for them, they'd probably appreciate that.
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ElieEstephane
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Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: A few outdoor cacti in BC

Post by ElieEstephane »

Good display! I collected enough duplicates this year to experiment how some cacti tolerate our wet winters and decide what goes into the ground.
Opuntias and related genera are the least of my concern since they seem to appreciate the huge amounts of water in winter even in clay soil! Indestructible plants. I have yet to lose one to root rot
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
cosmotoad
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:09 am
Location: British Columbia

Re: A few outdoor cacti in BC

Post by cosmotoad »

Yeah the ones in the greenhouse seem happier, but they seem to take pretty much anything you throw at them indoors or outdoors. The maihueniopsis doesn't look all too good compared to the opuntias though, I may move that one in this winter. It already survived outside for I think 2 or 3 years so maybe it's earned a break. I don't know how much rain you get over in Lebanon but we get plenty here in every season except for a couple months in the summer, I don't know if the opuntia actually appreciate it, but they certainly put up with it.

I may try some cold hardy columnars and things like escobaria under cover in the future, apparently they can get real cold but not so wet. A few years ago I tried keeping my big san pedro out in the winter for a while, but it definitely prefers the greenhouse. At least I learned they can be frozen solid without much trouble, it was kind of mean of me but interesting (and risky, I wouldn't do it again. It's the biggest cactus I have right now although pretty beat up, so I'll try to keep it healthy). I used to have a few escobaria in the greenhouse but lost them, maybe they didn't get cold enough during the resting period? I also had no idea what I was doing back then so there was a lot more cacti perishing in general, so who knows.
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