Pachypodium

[Spikey1007]

Hey there, I aquired 4 Pachypodiums for my birthday as i really liked the look of the succulents like minature trees, i read that now (autumn) is the main growing time but its getting very cold and they dont like the frost, so i have them in dorrs on my bedroom windows sill it recieves alot of morning sun all the way up to miday is that sufficent light? Or should i put them in the green house which is kept at 6 degrees celcius at the lowest.

[GeneS]

Which Pachys did you get?

There is considerable difference in cold hardyness and general growth periods across this group. The African members generally, will take more cold and are more opportunistic growers. The Madagascar natives are much more heat lovers and cold sensitive.

I keep most of mine in an unheated greenhouse in winter where temps go down to 36-40F at worst. P. lamerei, succulentum, bispinosum and lealii live outside year round where I have seen occassional light frost ... 28-30 F with normal lows in the mid 30's F.

More advice when I can be specific!!

GeneS

[Spikey1007]

Thanks Gene i got;

~Pachypodium saundersii
~Pachypodium lamerei
~Pachypodium geayi

I only got three lol, I said 4 because i also got a Matucana which im wondering should i keep indoors this winter also.

But is my window giving them sufficent light no?

[iann]

Matucanas cover the range from rather tender to rather hardy. M. madisoniorum is perhaps the most sensitive to cold although I've had mine down close to freezing without damage. Don't try this at home kiddies, it can be done when the day warms up quickly but sustained low temperatures and humidity will at the very least mark up that nice body. The majority of Matucanas should certainly be kept above freezing, but a typical heated greenhouse should be fine.

I have kept M. polzii in an unheated greenhouse all winter, down to -5C, low 20sF, or so. It looked very unhappy when it hit those temperatures after I'd watered it in spring but recovered without damage. I wouldn't trust it much below that in English conditions, but you shouldn't ever need to. M. haynei is the other really hardy one, shouldn't be any trouble at all in an unheated greenhouse and any body marking will be much less noticeable since you can hardly see the body on these

[GeneS]

~Pachypodium saundersii
~Pachypodium lamerei
~Pachypodium geayi

P. lealii ssp saundersii and P. lamerei as mentioned above, are quite hardy here.

P. geayi is quite touchy about cold. It will lose roots easily if wet and cold. Keep this one dry, but not completely, so the fine root hairs don't die off. Temps down to 5C are OK.

Both lamerei and geayi go dormant in late fall. Drop all leaves and suspend growth until things heat up again. Then, give all the sun and heat you can supply. Given some pot space, they will grow quickly once it warms up. Depending upon the clone, lamerei will flower at about 60 cm (fiherensis form) or 1.6-2 M (normal form). I've never had a geayi large enough to flower !! They are huge plants in habitat.

The saundersii are just now dropping leaves and beginnning to flower here. They drop all leaves in late fall and begin a 4-6wk flowering period then go dormant until Spring and heat arrive. Again, lots of sun and very easy on the fertilizer to keep them compact. Keep them from excessive water from now on but cold should not be a problem down to 0 C.

Cheers ... GeneS

[Spikey1007]

Cheers guys i put the Matucana and the two other Pachys in green house which is kept at 6 degrees lowest and kept P.geayi indoors.

[WayneByerly]

i KNOW that this posting is 14 years old at this point, but I found it doing a google search for "minimum temperature for pachypodium lamerei", among others. and if I found it, someone else will, so I thought I'd put in a quick note. Almost ALL of the search results that I saw said that 50F is a MINIMUM temperature, but that with drier growing medium, lower temps are survivable. I keep mine in my greenhouse, which has a thermostat that turns a small heater on when temps drop to 45F and then turns itself back off at 50. and they (P. lamerei AND P. lealii) are now (Jan 2020) 4, 5, and 7 years old. I won't post pictures unless someone responds to this 14-year-old post and requests that I do.

[7george]

I keep my Pachypodiums at eastern window indoors and this is good for year round. With occasional winter watering these even do not shed all leaves except of Pachypodium saundersii maybe. Not sure how big frost would be damaging for them but I don't risk it.

Comment: The post is old but it appeared as "unread" for me.