HELP with overwintering

[Lyn]

Hi Friends I am new to the forum so I apologize to asking a question with my first posting, but I really do need your help.

I need help if possible with a dilemma I have with over wintering my cacti. I have 200+ cacti and I have just moved home, where previously my plants where indoors, in south facing windows and in a conservatory, my new home is also South facing but lacking the conservatory and the space, and although I have 80% off my plants on south facing windows of this house, Im wondering should I invest in a small greenhouse or can I utilize my North facing room over winter as i am renting the property on short lease, and don't want to invest too much in a greenhouse in the off chance we don't renew the lease and we have to move, but my care for my cacti is paramount so any advice will be much welcomed, I am also on a very tight budget.

I have moved from Birmingham England, to live in Sligo which is on the west coast of Ireland, if you look up rain in the dictionary you wil see Sligo, ha ha it is a beautiful part of the world so Im just teasing but it is wet, wet wet, dark, windy and ......wet..

I have my larger cacti in a plastic greenhouse for the summer months, but I know this will not be suitable in a month or so, so basically can I ask

1)Can cacti be kept in North facing windows over winter and if so what precautions should I take?

2)On limited funds £300 - £400 if getting a greenhouse, as a novice with little/no experience of greenhouse gardening, is there anything that I should be putting into place now ie: acclimatising plants etc, types of heaters if any etc.

I have been studying your magnificent forum and have gained so much from the posts so I thank you all so much you really are making a difference, I am still looking through the posts so I may get answers there also, but I thought a direct question would help as time is running out.

I look forward to your replies and will only be to pleased to answer any questions, its difficult for me to word my comment, but thanks again for your time, Lyn

[Chris43]

Hi Lyn,
well Brum to Sligo is certainly a change!
First of all, I should say that I haven't kept any cacti indoors for many years. But a good friend of mine cannot heat his greenhouse in the winter so does this each year.
From memory his windows in the room he uses are northeast facing. He erects a trestle table up to windowsill level, and then puts his pots in trays and open boxes on this. They are dried off well in early October, and the room not heated too much, so they stay at about 45-50F or 8-10C. They go back into his greenhouse when the weather is warmer in the spring.
He doesn't use any extra lights, which if the plants are fully dormant shouldn;t be an absolute necessity. Some people say that winter light leves is important to maximise flowering, but if it is a matter of survival or not, I'd forgo a few flowers!

[Phil_SK]

Although it's rapidly becoming untenable due to the effort involved, I move my collection from the greenhouse to a spare bedroom for winter.

The room is south facing and usually the seedlings get to live on the windowsill but the rest get spread out across the floor and on odd bits of furniture. Many must be 10ft from the window. Provided they're dry and cool (the room isn't heated and usually feels pretty cold), most cacti will be fine and many other succulents will be too. In fact, at my previous house I stored them in the cellar in total darkness for 6 months with only a few losses of cacti - the leafy succulents really didn't like this treatment though.

EDIT: I'm growing lots of Lobivia and Sulcorebutia which should need a proper cold snap to ensure they flower properly the next year. Mine don't seem that fussed and flower well anyway.

[Lyn]

Thank you both so much for your advice its such a relief, that if it comes to it the cacti will get though the winter one way or the other, great ideas and advice thank you so much

[IanW]

What species are you growing Lyn? It may be that some of them are cold hardy and can just sit in a garage, or perhaps even outside depending on what they are.

[Lyn]

Hi, the main ones that I am stuck for space are various opuntia, trichocereus, pilocereus, pachycereus, stenocereus, the previous posts have made me think that if I have to keep inside, I may also be able to alternate every few weeks some plants from the south facing windows of the house to the North facing?? thank you so much for all your help much appreciated

[Peter]

I wouldn't move them, Lyn. Keep them in constant levels of light even if it's via North facing windows. The cacti you have listed are pretty tough customers. They'll be fine as Chris says, so long as they're kept dry.

[Lyn]

Thanks Peter I will do that much appriated advice, the winter isnt looking as daunting now

[IanW]

Lyn, out of those listed your Trichocereus will be hardiest. Most, if not all Trichocereus species seem cold hardy - I've grown quite a few outside all through this last winter and they survived -8c and a weeks of snow fine.

Pilosocereus, Stenocereus and Pachycereus aren't for the most part cold hardy so you need to watch temperatures with these. Many Stenocereus species do very well in low light also for what it's worth, Stenocereus queretaorensis for example has grown up fine from seed in my house despite planting in November, my adult plants also seem to do just fine. Blue coated Pilosocereus will not be as blue on new growth if grown in lower light levels, they really need full un-shaded sun if you want them to show a really stunning blue coat.

Some opuntia are cold hardy, in fact Opuntia compressa is one of the coldest hardy cactus around, experiments freezing it down to -120c and letting it thaw have seen it survive, but it was native (and still is, only just) to Ontario Canada so would naturally have had to cope with temepratures naturally of -20c to -40c most winters or even lower in some exceptional years. Not all opuntia are cold hardy though, and few are to that degree so it really depends on the type of Opuntia.

[Lyn]

Thats fantastic information, I have went through all my books and searched high and low on line, and I have received more information specific to my needs here in one place, we cant thank you enough for taking the time with this, we were directed to this fantastic site by the Dublin branch of the ICSS thanks again everyone