Trichocereus overdose!

[Andy J]

I lost a nice Tricochereus Pasacana this winter to base rot. Its a shame as it kept it outside the 2 previous winters in a coldframe and it managed ok. But this year i guess i gave it one watering too much before its winter dormancy and it gave up and rotted!

I decided a few weeks ago to replace it and see whatever else was out there. I knew there were several different sorts of Trichocereus but i went a little bit silly on Ebay and now have....

T. Pasacana
T. Bridgesii
T.Terscheckii
T.Werdermannianus x2
T.Peruvianus

All plants bought for just a few quid plus postage.

Whislt browsing i also got a very nice Agave Salmiana ferox! And 8 small Zantedeschia Atheopica for £5 inc postage!

Also found a nice Echinocactus Grusonii in my local Wyvale for £6.

Trouble is now its too cold to put them ouside and my south facing windowsill is full!

Anyone else growing Trichocereus? They do seem pretty frost hardy if kept 100% dry and under the cover of a coldframe or greenhouse and i would think that -5c ish is safe with maybe a little lower perhaps. They do look nice when older, growing into nice tall columns. But ive learnt my lesson and these will be coming indoors next winter!

[Troppoz]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it would be about something very different!

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti.shtml

[call]

I don't need no speed
I don't need no heroin
I don't need no coke
you can keep your ketamaine
I'm a cactus junkie

[Birmingham Chris]

"When I saw the title of this thread I thought it would be about something very different! "



I thought it was about dinosaurs.......

[Dave Brown]

I lost a nice Tricochereus Pasacana this winter to base rot. Its a shame as it kept it outside the 2 previous winters in a coldframe and it managed ok. But this year i guess i gave it one watering too much before its winter dormancy and it gave up and rotted!

Anyone else growing Trichocereus? They do seem pretty frost hardy if kept 100% dry and under the cover of a coldframe or greenhouse and i would think that -5c ish is safe with maybe a little lower perhaps. They do look nice when older, growing into nice tall columns. But ive learnt my lesson and these will be coming indoors next winter!

Oh dear I have a 3 foot Tricochereus Pasacana planted out last spring, and just the top covered by a bell cloche, and a fleece bag over the whole height. I've had -7.2C, several -5C, and about 50 subzero temps this winter/spring. Windchill of -12.2C and horozontal snow, and when it rains or snows it gets wet.

Doesn't sound promising, does it.

[miketropic]

T. Bridgesii and T.Peruvianus are grown alot over here for the "special" powers and seem to take very very cold winters as long as they are kept 100% dry.

[Andy J]

i would have thought it would have rotted and collapsed by now if it had had an issue Dave.

Its wet that does for them, as has been said,100% dry is the key to overwintering them.

[JoelR]

Keeping them dry in winter is the way forward. I've lost a few big-ish Trichocereus over the last few years. T. peruvianus with very vicious spikes was around 30 years old and I killed it in one winter.

I had a fair sized Lobivia (Soehrensia/Trichocereus/Echinopsis) bruchii which also didn't make it but I've been much more careful with a Lobivia formosa which I got at an auction in Manchester. The label says it was from seed sown in March 1963 so the plant standing around 3ft tall is 50 years old this month and a beauty and an old T. candicans are currently kept in the greenhouse along with a very old Echinocereus triglochidiatus and a nice Gymnocalycium gibbosum to name a few.

I'm finding that protecting smaller subjects in situ with structures made from corrugated clear plastic and roofing lats is producing good results and I'm tempted to try more plants planted out this way but experience has taught me that all the years of growth in these old plants quickly comes to nothing if they are left to fend for themselves in the mildest of my winters. T. terscheckii has recently been named as the best one for the UK but I've found seed grown plants quite tricky to keep alive in the first few years.

Unprotected and planted out and just starting to appear again above slowly melting snow are various Opuntias: compressa, phaecantha, macrocentra, polyacantha, fragilis spring to mind. Also a Dasylirion wheeleri is looking strong and healthy being planted out last year at 5 years from seed.