Northern U.S. Winter Melocactus care

[Kmandarino]

Is anyone raising melocactus & living in an area with brutal winters? I've seen extremely conflicting info on what temperatures they can handle and if they should have a winter rest & watering in winter (do to geographics). I'm in the Chicago area & have 2 options. In the house, during the middle of winter, with temps in the mid to lower 60's when Im at work and 68-72 degrees when im home. My other option is our 3 season room (where all my other cactus stay, year round) but it gets down to the low 40's in there, occasionally dipping into the upper 30's. I'm thinking they need to stay in the house over winter. With the in house temps between 60 - 72, will they still rest? My confusion is, if they ARE resting at THOSE temps, do they STILL need an occasional sip of water? I have many Melos and need to get this right the first time!

[anttisepp]

Melos are tropical plants, they don't need cold overwintering, cold kills them. It's better to hold them in a room temperature, give them additional LED lights and smaller than summer watering.

[Aiko]

An occasional cold night is not a problem, but don't let them be too cold for long and too occasionally. A temperature of 10C/50F should be warm enough to be safe for them for a prolonged time. Some of my seedlings do have to endure a temperature close to freezing, or even freezing in the past two autumns. It is a pot filled with seedlings, so I might have lost a few due to the cold, but most seem fine. I brought them inside somewhere in late November, but by then we usually have a night of around freezing already.

And yes, it is wise to splash some water every now and them. Don't soak them while they are inactive, but make sure some of the roots do get the chance of taking up some water. Just a splash every month or so.

[Steve Johnson]

Is anyone raising melocactus & living in an area with brutal winters? I've seen extremely conflicting info on what temperatures they can handle and if they should have a winter rest & watering in winter (do to geographics). I'm in the Chicago area & have 2 options. In the house, during the middle of winter, with temps in the mid to lower 60's when Im at work and 68-72 degrees when im home. My other option is our 3 season room (where all my other cactus stay, year round) but it gets down to the low 40's in there, occasionally dipping into the upper 30's. I'm thinking they need to stay in the house over winter. With the in house temps between 60 - 72, will they still rest? My confusion is, if they ARE resting at THOSE temps, do they STILL need an occasional sip of water? I have many Melos and need to get this right the first time!

Melocactus won't survive below 39F -- in the house, yes, but not in your 3 season room. My only experience is with adult Melos (in other words, growing a cephalium). They need light watering every 3 or 4 weeks in fall and winter, that way their roots won't die off to the point of no return. Light watering means sip, don't soak. Juvenile Melos may not need it, although I can't say for sure.

[Kmandarino]

Alright then! In the house they will stay. I have an irrigation bottle I use to keep from going overboard on the water. Although, I'm finding out STEVE, that my new soil mix, STEVE, drains SOOO well, I'm more concerned about under watering! Yep, 50/30/20 is pretty lean! I only have 3 adults, but 10 juvies and one baby. Light, no great option here. The sunroom faces East. In the house, my melos are in a west window with LED lights and I recently added a cheap and easy, basically, 3 sided mirror to intensify the light even further. The idea just came to me one day. At night, I open it up for extra ventilation.

[Steve Johnson]

Nice setup! Going by percentage, what are the ingredients in your mix?

[Kmandarino]

Im using 50% Pumice, 30% granite gravel (chicken grit) and 20% Fox Farm Ocean Forest potting soil. It was so nice to ditch the perlite. I was really disappointed that I couldn't get any pumice locally, especially working in the AG industry for a very large co-op.

[Steve Johnson]

Im using 50% Pumice, 30% granite gravel (chicken grit) and 20% Fox Farm Ocean Forest potting soil.

I looked at the Fox Farm website, and this sent up a red flag:

• "Our most popular potting soil, Ocean Forest® is a powerhouse blend of aged forest products, sphagnum peat moss, earthworm castings, bat guano, fish emulsion, and crab meal."

First of all, go here for a discussion on the 2 types of true soil -- loam and humus:

viewtopic.php?p=402324#p402324

Unless the Fox Farm Ocean Forest product has a loam component, it's compost, not soil. Regardless of what it is, Ocean Forest may be great for nonxeric plants, but it's too rich for xeric plants like cacti and succulents. When I was growing Melocactus matanzanus, I was using the 50% pumice/30% granite gravel mix you're using, only difference being that I used 20% "custom" cactus soil with loam and a little bit of shredded tree bark. From what I've seen online, the commercial cactus "soils" seem to be mostly compost, not humus. I still have some of the "custom" cactus soil I got in back in 2011, so I'm set until it runs out. When it does, I think composted fir bark would be a great substitute. Rather than go with the Fox Farm Ocean Forest product, you may want to investigate something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=composted+fi ... _sb_noss_1

(Not the IvyMay Dunes Succulent Soil, though.) I grow 64 of my 68 cacti in a 60% pumice/40% granite gravel mix, so I have to fertilize every time I water in the growing season. Add soil or soilless organic material to the mix, and you won't have to fertilize as often. Nice thing about a straight fir bark compost is that it's not too rich for cacti. Now, are you using the right fertilizer? This will answer the question:

viewtopic.php?t=47603

I know it involves a whole lot of technical details, but hopefully worth your time to go through it.

I have an irrigation bottle I use to keep from going overboard on the water...I'm more concerned about under watering!

