It's sooo cold!

Well, looks like it's officially winter where I am. I can really feel it today and I'd say my poor old cacti are feeling it too. 13°C
in my greenhouse now, have got a huge jacket on, I wish I could provide my cacti with jackets too lol. It's a good test to see just what they can take I guess. Hopefully I won't lose any vauable ones. Looking foward to spring already. Damn winter!

Hows this though.... It's 21 - 28'C here - but RAINING! It's meant to be the dry season!!! yarrrrg!

Cacti not loving it

hehe, a nice 30-35 in tha hothouse here trig.

Do you greenhouse bunnies give your cacti a rest? Ie take them out of the heat and let them rest for a winter period?

I'm still worrying about what to do from December - April during the wet season... I need to build water resistant shade houses I think!

Well, the it's sunny here now - but this rain and the threat of rain is annoying, we're too used to good weather over the winter season here!

I assume you heat your's PD? That is not an option for me unfortunately.

Well I am forcing my plants to go dormant now slim so my plants definitely get a rest, even if I could heat the house I would still let them go dormant for a full 3 months. It's much healthier for plants to have a winter rest.
The main reason that I use a greenhouse is for protection for my valuable cacti. Most of mine will die promptly if overwatered.

Still nice 24 degrees here in SA, but rain expected for the rest of the week and I guess it will get cold from then on and I will rest my cacti.

Not sure what to do with the seedlings - sprinkle them lightly so they don't dry out or let them dry out completely. Wondering if they will die with no water and that they should not get a rest until their first season.

You should'nt let them completely dry out, though you don't want to saturate them either. Winter can be a trying time for seedlings. Pays to tread with a little caution.

Yeah, thanks for that trig. A gentle water is what I thought.

Good to get some feedback on what I've doing is right,
cheers,
Calycium

Nah not heated Trig, just gets full sun, gonna be a bastid in summer but i will have the exhaust fan in by then.

Im just gettin the last lil bit of growth out of my TBMs then ill put them in the smaller shadehouse to rest for a few months. Seedlings are gonna stay in the larger house.

I have NO SUN now and won't get any for the rest of Winter. Far from ideal, but the plan is to move to somewhere a bit warmer and spacious.

Yeah that's gonna be bad in Summer, mine gets above 40°C during the hottest parts of the year.

What night time temps are you getting?

Gettin down to between 10 and 4 C at nite and it stays around 25-35 with the back door open during the day. Fan will be on a thermostat set for 35 in winter and 40 in summer. Summer will be interesting with +40 days though.

....and trig, you really must move out of Hades man, i know ol satan is a good bloke and all but jeez man you really need some sun.

Hehe, not a cloud in the sky here.

Not a cloud here either mate, I can see the sun about 20 metres from my house, and there it will stay, taunting me for the rest of the season.

Ever heard that Slayer song "Seasons in the Abyss"? I think they wrote it about my place haha

Damn mocking sun!

How do you heat your house trig? sorry for being rude, but that sounds like my place i had in Nelson. I lived with a beautiful view down the valley but winter sun was non-existant. I had a wonderful fireplace though. It used to heat the house to a toastey toast temperature - Which was nice because it meant my GF had to walk around half naked all the time... Very little got done over winter (except for chopping more wood than was needed).

I just wrote a huge reply to your post slim, but as my luck would have it my account decided to log itself out and I lost the lot, really can't be bothered replying now. Will attempt to do so again later.

Annoying log off!

I kept stats last winter and through to the heat of summer and documented it all, then ran oiut of time but interested to know just how the mins and maxs were daily and how the cactus coped with the cold and then such heat in the middle of summer. didnt lose anything directly to heat or cold but I feel that more water in summer would have been better. hoping for better air circulation for next summer and perhaps a more efficient method of watering. still trial and error as have been growing cacti and succulents for almost 18months starting from very limited knowledge base. anyone have any ideas on maximums recorded inside a polyhouse during summer before cell beakdown occurs.

What species & genera do you grow Gracie?

I know with things like Arios and Astros etc. it is often suggested that capillary (bottom watering) watering is preferred. Next season I will trial this as a lot of people suggest it for a lot of cacti, especially rot prone cacti. I want to see if it makes a difference in growth and health, apparently the results are superior.

You may consider trying this technique? I will report back on my findings and success at any rate. Feel free to add a list of genera/species = min/max temps in a new thread, sounds to be very helpful. I get annoyed when I read literature that, for one states F instead of C, because these are clearly documented from US or EU etc. would be great to have a list of Austarlian variables for different areas. if everyone starts recording their findings this could be a fantastic resource for all Aussie collectors.