Suggestion - Cactus Branches Facing Sun

14 years ago

Guys, I posted earlier and my cacti were in the kitchen and due to insufficient light etiolated. (became pale) I have kept them in balcony now and they regained their dark green color and look happy. However, the top tips are moving towards sun. Should I let them stay like that or change something. The balcony is on the west side and direct sun is available at noon till 5:00pm. Outdoor temperature is 36-38 Celsius

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Comments (6)

tjicken
14 years ago
You don't need to do anything. If you want to you can turn the plants, but don't do it hastily, they can get burnt. It should be done in small steps over several weeks. I don't turn mine, and they all lean towards the sun to some extent, probably more than yours as the sun does not rise as high here.
harooniqbal
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks tjicken. By turning them slowly means an inch everyday or over a week? Moreover, I have ordered smaller pots than in the pictures, because I was advised by some posters these pots are bigger than required. And is this much light enough for these types of cacti since I don't have any window on the eastern side.
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Purple, I've enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to add my $.02 worth. The first thing I noticed is that the stems appear to be flacid.....wilty. That could be caused by over OR under watering.....whichever might cause the roots from being able to access water. In this case, I wonder if the water you're applying is evacuating before soaking the whole soil volume. One thing about these plants (all plants) is that though they need to dry out somewhat between drenchings, the potting soil must be completely saturated on watering day. This is true for all plants, even those cacti that are native to extremely arid regions. Have you ever seen "Medicine Man ", a movie starring that gorgeous specimen of manhood Sean Connery? It takes place in the rainforest of Brazil. There are scenes of my lovely Sean ziplining through the forest canopy, sharing the scenes with huge epiphytic cacti and other plants. Really neat movie. Plus, it stars Sean Connery. I get that it's difficult to understand how those prickly, barrel shaped desert cacti have ANYTHING to do those graceful rainforest plants. Here's what I "think " is a good analogy, but don't laugh at me toooooo hard if it really stinks. Take your dog into consideration for a moment. It's a mammal. So are you and the pesky squirrels in your yard. Big differences amongst those three mammals yet they share essential similarities. Still with me? Now, think of those incredible bottlenose dolphins familiar to anyone living in coastal areas. Superficially, they seem to have so little in common with your dog, but those porpoises are just another type of mammal. They live in a different environment, for sure, but the similarities are much more important than the differences. You just need to try to provide the kind of environment your dolphin needs. :-) Dorie
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I ordered two of the Exclamation planetrees from Advanced Tree Technology. The total of the order including shipping was $64.50. The trees were roughly 4-5 ft tall. They were not bare root. They are shipped in a plastic wrapping that is in the shape of a pot. The trees were essentially potted with a good amount of soil around them and best of all the soil in each "pot" was still quite moist. I expected the trees to be dormant given the time of year that I ordered them but each still had a decent amount of green leaves. They were beginning to go dormant though because each had a few brown leaves as well. Neither tree was root bound when I took the plastic "pot" off to plant them. However, each had a nice root system that looked very healthy. I took some pics of the shipment and I've included them to give you a better idea of how the trees look. BTW, Advanced Tree has some errors on their website. If you poke around, you will find Bloodgood listed a few times as the Planetree that they sell. I talked with a company representative over the phone and she said that they used to sell Bloodgood but they switched over to Exclamation exclusively. This was confirmed by each tree having a tag from Chicagoland Grows that discovered and markets this cultivar. Advanced Tree Technology hasn't updated parts of the website yet to reflect this change. You can't see the prices of anything on their website unless you click on the "Order online" link. You can also request a catalog that has all of the prices. Here is the box that I received: Here are the two trees in the box: Here are the two trees out of the box: Here is a closeup of the leaves:
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Do you want a hedge of all the same, like the line of hydrangeas or the original line of Clethra? If you want them all the same, they will all need to be short enough to not grow up in front of the windows unless you truly enjoy pruning shrubs. I would also suggest that almost all the Clethra seem to be alive, just had quite a bit of dieback, and they may recover if you have patience and keep an eye on soil moisture levels this summer. Don’t just rely on the timing of the irrigation system, but actually check that water is sinking down deeply in the soilwith your fingers. Regardless of what you plant, maintaining whatever soil moisture the plants like is important for the first couple of years. If it were mine, I wouldn’t have the bed line jog in where the house does, but run the edge of the bed across in a single line. That will give the shrubs more space to grow as well as making the AC less visible without the shrubs having to be particularly close to the AC units because the shrubs will be set farther out from the house. As currently placed, it looks like your shrubs will be too close to the AC in a relatively short time. I would be more likely to place a simple but ornamental screen across a couple feet (or whatever the required clearance is) in front of the AC. Paint it to match the plantings or the house. Your current Clethra might be a bit large for that spot because they can get large unless they are one of the smaller cultivars. Because the area has sun for a few hours and then the shade looks relatively bright due to the lack of overhanging trees and the white siding, you can plant part sun plants. Whether any of these would work will depend on the cultivar you choose and whether you are able to enlarge the bed a bit. Look at appropriately sized Rhododendron (either deciduous or evergreen), Kalmia/mountain laurel, Fothergilla, perhaps one of the Hydrangea arborescens/smooth Hydrangea cultivars unless that is the type of Hydrangea you already have, Leucathoe, Enkianthus, perhaps one of the smaller selections of Viburnum.
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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
14 years ago
I turn some of my plants up to two or three times a day...if I'm around to do it. My goal is to provide sun to all sides of the plant so that foliage growth is balanced over the central trunk.

In some cases, I want to avoid the plant taking a "set" and developing, say, a kink or crook in its trunk. With other plants, however, I *do* want to encourage a lean - for instance, if I'm trying to create a "windswept" look and I want all the foliage to point in the same direction.

If your plants have been outdoors for a while, I wouldn't think turning them now would be much of a problem.

Josh
rjj1
14 years ago
I even turn things that are in full sun.

randy
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
14 years ago
"I even turn things that are in full sun."

Absolutely!

Josh
tjicken
14 years ago
If I turn mine many (but not all) of my cacti would get burnt within an hour. Time to experiment ... Your plants survived the relocation to the balcony, so they seem relatively tolerant to the light. My own Opuntia and Thelocactus belong to the most tolerant.

I think you will find out sooner or later anyway how your plants react to turning, I badly burnt three by mistake this year. Meanwhile, try exposing a cm or so at a time and wait a couple of days before next turn.

It they are in Bahrain it is fully possible that the amount of light is sufficient, time will tell. Mine get about 7 hours of direct light, and they seem happy.

Yes, especially the one I think is Thelocactus setispinus has a very big pot, and it would be risky to keep it like that in Sweden. Should be less of a problem at your temperatures, especially if the air is dry - perhaps the plants are even happy to have some extra insulation around the roots? I think a slightly smaller pot for that one still is advisable.

Suggestion - Cactus Branches Facing Sun

Comments (6)

tjicken

harooniqbal
Original Author

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Suggestion - Cactus Branches Facing Sun

Comments (6)

tjicken

harooniqbalOriginal Author

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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

rjj1

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

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harooniqbal
Original Author