I don't think you will because pumice retains a surprising amount of water. I gave my last Melo matanzanus sips every 3 weeks in fall and winter, no problem. Until the winter of 2022/23 when I was overdoing the amount of water in my sips. I received the plant in spring 2016 and successfully got it through 6 winters -- if I used an irrigation bottle instead of a spray bottle, I think it would still be with me. Such a shame.

[C And D]

I use Fox Farm "Happy Frog", which is similar to the "Ocean Harvest", which I used for a while
but switched to the frog because it has less floaty stuff

I use about 20-40% soil with about 60-70% pumice and 10% course sand (if I have any)

I dries out fast when mixed with pumice, some of my mixes dry out a little too fast
Using a lot of top dressing these days to keep in the moisture

I recommend it compared to many other Potting Soil Mixes

[madkactus]

I have had mixed results with Melos. Some fairly easy to cultivate and keep alive in winter. Others not so lucky. I think the general rule with pretty much all species of melo's is they should never be exposed to temperatures less than 15C or 59F. Yes some individual melos seem to adapt and handle a few degrees colder for short periods of time. These are all tropical cacti and they always need warmth. I have kept bone dry in the winter and also small sips too. I agree with others here that small sips prevent the roots from shrinking .

You have a nice set-up.

[Kmandarino]

Thanks Madkactus! A Cactus grower on etsy was really raving about the Fox Farm soil, so I bought a bag locally. It was the only soil I had on hand at the time I potted the melos. But ever since, in my paranoia and ocd driven NEED to get this right, I've had this nagging concern that every time I water, the soil is going to eventually all settle to the bottom of the pot. And maybe that doest matter if im watering enough AND fertilizing regularly. As it is, moisture meters do not work in this soil mix and i cant get my finger in deep enough to check the moisture without getting stabbed, so every time i water, i also water a pot that has nothing in it, just the same soil mix. This way, i can at least get an idea of the soil moisture in my cactus pots. Also, im using the Schultz cactus fert right now for all my cacti and succulents, they seem to be thriving (as I hear the faint whisper of boooo in the background). After hearing your suggestion Steve about using fir bark, I can see how that would better stay in place as opposed to potting soil, although I'm not sure which would be better, course or fine. Probably not a good idea to repot recently potted melos yet. Apparently I missed the post that stated exactly WHAT should be used for the 20% soil portion.

[Steve Johnson]

Probably not a good idea to repot recently potted melos yet.

Agreed -- IMO it's too late in the growing season to make changes anyway, so take your time to figure out what you'd like to do when the 2024 growing season begins. On the coarse vs. fine fir bark issue, the only thing I can recommend is go with a straight fir bark compost, throw away the biggest chunks, then use a 2 mm x 2 mm mesh screen to screen out and throw away anything that falls through. What you have left on the screen should be usable. Now here's a tip I learned from an expert succulent grower years ago:

• When you mix your ingredients together, give it a light misting -- just enough to moisten the mix without accidentally soaking it. The idea here is to create a mix that has consistency, and misting really helps in the process. After you repot, the mix will dry out completely in a matter of hours (maybe a day at the most). Let the roots of your repotted cacti settle in for 2 weeks, and they'll be ready for deep watering. With subsequent waterings the ingredients in the mix will continue to "hang together". This avoids the problem of what'll happen if cacti are repotted with bone-dry mix -- the finer stuff separating out and moving down toward the bottom of the pot.

Don't repot until the overnight lows are consistently above the low 50s and the daytime highs are consistently above the low 70s. When spring comes around again, I'm pretty sure you'll see those temps indoors before you see them outdoors.

Also, im using the Schultz cactus fert right now for all my cacti and succulents,they seem to be thriving (as I hear the faint whisper of boooo in the background).

That'll be me -- Schultz should be on the list of "worst cactus fertilizers ever". I have yet to see an American fert manufacturer who knows anything about the optimal nutrient requirements for cacti and succulents. There's no getting around having to supplement "off the shelf" fertilizers, so if you go through my "Fertilizers explained" presentation, it should give you a better idea of what to look for. I can recommends the ferts and supplements I'm using, although going through a few hoops will be required. If you're up for it, I'll be happy to give you the recipes and instructions.

[madkactus]

A word of caution if you don't already know. When /if you repot your melos be very careful. There is endless discusssion about the dangers of repotting melo's. The root systems are weak etc. especially with mature melos. Juvenile melos handle repotting easier. As Steve said it's too late for this growing season. When you repot next spring make sure the daytime and night temps are warm. Wait at least 7 days before watering and give small sips until the cactus and roots have re-established in their new home. Some cacti collectors say it's only an urban myth and they never have a problem repotting melos. Me personally I've had terrible fatal results with repotting melos. I have never had one survive after repotting.

[Kmandarino]

Absolutely Steve! I would definitely like your fert recipe and instructions! Next year I'll begin repotting.

[Steve Johnson]

Absolutely Steve! I would definitely like your fert recipe and instructions! Next year I'll begin repotting.

Very good! I'll post the info to you soon, and you'll have something you can look forward to next spring.

We had a Melocactus expert on the forum, and his passing was a sad time for everyone in the cactus community:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/tu ... d=34194362

You'll find his work on the forum here:

viewtopic.php?t=33959

Unfortunately the photos in his presentation disappeared, but I think you'll get some good information out of it anyway -- at the very least, James busted a few myths that should encourage you in your Melo-growing efforts.