Cacti

[Guest MOLLY]

Will i be able to leave them on a VERY cold windowsill in the winter or should i move them somewhere warmer? Someone told me to just leave them as the temp in the deserts plummets at night so they should be fine?

MOLL.

[the ferreter 0]

  Quote

Heat

 

While it can get pretty chilly at night in the deserts where cacti grow, none of them will tolerate more than a degree or two of frost5, and some of them will give up the ghost if the temperature falls much below 5°C (42°F). If you are keeping your cacti indoors you probably have little to worry about - even if your home isn't centrally-heated, it's unlikely to experience indoor sub-zero temperatures. If your cacti are in a greenhouse or conservatory however, you will need to provide heat during the winter

from here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1075646

[chartpolski 25,646]

It depends very much on the type of cacti; when I was living in the middle east, shop bought flowering types would die off in the winter, even though it was nowhere near freezing, whereas those collected from the desert thrived. They were all outside, so I think the shop bought ones were meant for indoors and not as hardy as wild types. I'm sure you could find out on the net which are more cold tolerant.

Cheers.

[landy 0]

They should be fine Molly as long as they dont get damp off the window,they dont mind the cold its when its wet and cold, hope that helps

[SPONGEBOB 0]

i have a fine batch of lophophera williamsii that sit on the windowsill all year round with no ill effects.

stop watering now tru to march and tey should be fine.

[Guest MOLLY]

  chartpolski said:

It depends very much on the type of cacti; I'm sure you could find out on the net which are more cold tolerant.

Cheers.

Problem is CP i dont know what type they are

I didnt have them here last winter. The windows here are not double glazed and it gets VERY cold in the room they are in (no heating) i was thinking of bringing them into the lounge but they wouldnt get as much light/sun?

They will probs get damp from the window...will moving them into a warmer room but with much less light be better for them?

MOLL.

[littlefish 588]

Hi Molly

 

I have a collection of different types of cactus plants. For years they sat on my kitchen window sill - baking in the summer and putting up with whatever in the winter with metal framed draughty windows. I moved them all outdoors three years ago in the summer while I was getting new windows fitted. I didn't want to bring them in to clutter up the new window, plus I thought insect/worms may have got into the soil while they were out and I didn't want dirt/pests in the house. I felt a bit bad about it when autumn approached some of them are over 10 years old, so I went to B&O and bought a little plastic 'greenhouse'. It stands about 3 foot high and 2 foot wide with two shelves. It has a plastic cover with zips at the front so they can be open to the elements or zipped up in the winter.

 

Anyway - They have spent two full winters outside in the plastic greenhouse and have come to no harm - on the contrary they have never looked so good - they all flowered this year - even ones which have never flowered before. Because they are outside, for handiness sake, I water them with mature water straight out of the pond - no more chlorine filled tap water for them!

 

I think the trick is to WATER and feed well during the summer and keep the frost and cold wind off them in the winter. Also don't let them get saturated.

 

Good luck with them - I think they are very interesting plants but a bit vicious if not carefully handled - my terriers certainly don't cock their leg at them so at least they thrive, not like a lot of other plants in my garden ha ha ha! :11: