Wow, long time since I've posted here, busy with school. Now that spring has come around, and I'm watching my Opuntia humifusa's put on new growth, it got me wondering. What are some fast growing cacti that can tolerate freezing temperatures (since they stay in my sunroom it usually never goes below 20F in the winter)(i.e. I don't bring them inside over the winter)? I'm up for any kind of cacti - no succulents though. Thanks!
Pencil cactus, and prickly pear are really good and winter hardy. I bought some prickly pear pads, and they quickly rooted inside, and I've since transplanted them outside. We'll see how that turns out!
Heh, good luck. By the way, I'm not really looking for succulents (pencil cactus), and it's a bit too much of a risk having around with the toxicity of Euphorbia's.
Nice, I'm looking up about the Cylindropuntia imbricata, looks like that might be one I'll add. Any others guys/gals? :D
So your plants are protected from rain/snow in winter? I grow Opuntia fragilis and hystricina outside, works well and they grow quickly. Echinocereus triglochidiatus grows quite fast too. I prefer small cold-hardy cacti, I can grow more of them then ...
Dry and down to 20F - a list of cacti that tolerate that can get quite long. I have plenty of cacti outside, but I bring the more sensitive inside when the temperature falls below -12°C (10°F) The big and fast-growing are found in the Opuntia group. There are many others, smaller with a more normal growth rate, but if you are impatient, then O. basilaris, macrorhiza, hystricina, polyacantha, phaecantha and whipplei are well suited for your purpose. Some opuntioids like Maihuenia and probably Pterocactus should work too.
let me tell you about that one lol. My mother had one in a pot for several years before she gave it to me. Wow does it like the ground here! I planted it and it was about 15' tall. After the growing season stopped, It grew many arms and got up to 28' and now its over 3ft and will probably get to 4ft by the end of october. I have two 3 ft polls in the ground to support it. all the darker green is new growth this year.
Far better than I thought. Unfortunately the page does not say if it can stand low temperature for long periods in high humidity, that is what usually kills cacti in my climate.
